Saturday, April 2
We got the morning bus back from El Chaltén to El Calafate and arrived in town about 11am. After we checked into our hostel, named Schilling, we walked down to the Patagonia brewery taproom. We shared lamb empanadas and two IPAs: a citra for me and a milkshake IPA for Carl.
The empanadas and beers were surprisingly good and we might have stayed longer and had more but we are on a tighter budget with this Blue Dollar/Argentinian cash situation so we walked back to the hostel and hung out until dinner time. For dinner we walked down to a restaurant called Pura Vida which was touted for having tasty lamb dishes. We shared the lamb stew and lamb pie and the cheapest Malbec on the menu.
The food was good size portions and the lamb was quite, well, lamby. Overall we thought the lamb pie won because the mashed potatoes on top were delicious. We walked home and went to sleep early, preparing for the next day’s big adventure…
Sunday, April 3
We woke up at 6 and got dressed quickly, making it to the breakfast room by 620. In the reviews for Schilling hostel one person commented that the included breakfast was the best meal they had eaten in Argentina. This was quite a statement, so expectations were high. The staff person made us some scrambled eggs and we had cereal, pastry bread, and coffee. It was nowhere near the best meal WE had in Argentina, but it was a great hostel breakfast nonetheless.
At 6:45 a big bus pulled up outside the hostel and Martin, the bus guide, checked our names off a list and welcomed us onboard. The bus stopped at several other hostels and hotels and I took note of where the fanciest places were, for next time (The Mirador looked swanky).
Martin explained some things about Patagonia and the Perito Moreno glacier, most of which we had heard when we visited PM before, but some information was new. After we entered the park at about 8am the sun was rising. The low hanging clouds made for a beautiful sunrise over the lake with colors of hot pink, electric yellow, and a nice rosy orange color lighting up the clouds from below and reflecting off the lake.
We stopped at the glacier boardwalks for everyone to get the views of the glacier before we went to it. This was the same spot Carl and I had gone to before by bus. The last time the weather had been perfect, sunny, and high 60s. This time it was cloudy, kinda rainy, and really windy. The rain was coming sideways and blowing our hoods off our heads. This answered my question from the previous week of why the covered area had a glass window to look at the glacier. Now I understood that the rain in Patagonia doesn’t always fall down, it flies sideways. So we took advantage of the shelter and sat on a dry bench, watching the glacier to see if any ice would fall. It was also interesting to see how much the shape of the glacier had changed since the previous week. We could see that huge chunks of wall had fallen and there were giant icebergs floating nearby. It seemed the glacier had been more active when the sun was out -perhaps the melting caused more falling?- and we didn’t see any movement while we sat. We had a good talk with Martin though and he told us that the middle of the glacier (which is the fastest part, just like a river) moves about 2.5 meters per day!
We all climbed back aboard the bus and drove down to the dock to get the ferry. This ferry ride was really similar to the one we had done the week before but instead of lingering in front of the glacier it took us ashore onto the other side.
We disembarked and met our hiking guides. We decided to go with the English speaking group because, as much as we like to practice speaking Spanish, when our life depends on hearing instructions correctly I ask that we listen to our native language, when possible. The guides for our group were two men (and I didn’t catch their names!!). One was a little older, more serious, and much calmer. He lead us the whole way and would occasionally stop and tell us something about the glacier. He was extremely knowledgeable and obviously very passionate about hiking and his chosen home of Patagonia. The other guide was a little younger, with an English accent that he attributed to his English-speaking parents. He was the more erratic of the two, joking around and literally jumping around at points. He followed the group and would come up along the side to help push people up hills or lend a hand as we jumped over a crevasse.
We followed the guides up a dirt trail to an equipment hut. They gave us helmets and a harness to which they affixed a rope with lobster clamps on it. Then we hiked further along the dirt trail, parallel to the glacier, before reaching another hut where they outfitted us with crampons. We held our crampons and descended toward the glacier. The wind was so strong at points that we though we’d get blown off the mountain. The younger guide demonstrated how to walk in the wind, legs wide, knees bent, upper body crouched down. I half-listened thinking he was being dramatic.
Then we reached the point where we needed the lobster clamps. We clamped ourselves to the metal wire along the mountain, in case we slipped, so we would not fall into the glacier below. This sounds really intense but actually the ledge here was pretty wide and felt much safer than even the hikes we had done in El Chaltén. The lobster clamps seemed a little overkill. However, the guides mentioned that the hill adjacent to the glacier is eroding, so we think the extra precaution is preparation for the day when this tour does have only a rocky ledge to traverse.
Finally we left the metal safety rope and walked down toward the glacier. The glacial moraine was soft and at some spots very unstable. When we were close to the glacier the wind gust picked up. It felt like we were walking through a hurricane. It was so strong that we couldn’t walk and we all had to crouch in place and wait for it to pass. We crouched there, wind blowing tiny bits of sand into our faces and I realized the weather was going to make this more of a Tier II fun type of day. When finally the gust subsided we stood up and the older guide called us over to talk. I was certain he was going to say, “hey guys, sorry, the winds are too strong and it wouldn’t be safe to walk on the glacier today.” I would’ve been disappointed, but understood, and enjoyed going back to a warm hut to wait for the boat back. Instead he said, “hey guys, the wind does not always blow the same. When there is a big gust, you need to crouch down and wait for it to blow over. Also make sure to keep your crampons in the ice so you don’t slide away”. And then we walked down, onto the ice.
They helped us put our crampons on and we walked up a big ice hill for our first view across the glacier. It was breathtaking. It was like standing on an ancient river transformed into ice, frozen in time. The icy hills and weird formations went on as far as we could see. Peeking out from crevasses and holes in the ice were spots of vibrant, gorgeous, deep blue color. Where the glacier was melting and forming tiny rivers the surface was a soft, lighter blue, exactly the color of the Gatorade flavor Glacial Freeze (someone did their homework).
The guides instructed us to take wide steps to avoid crampons getting caught on each other. We were told to walk like a penguin with feet out when going uphill and like a skier (hot dog) with feet parallel when going down. Again, they said, crouch down when the wind blows too hard.
They led us along a ridge and then through undulating ice fields while we got used to the crampons. At various points the sun came out and we would look around and enjoy our collective miracle. It was like being on the moon. Then the wind would pick up and the rain would come again. The rain came at us sideways. We thought we felt hail but I think it was the wind picking up tiny bits of ice from the glacier and throwing them at the 1 cm sq of exposed skin on our faces. We all wore sunglasses to protect our eyes but soon I couldn’t see through the water. We wore gloves to protect our hands from being cut on the ice in case we fell and the gloves were soon soaked with ice cold water.
The guides led us around to various spots for photo opportunities including a deep crevasse with dark blue water flowing through it, a mini ice cave that we could walk inside of, and a pond -again- filled with that deep blue colored water that was unreal. As we walked the weather cycled through bouts of windy rain (we called it ‘snow wind’) before another sunny period again when we’d forget all our troubles and stare with awe at the surrounding icescape.
The guides found a nice spot sheltered by the wind and the sun came out for long enough that we decided to have some lunch. Everyone sat on their backpacks on the ice and got out their sandwiches. I made the mistake of taking my wet gloves off and exposing my hands to the air. By the time I was done with my sandwich I couldn’t feel my fingers. And then the bad weather came back, so we started to move again. My hands were so cold they ached and I thought to ask what getting frostbite feels like but it was too windy for anyone to hear me. Needless to say, after lunch I was feeling miserable and ready to get the heck out of there and back to a warm hut. Even Carl said his hands were cold, so I knew we were too exposed to endure any longer.
They led us back. We took off the crampons and carried them up the hill. Again we traversed with lobster clamps but this time our hands didn’t work as well because of the cold so it took two hands doing what one used to do, and twice as long. Finally we got back to the equipment hut and then walked to the refuge hut near the shore. They had bathrooms and hot coffee waiting for us.
When the boat came we all boarded and to our delight they handed everyone a tumbler glass of whisky with a giant ice cube in it- ice from the glacier! They also gave us chocolates and a keychain* of a golden crampon, to remember the tour fondly forever.
We said goodbye to Perito Moreno and sailed back to the ferry dock. As we climbed aboard the bus to take us back, my favorite Coldplay** song was playing on the radio. A good end to an adventurous day.
We had them drop us off in town and went to the last brewery we hadn’t tried. We got a milanesa to split and good thing we split it because it was huge. We indulged and let ourselves have 2 beers, one of which was a Calafate beer that was really good- not too sweet- like carbonated calafate-infused water. We trudged home and had hot showers before going to sleep early again, exhausted.
*in every country in South America we’ve serendipitously received keychains, and it’s become kind of a joke for us. In Colombia, our travel agent surprised us with a gift bag at our hostel. In Bolivia, we were given little fighter women as a momento from the women’s wrestling tour. In Peru I had given up on getting one but as we were sitting in a cafe on our last day in Cusco a little boy came around to every table and sold me a llama keychain with only one eye that was so cheap it was basically free.
**as a joke I said my New Year’s resolution this year was to listen to more Coldplay. Carl did not think was funny. I’m probably the only person in the planet that has so easily stuck to my resolution because every single place we go in South America they are playing Coldplay, and a lot of it.
Monday, April 4
Woke up at 6 again, ate breakfast at 630 again, got a taxi to the airport. It was an easy 3 hour flight back to Buenos Aires. We decided to stay in a private room in a hostel because this seemed the cheapest and easiest option. We stayed at Play Hostel in Arco district. The place was a little run down, but suited our needs. We were given the Red Hot Chili Peppers room which had just one tiny picture of RCHP on the wall and otherwise no indication of the theme, which was funny to us. We checked in and then rushed over to get some PCE tests (negative again!!) before getting some fancy coffees and going back to the hostel.
They had a roof terrace which we sat on for several hours, reading our books and drinking some new IPAs we had found at a nearby beer store.
Then we went to our last Argentinian dinner. We went to La Cabrera which Lonely Planet had described as being a casual spot for tourists wanting an authentic meal. They also opened ‘early’ at 6, unlike truly authentic Argentinian restaurants which don’t open until 7 or 8.
The place was fancier than we had expected but they had an amazing happy hour deal where if you ordered and finished between 6-8pm everything was 40 percent off. We got a steak done rare, ceasar salad and puréed pumpkin. They had so many side dishes (not free, they include them on your check called cubiertos) that were really good like marinated garlic, a chickpea and bacon mix and even stewed pears which were sweet and different. We ordered the cheapest Malbec to pair and it was probably the nicest wine we’ve had in Argentina. Given the early hour of dining there were three families with small children also eating outside. At one point a couple sat behind us and were playing their own music, loudly, on their phone. With that, and the screaming crying children we decided to hurry up and get our bill – just before 8pm – and enjoyed the great happy hour discount as we shuffled home with extremely full bellies.
We went to sleep early to prepare for the next day when we would take a flight from Buenos Aires to Sao Paolo to Doha to… Bangkok!! Just 28 hours of traveling to get from South America to SE Asia and the next chapter of our big adventure.
Sharing our Traveler's Diarya 