After a wait at a bus terminal and another 4 hour bus, we finally arrived in El Calafate. We were more at the mercy of the patagonian weather here, strong sun boiling us one second (apparently the ozone is a bit thin here), only to be freezing cold when the winds struck the next second. Patagonian weather is predictable only in its unpredictability. You really can have all seasons in one day, generally several times over. This time I shared with Vanessa, so we quickly made our large two bed room look like a laundry. Beautiful views of a snowy Fitzroy mountain. A nice little ski-resort type of town.
We took a full day to go and see the local glacier. Some of us (including me) took a boat trip up to the glacier which was mighty impressive, especially when we spotted a few ants (these were people who had opted to do a glacial walk) which gave us a real sense of the size of this icy mass. My photos don't really do it justice but you get the idea. Then we joined the rest of the group walking around the boardwalk viewing platform for other views of the glacier, where we could watch and hear it calving. Amazing to see. Lots of steps but again, well worth it. I also learned that glacial water is milky looking. All the water we see in Patagonia is such a beautiful colour. Bit of a late night for most of us at the hotel/hostel, only brought to a close when a surly looking member of staff flicked the lights on and off. Oops.
Angela encouraging Duncan to go to bed
An 8km trek the next day took in a lagoon, which we went to to see the flamingo's. Flamingo's and Patagonia weren't words I expected to see together but there we are. We stayed for the plants, views of mountains and birds. Sadly but also hypnotically, we watched a family of ducks have their chicks picked off one by one by seagulls and when they dropped the, the waiting hawk.
Being so far south, I now realise I should have made better use of the wifi in Buenos Aires and Puerto Madryn to load this blog as now it's pathetic.
Oh, people can be seen on the penultimate glacier pic. Look closely.
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