February 12th
Today I had to get up early as transport is to pick me up at around 7:30am to take me to Punta Bandera to catch a catamaran cruise to see three glaciers. I had checked the weather forecast yesterday and this morning was mostly clear with cloudy periods. The afternoon was to be overcast hence the reason I booked the morning cruise instead of the afternoon one.
After paying 450.00 pesos for transport, 500.00 pesos for Glaciers National Park entrance fee and 1,950.00 pesos for the cruise the voyage was underway at 9:00am sharp. You are asked to remain seated until the vessel gets out to open water. The cruise is on Lago Argentino, the largest lake in all of Argentina.
Our first stop was at a huge iceberg near Glaciar Upsala. It is interesting when looking at perception. If you see the iceberg by itself in the photograph it looks like a normal iceberg.
However, when you put a cruise vessel in the photo as well, it gives a true indication as to the size of the Berg!
We then drove a short distance and could see Glaciar Upsala. This glacier is the biggest one in all of Argentina. The Park had put a restriction on how close the cruise vessels can get to this glacier because how much this glacier is retreating and making it dangerous for the vessels to navigate around all the iceflow.
We made our way passed the second glacier which is small and not worth the vessel to stop, but still worth taking a photo. This is Glaciar Seco and comes down a narrow valley between two mountains, Co. Onelli Norte and Co. Onelli Central.
Our final glacier that we visited was Glaciar Spegazzini. This glacier was the tallest in the park with a height of over 120m! To put this into perspective, the Glaciar Perito Moreno looks extremely tall, but at its highest point is approximately 70m maximum in heighth.
Again, I was fortunate to take a photo of just the glacier and then a photo with the sister vessel in between us and the glacier. Talk about giving a different perspective. We were able to get very close to this glacier because it is much more sturdy and no very minimal calving on this glacier. I must say, this glacier was very impressive.
We returned back to port at Punta Bandera at 2:15pm. It was truly appreciated that I could bring my own lunch and drink. A worthy trip to see the glaciers, but I must admit that driving up to the Perito Moreno Glacier was my personal favourite.
I talked to my friend, Estephan, at the front desk about where I could go to get something to eat that was not pricey. He told me of a little secret place that he goes to and gets pasta for only 80.00 pesos. It was just down the hill, so I thought I would try it. It was an interesting place … it was a general store with a place you can sit to eat. I asked the lady if there was any pasta and she took me to the fridge to see what I wanted. I pointed to the pasta and asked if she cooks it. She indicated that she does and asked me to have a seat.
The store had a little bit of everything in it. Beer was only 38.00 pesos for a can which is equivalent to 70.00 pesos that you pay in restaurants. She brought the meal out and it was very good and the beer was nice and cold. When I went up to pay for it was 170.00 pesos for the beer and the pasta. I know that it should only have been 120.00 pesos according to my friend, but I didn’t mind as it was a cheap meal just the same and I was supporting a local small business. All the other restaurants have inflated prices for foreigners so I was not expecting anything different. I appreciated the fine food and it was fun to watch all the customers coming in … everyone that walked in greeted all in the room.
February 13
I was so glad that I took the cruise yesterday as it was overcast all day today. I just took it easy in the morning and then made my way to the main area of El Calafate. I stopped in to see Morrisee Tours that solely organises the tour for the Petrified Trees and Dinosaur bones. The office was closed until 4:00pm and it was only 1:45pm. I stopped to get lunch and had a pretty good pizza.
After walking around the area, I arrived back at Morrisee Tours by 3:55pm. The workers showed up at a little after 4:30pm (Time is irrelevant - Love IT!) and it turns out that the tour was booked full for Wednesday. They are the only ones that do this tour and only take a few people maximum each day. Bummer.
I headed back to my hotel and when I walked in I was greeted by Estaphan. He had a drink on the counter and explained to me that it was a traditional drink of southern Argentina.
It was not a tea, but a mixture of herbs. He asked me if I would like to try it, and I accepted. It was a little bitter tasting, but very interesting none the less. I asked him if he was allowed to have a beer and he indicated no problem. I brought down two beer and he put them in the fridge for later.
About two hours later, I came downstairs and Stephan got a beer out of the fridge. He brought out two beer mugs that he had frosted. We went to the front desk and chatted for quite some time. He had asked me about where I planned on going after El Calafate. After mentioning a few places, I mentioned Buenos Aires and he told me he had some suggestions of what to see and do if I was interested as he was from there. He made quite a list of ideas … truly appreciated.