Dec 2007

We left Los Antiguos on the party bus courtesy of Chalten travel (full of incredibly young backpackers, so we felt like the teachers on a school outing). It was a 13 hour journey down ruta 40 (known as La Cuarenta to Argentines) and seems to hold a similar charm to Route 66 in the USA. The beautiful landscapes change slightly on the journey down and with the odd sighting of a guanaco, there was nothing else but the passing of five houses and three cars! Due to the toilet being “out of order” on the bus, toilet facilities were rudimentary; the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere, and the boys claimed the bushes to the left, whilst the girls used the bushes to the right. This meant El Chalten, which was our first stop in Parque Nacional Los Glacieres, was a welcome site, at 11pm. El Chalten is a relatively new town, founded by Argentina, in 1985, by "law number 1771/85". This was to establish a base and so to discourage continuing land disputes with Chile (as it is near to the border). Its name means "smoking mountain" in Tehuelche speak (referring to Fitz Roy often being surrounded by a swirl of cloud at its summit). El Chalten also happens to be an excellent base for trekking in the surrounding mountains of the Southern Andes.

After a days rest, finding our feet around town, we booked a glacier trek. We woke at 3:30am to howling gales and persistent rain, and felt certain that the tour would be cancelled, so we were a little surprised and perturbed when, at 7:00am (weather hadn't changed) the guide said we would be setting off for the mountains! It took 2 hours of walking to reach the first base camp, and receive a welcome cup of hot coffee, before deciding if the weather would permit us to continue on to the glacier. The howling gales had ceased, but the persistant drizzle hadn't! So, off we went to trek for a further 2 hours to reach the glacier. Part of the journey involved crossing the Rio Fitz Roy on a pulley system (we had to be harnessed to a caribina/ropes and pull ourselves upside down across the river).

Once we saw site of the glacier, the drizzle didn't seem to matter. We had a fabulous 2 hours trekking on the glacier, which being our first time was quite difficult to get the hang of. One important technique is to lean backward and bend your legs slightly when walking down a glacier; we mastered this after Lisa suggested doing "a Mrs Overall impression". Much fun was had pretending to carry a tray, hunching our shoulders, bending our legs and talking in a brummie accent! Even though the weather wasn't kind to us, and we couldn't see the surrounding mountains, it was well worth the effort of 12 hours trekking, and was an unforgettable day.

Us walking on Glacier Torre

Other people walking on Glacier Torre!

After another day's rest, Andyb set the alarm for 05:00am sharp, so that we could catch the sunrise on Fitz Roy and surrounding mountains. Mr B was on a mission, and the 50 minute leisurely trek up a hill to catch the phemomenon known as "amanecer de fuego" actually turned into a 15 minute sprint to the top. These are the resulting pictures.

"Sunrise of fire"

Fitz Roy at sunrise

The infamous Cerro Torre. This mountain is technically very difficult to climb (not that we tried!) and many experienced climbers have died in the attempt, one being (the Austrian) Toni Egger. The top of the mountain is almost permanently covered in thick ice and blasted by 200km winds; not for fair weather trekkers like us.

Not satisfied with waking up Mrs B at 05:00am, after a prompt 06:45am breakfast, we set off for a 10 hour round trip to the base of Fitz Roy. This time we were rewarded with beautiful blue skies and a very strong sun (perfect day for Lisa to forget the sunscreen - she still has a VERY red nose - very apt for Christmas!!) We both agree that this is one of the best days that we have had on our (year long) holiday so far. The views were picture postcard, and along the way we spotted the spring flowers and active bird life. Lisa even went for a sneaky wee in the bushes and also saw a little bunny rabbit.

Laguna de los Tres

The view we were rewarded with after a 4 hour trek: Fitz Roy and friends, flanked by Laguna de los Tres and (to the left) Laguna Sucia. Above that is Glacier Rio Blanco.

Close up of Fitz Roy, expertly taken by Lisab

Snap, Crackle and Pop!!! then a BANG!

After a lovely 4 days in El Chalten, we headed off to El Calafate, the Southern end of the park. This town is bigger and much more touristic, as well as expensive. However, it is the base for the impressive Perito Moreno glacier, which we went to see in the afternoon. This was a good choice, as apparently it is much more active later in the day. Great pieces of ice fall off the glacier and crash into the lake, making it sound like cannon fire. However, the best bit is when chunks of ice are freed from underneath the water, and these sizzle and splash to the surface. This makes it feel like an explosion is taking place under the lake. Although an attempt was made to capture this, you get no pre warning before this happens, as obviously light travels faster than sound. So, you'll just have to make do with our account, and a couple of photo's.

Perito Moreno Glacier

We booked a tour with Guanacondor company in Perito Moreno to the world heritage site of Cueva de las Manos. Situated in a spectacular canyon (which was created by the Rio Pinturas during the Jurassic period), the cave paintings have survived for over 9300 years, but some are merely 7000 years old. Approaching from the north (as we were) requires a 2 kilometre trek down the steep gorge and into the canyon floor, before climbing up to the caves. The scenery along this trail is very dramatic, and our tour guide pointed out different flora & fauna local to the area, making the journey down as enjoyable as the actual cave visit. The paintings were explained to us by another guide; some are of hunting scenes, but most are of hands, hence the name of the site. These paintings are mainly negatives of left hands, with the odd right hand thrown in. The hand paintings were created by the use of mineral pigments, mixed with saliva and blown from their mouth over their hands. Amongst the many hand paintings, a three fingered and six fingered hand can be seen. The guide explained that this was probably as a result of marrying within the family - sounds like a town not many miles away from Rawtenstall - in a northerly direction!

The cave is to the right of Lisa's head. Andyb is chewing (not being grumpy)

Spot the in - breds

Wandering the streets of Gaiman, we came across a children's playground. Lisa "can I go on the slide, can I, can I?", Andyb "of course you can, knock yourself out, love". Upshot was a very sore coccyx. As Lisa limped away, we noticed the big bold sign on the side of the slide which said "for 6-16 year olds only"...serves her right for defying the park laws of Argentina.

Gaiman is a town in Patagonia where the Welsh settled, and cream tea can still be enjoyed here. We even managed to bump into a bonefide Welsh man (a farmer called Mike) and persuaded him to partake in cakes and tea at Plas y Coed with us, to make the experience all the more authentic! Not even the 3 of us could polish off all the cakes that were served - even though they were very tasty (and the Brunton Juniors are greedy buggers).