After completing our hike in Torres del Paine, we spent the night back in Puerto Natales, Chile, before heading back to El Calafate, Argentina by bus...another 5 hour bus ride. Always uneventful when you cross back to Argentina....they don´t seem to be as strict as the Chileans. The hostal that we had previously stayed in, had kept the majority of our bags while we were out on our hike. They were kind enough to allow us to spend the afternoon in their hostal prior to catching our plane at 7 p.m. to get to Bariloche in the Lake District, a 2 hour flight. The Lake District is in the northern part of Patagonia.
Arrived at our hostal, Las Costas de Nahuel which was located right on the lake and our room had a view of the lake. Quite windy when we arrived late in the evening, but weather cleared the next morning. We had arranged a two day trip referred to as Cruce de Lago...The Crossing of the Lakes.
Picked up the next morning at 7 a.m. and joined a bus full of people from Israel (probably around 60 of them) for the trip. We had also noticed lots of young Israelis on the ´´W¨´ hike. We were told by our guide on the hike, that the young Israelis either come to Chile and other parts of South America or to New Zealand after their mandatory two year military service. Apparently they feel very safe in these countries. We actually thought it was quite strange that the older Israelis spent time in the Lake District as this is the area where many of the Germans fled to, to get away from war crime trials....I guess that is our warped sense of humour at work...(sorry if I have offended anyone!!). Only about 5 other couples of different Nationalities on the tour.
Our trip consisted of a bus ride, then a boat, then a bus, then a boat, then a bus, then a boat, then a bus..... seriously. This trip crosses 3 seperate lakes and goes over some mountain roads. The company that runs this trip has the rights to use these roads. Partway through the trip you cross the border over to Chile. This was the third time we were in Chile.....they must really wonder when they look at all the stamps in your passport. Stopped for lunch in a tiny town, just across the border, then continue on our trip.
A great trip with wonderful views of the beautiful lakes and mountains. Finally arrived at our destination, Puerto Montt, Chile around 10 p.m. A long day, but relaxing and wonderul views. Stayed in a wonderful little inn (Tren del Sur). The next afternoon we took the bus back to Bariloche, Argentina....a supposed 5 hour bus ride, which turned into about 8 hours. Arrived back to our hotel, to simply hit the hay. Our dinner that evening consisted of empanadas on the bus ride.
This area (Bariloche and the Lake District) really reminds us of Switzerland. Many of the homes, lodges and inns are log built and great little villages around the lake.
Will bring everyone up to date on Christina´s (The President) latest escapades. Well.....she was at the opening of a large supermarket (can´t you just picture Stephen Harper cutting a ribbon at the opening of a grocery store!), and has now fired the General of the Army as she felt he was in cahoots with the Vice President who is from the opposing party. In the papers a couple of weeks ago, she said that she and her husband had a very amorous weekend and said it was due to the fact that they had been eating a lot of pork. Guess she is trying to give the pork industry a boost. Must have been too amorous a weekend as this past week her husband had a heart attack!! Actually, he had bypass surgery last weekend...the papers wonder who is running the country if he is down for the count. Makes for interesting reading!!
Well, this is the end of our blog for this trip. Unfortunately, Robin got ill in Puerto Montt and I had to take him to emergency. Considering the language barrier, and the fact that he must get this problem resolved (not too serious), we decided the best thing was to get back to Canada. We left Bariloche the next morning, flew to Buenos Aires, then flew back to Canada the next day. Our trip was cut short by a couple of weeks. We would have liked to explore the Lake District further, but an excuse to come back.
Hope everyone has enjoyed our blog....we look forward to our next adventure.
Robin and Claire
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Torres del Paine
Arrived in Puerto Natales, Chile on February 3rd, after a 6 hour bus ride from El Calafate, Argentina. Stayed overnight in the town, then headed off the next day for our 5 day/4 night hike in Torres del Paine. We were met by our guide Eduardo, a young 28 year old born in Puerto Natales. We were also joined on our hike by Christoph, a Frenchman living in Australia. Puerto Natales is a small port in a fjord channel. This town used to have a thriving meat processing industry which has since died off. They used to send meat and leather good to Europe and the U.S. Now the town is really a jump off point for those hiking, biking, horse back riding and kayaking in the area. Visitors coming to trek can rent anything here and looked like about one half the people on the "W" were using rented equipment. We brought our rain and warm weather gear from Canada. Bedding was supplied at the refugios, where we stayed.
Also a start off port for two boats that cruise the inland fjords. The first one, Namimag, is a working boat, which also accommodates tourists. It goes from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. The other is a small dedicated cruise boat going from Puerto Natales to Ushuia. This is something we considered doing, but very expensive and only so much time. Guess we will have to return some day.
We drove a couple of hours to get to Torres del Paine National Park. Driving through the open pampas and the various estancias, we saw a few nandu's (a rare South American ostrich) and many guanacos (llama family). The Torres del Paine National Park was created in 1959 and declared part of the International Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978. It covers 242,000 hectares. The Paine Massif is a small mountain system completely independent from the Patagonian Andes Range. It was formed some 12 million years ago. Granite can be seen in the famous Towers and in some of the other peaks.
At the park gates, our driver dropped us off and we hiked 2 hours in to our first refugio - Refugio Las Torres. This hike was through gentle rolling hills and climbed up to a huge rock (somewhat like an Ayers rock in Australis but on a smaller scale) to view some hieroglyphics. Thought we could hear someone below saying...."The guanacos took my baby!!!".
Along this hike we saw hundreds of guanacos. The female gets impregnated every fall, and delivers one baby after 11 months gestation (yikes). Once the young males reach a year old and when the new babies arrive, the young males are literally chased away from the herd. Only one male dominates a herd of females and her young. The young males usually hang around in groups of 3 or 4 ....sounds like teenagers! Once they get old enough, they might challenge the dominant male of the herd, or if the herd gets too big, the dominant male will allow some of the females and her young to form a new herd with one of the males. On our hike along the border of the park, we also saw lots of skeletons of guanacos. There are pumas here who feed on the guanacos...the circle of life.
This first day hike was great to get our hiking legs in shape. It also allowed us to get to know our guide and our hiking partner, Christoph, who had a wonderful sense of humour. He is by trade a yacht broker and hires himself out as a "sailor" for yacht races. He was quite a character and great to have him along. Our guide was very knowledgeable and also had a good sense of humour. This made our five days very enjoyable.
Two of the refugios we stayed at were on land just outside the park boundary and run by a private company. All rooms had 2 to 3 bunkbeds. Having no say on who your roomates are, we "lucked" in and had lots of snorers and people who set alarms for all hours of the night to the tunes of rap music, Christmas music and ringing sounds. Oh well....part of the experience as they say. At one refugio we were able to upgrade to a private cabin and we took this opportunity. Had a great night sleep. The last refugio, Refugio Paine Grande was in the National Park and had about 100 beds. At each refugio, people also camped. The meals in the refugios were all very good and plentiful. We were provided with lunches everyday which in all honesty were too much for us; but kept our energy levels up. Arriving at our destinations every afternoon, the hot showers were welcomed.
On Day 2, we started our trek to the base of the famous Torres (towers) , following the Ascensio River and valley. Reaching our destination we were surrounded by the three giant granite towers (2850 meters), Torre Norte, Central and Sur. We hiked for about 9 hours (18 km) and mostly uphill with a slog near the top over large boulders/skree. When we got to the top it was so windy it was hard to stand up. Enjoyed the view, had lunch and hiked back down to enjoy a cold drink and hot shower. Had about 3 seasons of weather on this day of hiking.
On Day 3 an early start hiking mainly in rolling hills. The Provincial flag for Patagonia has a blue background then part way down has a squiggly/ undulating line....this means that NOTHING is flat in Patagonia. What they call flats is really up then down. On this day we viewed a few red fox, a Peregrine Falcon and several woodpeckers. Hiked for about 6 to 7 hours seeing our first glimpses of the Los Cuernos (horns) peaks and crossed the Bader River. Only about 11 km. on this day and the easiest day of the hike. Rained quite heavily overnight, but we were in our cosy cabin on that night.
Day 4 started with the usual up and down along the French River, then our first view of the hanging glacier, also called French. This day was a grueling hike. The first 2 hours in undulating path, then a constant steep uphill for one hour, crossing beech forests to reach the viewing point. This part was very difficult as large boulders to go up and down. Hard on poor Robin's knees. While viewing the glacier saw and heard lots of avalanches which were very loud as it is ice that is falling down and not snow like we are used to back home. Also viewed the west side of the Cuernos peak. Then back down to the beginning of the French Valley where we continued on a different path around the south-west side of Paine Grande the highest peak in the Park. We finally reached our destination, Refugio Paine Grande, around 7 p.m. along the shores of Pehoe Lake. A very tough day and very tired. Early night...but another alarm going off very early, which of course the person ignored!!
Day 5 our final day on the "W" (called that as the trail is literally in the shape of a W) we hiked our last 4 hours, passing the lovely Laguna Negra where we saw our first glimpses of the Grey Glacier. This hike was relatively easy and welcomed on our last day. Reached the base of Grey Glacier and hopped onto a zodiac which took us to a small tourist boat to tour the base of the glacier. On board we were given Pisco Sour's with chunks of ice (said to be 2,000 years old) from the glacier. This glacier was bluer than the Perito Moreno Glacier as the ice is more compacted and older. About 2 hours across the lake, then our transfer by van back to Puerto Natales.
While driving back on the mountain roads, thought we had a flat tire, but when the driver started to pull over, the tire passed the van. Spent about 1/2 hour replacing the tire in howling winds, fortunately the axle didn't break. Further down the road smoke started coming out of the engine. Not too serious, just the air conditioning belt....the poor driver just looked at us and said "Que Mas!!"...."What Else". Back to Puerto Natales around 7 p.m. and raining quite heavily. We really lucked out on our weather during the hike.We did have rain and snow, neither very heavy and lots of sunshine. Must say however, that the winds that we experienced were stronger than anything we have ever experienced on a hike. Gusts up to 100 k.m. per hour.
This is probably the hardest 5 days of hiking that Robin and I have done, but one of the most rewarding. The scenery was spectacular and the company of our guide and Christoph made it fun. Robins' knees were quite swollen after the 5 days, but a little ice, some elevation and rest have him well again.
Also a start off port for two boats that cruise the inland fjords. The first one, Namimag, is a working boat, which also accommodates tourists. It goes from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. The other is a small dedicated cruise boat going from Puerto Natales to Ushuia. This is something we considered doing, but very expensive and only so much time. Guess we will have to return some day.
We drove a couple of hours to get to Torres del Paine National Park. Driving through the open pampas and the various estancias, we saw a few nandu's (a rare South American ostrich) and many guanacos (llama family). The Torres del Paine National Park was created in 1959 and declared part of the International Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978. It covers 242,000 hectares. The Paine Massif is a small mountain system completely independent from the Patagonian Andes Range. It was formed some 12 million years ago. Granite can be seen in the famous Towers and in some of the other peaks.
At the park gates, our driver dropped us off and we hiked 2 hours in to our first refugio - Refugio Las Torres. This hike was through gentle rolling hills and climbed up to a huge rock (somewhat like an Ayers rock in Australis but on a smaller scale) to view some hieroglyphics. Thought we could hear someone below saying...."The guanacos took my baby!!!".
Along this hike we saw hundreds of guanacos. The female gets impregnated every fall, and delivers one baby after 11 months gestation (yikes). Once the young males reach a year old and when the new babies arrive, the young males are literally chased away from the herd. Only one male dominates a herd of females and her young. The young males usually hang around in groups of 3 or 4 ....sounds like teenagers! Once they get old enough, they might challenge the dominant male of the herd, or if the herd gets too big, the dominant male will allow some of the females and her young to form a new herd with one of the males. On our hike along the border of the park, we also saw lots of skeletons of guanacos. There are pumas here who feed on the guanacos...the circle of life.
This first day hike was great to get our hiking legs in shape. It also allowed us to get to know our guide and our hiking partner, Christoph, who had a wonderful sense of humour. He is by trade a yacht broker and hires himself out as a "sailor" for yacht races. He was quite a character and great to have him along. Our guide was very knowledgeable and also had a good sense of humour. This made our five days very enjoyable.
Two of the refugios we stayed at were on land just outside the park boundary and run by a private company. All rooms had 2 to 3 bunkbeds. Having no say on who your roomates are, we "lucked" in and had lots of snorers and people who set alarms for all hours of the night to the tunes of rap music, Christmas music and ringing sounds. Oh well....part of the experience as they say. At one refugio we were able to upgrade to a private cabin and we took this opportunity. Had a great night sleep. The last refugio, Refugio Paine Grande was in the National Park and had about 100 beds. At each refugio, people also camped. The meals in the refugios were all very good and plentiful. We were provided with lunches everyday which in all honesty were too much for us; but kept our energy levels up. Arriving at our destinations every afternoon, the hot showers were welcomed.
On Day 2, we started our trek to the base of the famous Torres (towers) , following the Ascensio River and valley. Reaching our destination we were surrounded by the three giant granite towers (2850 meters), Torre Norte, Central and Sur. We hiked for about 9 hours (18 km) and mostly uphill with a slog near the top over large boulders/skree. When we got to the top it was so windy it was hard to stand up. Enjoyed the view, had lunch and hiked back down to enjoy a cold drink and hot shower. Had about 3 seasons of weather on this day of hiking.
On Day 3 an early start hiking mainly in rolling hills. The Provincial flag for Patagonia has a blue background then part way down has a squiggly/ undulating line....this means that NOTHING is flat in Patagonia. What they call flats is really up then down. On this day we viewed a few red fox, a Peregrine Falcon and several woodpeckers. Hiked for about 6 to 7 hours seeing our first glimpses of the Los Cuernos (horns) peaks and crossed the Bader River. Only about 11 km. on this day and the easiest day of the hike. Rained quite heavily overnight, but we were in our cosy cabin on that night.
Day 4 started with the usual up and down along the French River, then our first view of the hanging glacier, also called French. This day was a grueling hike. The first 2 hours in undulating path, then a constant steep uphill for one hour, crossing beech forests to reach the viewing point. This part was very difficult as large boulders to go up and down. Hard on poor Robin's knees. While viewing the glacier saw and heard lots of avalanches which were very loud as it is ice that is falling down and not snow like we are used to back home. Also viewed the west side of the Cuernos peak. Then back down to the beginning of the French Valley where we continued on a different path around the south-west side of Paine Grande the highest peak in the Park. We finally reached our destination, Refugio Paine Grande, around 7 p.m. along the shores of Pehoe Lake. A very tough day and very tired. Early night...but another alarm going off very early, which of course the person ignored!!
Day 5 our final day on the "W" (called that as the trail is literally in the shape of a W) we hiked our last 4 hours, passing the lovely Laguna Negra where we saw our first glimpses of the Grey Glacier. This hike was relatively easy and welcomed on our last day. Reached the base of Grey Glacier and hopped onto a zodiac which took us to a small tourist boat to tour the base of the glacier. On board we were given Pisco Sour's with chunks of ice (said to be 2,000 years old) from the glacier. This glacier was bluer than the Perito Moreno Glacier as the ice is more compacted and older. About 2 hours across the lake, then our transfer by van back to Puerto Natales.
While driving back on the mountain roads, thought we had a flat tire, but when the driver started to pull over, the tire passed the van. Spent about 1/2 hour replacing the tire in howling winds, fortunately the axle didn't break. Further down the road smoke started coming out of the engine. Not too serious, just the air conditioning belt....the poor driver just looked at us and said "Que Mas!!"...."What Else". Back to Puerto Natales around 7 p.m. and raining quite heavily. We really lucked out on our weather during the hike.We did have rain and snow, neither very heavy and lots of sunshine. Must say however, that the winds that we experienced were stronger than anything we have ever experienced on a hike. Gusts up to 100 k.m. per hour.
This is probably the hardest 5 days of hiking that Robin and I have done, but one of the most rewarding. The scenery was spectacular and the company of our guide and Christoph made it fun. Robins' knees were quite swollen after the 5 days, but a little ice, some elevation and rest have him well again.
Monday, February 1, 2010
El Calafate - Perito Moreno Glacier
Left the sweltering heat of Buenos Aires on Sunday, January 31st and flew 3 hours to El Calafate in the south of Argentina, known as the Patagonia area. During the last couple of weeks in Buenos Aires the heat averaged about 34 degrees and the humidity was extremely high, so were quite happy to feel the relief of coolness of the south.
When we arrived at the airport, Robin's suitcase got randomly chosen for inspection. Patagonia has very strict controls over meat, fruit and vegetables coming into the area. The other person who was chosen was a Rabbi...they probably thought he was bringing in his own kosher meat!!! (sorry Lisa!!)
El Calafate is a relatively new town. The town itself reminds us of mountain towns like Canmore back home or Queenstown in New Zealand. A headquarters for adventure seekers and tourism, and also the gateway to El Chalten, a mountaineering mecca. Our nephew Sean would also love Patagonia, as its' known for its excellent fly fishing. The name Calafate comes from a berry of the region, similar to a blueberry, smaller and a bit tarter, but very tasty. The make jams, chocolates and liquors with this berry.
We are told that five years ago, the towns population was around 4,000 and they had around 2,000 hotel beds. The main reason people came here was to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. Today, the towns' population is around twenty thousand and they have 8,000 hotel beds. They say that the reason the town has grown so quickly is due to the devaluation of their currency and that tourism is much more affordable in Argentina. The area around the town is quite bleak and stark, reminding one of the moors of Scotland, the bareness of Newfoundland or the Sonoran desert in Arizona. The town has had trouble keeping up with water, electrical and sewage infrastructure due to its huge growth, but they are finally catching up.
The temperature here is 11 degrees C. and the wind is constant and at times extremely high. They say the weather right now is cooler than the norm, but we aren't complaining. We have been warned that the winds are even stronger in Torres del Paine.
Just to keep everyone up to date on the President, Madame Kerchner, she and her husband have another home here just a couple of blocks away from where we are staying. When we arrived on Sunday afternoon, she and her husband were here for the weekend. Her security people were all over the main road, keeping an eye out for the bad guys!!!
The "Los Glaciares National Park and Reserve" covers an area of some 600,000 hectares about 80 km. from the town of El Calafate. It was created in 1937, the third National Park in the world and the first in Argentina. We are told that the oldest National Park is in France and the second oldest is Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. Los Glaciares was named a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1981. We visited the Perito Merino glacier, the stunning centerpiece of this park. We enjoyed a one hour boat ride getting quite close to the glacier. The glacier is magnificent...5 km. across and it measures 30 km. long and is 60 meters high. We are told that the glaciers here and in Antartica are actually stable if not increasing. The glacier advances up to 2 meters per day, causing spectacular calving (breaking off of parts of the glacier) and flowing into the 1,600 km. trough of Lago Argentina, the country's largest single body of water.
Although one might say that watching the glacier is a very sedentary experience, it still manages to take your breath away, due to its' size and magnificence. They have recently replaced the boardwalks with new catwalks and the viewing areas are numerous and allow one to see the glacier from many different locations and views. We spent several hours walking the various catwalks and spent quite some time in one area where parts of the glacier were falling off with thunderous noise and to the "oowing" and "aawing" of the tourists.
We are staying at a nice lodge, which is a 10 minute walk from the downtown and by the Nimez Lake, El Calafate Ecological Reserve with black necked swans, flamingoes and cauquenes (another type of bird). On our way to the glacier we saw guanacos, a llama and condors. Will spend our next day here walking around the reserve and just staying in town relaxing....and oh yeah....southern Patagonia is known for its' chocolate shops. So those of you who know Robin well, will know that we will be hunting down the best chocolate!!
We now realize that we didn't leave ourselves enough time to really discover this area as we are headed off on Feb. 3rd by bus (5 hours) to Puerto Natales, Chile to start our 5 day trek in Torres del Paine National Park.
Pictures have been posted. Will be out of touch for about a week to 10 days.
When we arrived at the airport, Robin's suitcase got randomly chosen for inspection. Patagonia has very strict controls over meat, fruit and vegetables coming into the area. The other person who was chosen was a Rabbi...they probably thought he was bringing in his own kosher meat!!! (sorry Lisa!!)
El Calafate is a relatively new town. The town itself reminds us of mountain towns like Canmore back home or Queenstown in New Zealand. A headquarters for adventure seekers and tourism, and also the gateway to El Chalten, a mountaineering mecca. Our nephew Sean would also love Patagonia, as its' known for its excellent fly fishing. The name Calafate comes from a berry of the region, similar to a blueberry, smaller and a bit tarter, but very tasty. The make jams, chocolates and liquors with this berry.
We are told that five years ago, the towns population was around 4,000 and they had around 2,000 hotel beds. The main reason people came here was to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. Today, the towns' population is around twenty thousand and they have 8,000 hotel beds. They say that the reason the town has grown so quickly is due to the devaluation of their currency and that tourism is much more affordable in Argentina. The area around the town is quite bleak and stark, reminding one of the moors of Scotland, the bareness of Newfoundland or the Sonoran desert in Arizona. The town has had trouble keeping up with water, electrical and sewage infrastructure due to its huge growth, but they are finally catching up.
The temperature here is 11 degrees C. and the wind is constant and at times extremely high. They say the weather right now is cooler than the norm, but we aren't complaining. We have been warned that the winds are even stronger in Torres del Paine.
Just to keep everyone up to date on the President, Madame Kerchner, she and her husband have another home here just a couple of blocks away from where we are staying. When we arrived on Sunday afternoon, she and her husband were here for the weekend. Her security people were all over the main road, keeping an eye out for the bad guys!!!
The "Los Glaciares National Park and Reserve" covers an area of some 600,000 hectares about 80 km. from the town of El Calafate. It was created in 1937, the third National Park in the world and the first in Argentina. We are told that the oldest National Park is in France and the second oldest is Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. Los Glaciares was named a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1981. We visited the Perito Merino glacier, the stunning centerpiece of this park. We enjoyed a one hour boat ride getting quite close to the glacier. The glacier is magnificent...5 km. across and it measures 30 km. long and is 60 meters high. We are told that the glaciers here and in Antartica are actually stable if not increasing. The glacier advances up to 2 meters per day, causing spectacular calving (breaking off of parts of the glacier) and flowing into the 1,600 km. trough of Lago Argentina, the country's largest single body of water.
Although one might say that watching the glacier is a very sedentary experience, it still manages to take your breath away, due to its' size and magnificence. They have recently replaced the boardwalks with new catwalks and the viewing areas are numerous and allow one to see the glacier from many different locations and views. We spent several hours walking the various catwalks and spent quite some time in one area where parts of the glacier were falling off with thunderous noise and to the "oowing" and "aawing" of the tourists.
We are staying at a nice lodge, which is a 10 minute walk from the downtown and by the Nimez Lake, El Calafate Ecological Reserve with black necked swans, flamingoes and cauquenes (another type of bird). On our way to the glacier we saw guanacos, a llama and condors. Will spend our next day here walking around the reserve and just staying in town relaxing....and oh yeah....southern Patagonia is known for its' chocolate shops. So those of you who know Robin well, will know that we will be hunting down the best chocolate!!
We now realize that we didn't leave ourselves enough time to really discover this area as we are headed off on Feb. 3rd by bus (5 hours) to Puerto Natales, Chile to start our 5 day trek in Torres del Paine National Park.
Pictures have been posted. Will be out of touch for about a week to 10 days.
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