El Calafate

El Calafate 3/12/07

We found a nice hosteria after minimal searching. It was rustic, old, but clean and had breakfast included. Which, in Jen’s world, is one of the most important things to be offered by a hotel. She reminds me of my younger brother, Jeff, when we were traveling through Europe. It didn’t matter where we were, he only would stay at a hotel that included breakfast. I think Jen is taking that role now. El Calafate is a nice upcoming town. Although it has been a tourist town for the last 50+ years, it appears within the last 5+ years that it has strived to serve the non-backpacker/hostel tourist; ie. Dinners are served earlier than the typical (1900), there are spa hotels, and there are international menus. We stayed in El Calafate for 3 nights and it was definitely what we needed. It is a mountain town with plenty of things to do and with the typical laid-back atmosphere of a mountain town. El Calafate is also home of Glacier Perito Merino. This is the fastest moving Glacier in South America and the world. It was truly beautiful. I think our pictures will represent a lot of what we saw. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will be able to share the high resolution photos we shot of the glacier on this blog. Payton enjoyed the glacier and she was definitely dressed for the day with many layers.

After 3 nights in El Calafate Jen wanted to stay at a Estancia that was 1.0 hour outside the city near Perito Merino Glacier. The estancia is over a century old, but from the looks of it you would never know. It is a working Estancia with sheep, cows and horses. We saw a sheep get sheared and took a short hike to Lago Roca (Lake Roca). With the estancia being so old, it seems that the only newer things added to the Estancia within the last 10+ years is satellite. Everybody in rural Argentina has satellite T.V. The food and hospitality were great. I even was able to enjoy the glaciated waters of Lago Roca. I took a quick swim in the water while Jen and Payton watched in dismay. Ian Golden and my brother would be proud! The adjacent picture is a photo of sheep skins removed from the carcas of a few sheep.

During our stay in El Calafate we discussed our dilemma in detail (crossing the Argentina/Chile border) and did some research on Torres Del Paine Nacional Parque. We even went to a rent-a-car agency where they were so mystified with our situation that they contacted the Argentina border control for us and attempted to figure out the problem for us. Once again, we were told that we need a DNI. Unfortunately, that wasn’t gong to happen. After much review and reluctance we chose not to rent the car and to go to the north section of Parque Nacional Los Glaciers instead in El Chalten (the south section we visited when viewing the Perito Merino Glacier). One of the main reasons we made this decision was based on the weather for the next week. It was going to be cloudy/sunny for 3-4 days and raining for the next 7 days. We had to choose between Torres del Paine or Parque Nacional Los Glaciers, specifically Fitz Roy and Cerro Toro. We chose El Chalten, not only for its legendary Fitz Roy and Cerro Toro, but also due to the fact that we read a blog and guide book that eluded that going to El Chalten was the better choice. What we researched informed us that El Chalten is basically the same park as Torres Del Paine except that Torres Del Paine has longer trekking routes and there is a fee to enter, whereas the north section of Parque Nacional Los Glaciers is free to enter and free to camp at.