El Calafate, Patagonia

After a brief shot of city life, we are flying back to Patagonia ("the vast, windy, mostly treeless plateau covering all of southern Argentina south of the Rio Colarado" - South American Handbook, 2009). This time our primary destination is El Calafate, a town set in stunning countryside with views over Lago Argentino. 

This town exists almost entirely to enable toursits easier access of Parque National los Glaciares. We are staying at i keu ken hostel, which is clean, friendly and helpful. Irina and I have got into a hostel routine of going to local fruit/vegtable shops, butchers and supermarkets - cooking dinners in the evening, bringing pack lunches, and eating our evening meal much later (10pm onwards). Poor Adam doesn't know what has hit him, and within an hour upon arrival he is being bossed about - 'carry this', 'peel that' etc! He is a little resistant at first but once the realisation of how well we can eat for so few pesos he is more than happy ;-) Our staple diet involves fresh fruit for breakfast, salad in lunchboxes with salami/chorizo/ leberwurst/empanadas/crackers for lunch, and steak for dinner. The beverage of choice is of course Argentine wine - cheap and consistently palatable!

Interesting symbol for pregnant!

Treading daisies near the Laguna Nimez

A short walk from town, through a residential area there is a pretty laguna and flatland area (supposedly home to flamingos, ducks, swans and abundant birdlife, however, our nature-spotting extends only to a few horses and acres of daisies.

Views around El Calafate

Ice trekking on the Glacier Perito Moreno

West of the Lago Argentino, the main attraction is the Glacier Perito Moreno, one of the few glaciers in the world that is moving. Standing at 60m and with 5km frontage, it is impressive. We walk the several wooden walkways allowing a close-up view, take a boat trip alongside and then get kitted-out with crampons for some ice-trekking! We walk on the glacier , uphill, downhill and through crevaces for about 2 hours, and then sip a welcome whiskey before returning back to land. It is touristy around the glacier, but it is undeniably magnificent and the ice-trekking is a new and fun experience for us!

First glimpse of the glacier

Crampons, aaaargh!!

A welcome whiskey to warm our cockles

In the evening, despite exhaustion from all the fresh air, we try a local artesan beer at Borges y Alvarez (a nice cozy bar). 

Next morning, we are heading for El Chalten, 217km nothwest of here.....