El Calafate

After visiting Iguazu Falls we continued on our highlights tour of Argentina by flying down to Patagonia after another couple of nights in Buenos Aires.

Patagonia is a massive region and we decided to focus our time in El Calafate and El Chalten.

Stepping off the plane in El Calafate we were once again blown away by the pure beauty of the place. Being from New Zealand, people would say to us, “oh you have amazing landscapes like this back home”, and although the landscapes back home are incredible we thought it was very different and special here. We think this post contains some of the best photos we have taken on our trip so far.

El Calafate is a small leafy town nestled under alpine mountains. We stayed in a cute little yellow lodge, which to Matts delight served toast with dulce de lèche for breakfast. It was also the first opportunity for us to cook some meals which was nice too (we haven’t needed to so far because eating out was so cheap in Asia!). The temperatures were pretty cold with the daily high being around 11 degrees and the overnight low around 2 degrees.

Our main reason for choosing Calafate was to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is estimated to be around 18 thousand years old and is one of the few glaciers that is advancing, rather than retreating.

We had seen pictures of it online but nothing prepared us for actually seeing it ourselves. It is truly captivating and we spent the most part of five hours just looking at it from different angles, seeing some small pieces calve off. We had also read the tip to pack your own food as the cafe is very overpriced (classic) and to get into the true spirit, to bring along a bottle of Argentine wine. We packed tuna, avocado and cucumber sandwiches and a $2 bottle of perfectly drinkable rose which was kept nice and cold in our backpack!

Visiting Perito Moreno had become a trip highlight for me and things were about to get even better when we travelled three hours by bus to El Chalten for four nights to do some trekking around the famous Mt Fitz Roy.

El Chalten

Our first day in El Chaltén started off great. The mini van first stopped at the information centre where we were given information about the national park, track conditions, hike difficulty and safety information. We were really impressed with the information we were given and were convinced to do a 20km hike as the weather was fantastic. We knew the forecast wasn’t looking good for the last two days of our four so decided to set off to complete the Loma Del Pleigue Tumbado track at around 12pm. We quickly ditched our backpacks at our air bnb which was a gorgeous tiny house in the back garden of the host. As we weren’t expecting to decide on such a long walk the first day we arrived we grabbed some empanadas and sandwiches on the way. The ranger at the info centre said although the expected time is 8 hours return we could do it in six but we packed our head torches in case we weren’t back before the sunset at 7:30pm.

The track was really well marked and we began the slow incline passing absolutely incredible scenery. Around every turn was another landscape worthy of photographing.

After about three hours we had made it to the peak, 1000 metres up and couldn’t believe the view of Laguna Torre and the side of Mt Fitz Roy.

After a rest at the top we managed to make it down in 2 hours, just in time for a couple of craft beers and a pizza to reward ourselves for the 20km walk we completed. An awesome end to day one.

With stunning weather on day two we set off early at 8:30am (first light is at 8:15am) for another 20km hike. We chose to do the famous Laguna De Los Tres hike which gets you the closest to the base of Mt Fitz Roy. We had made egg and tomato sandwiches for lunch and were looking forward to seeing some more amazing landscapes. The sore muscles from the day before had us off to a slow start but we soon perked up after gaining the first 350 metres. For the next few hours this walk was mainly flat, crossing over rivers, through woodland and scrub.

Nothing prepared us for the last kilometre which was a straight 450metre incline over slate rocks. This was by far the most difficult walking I have ever done, Matt seemed ok with his long strides helping him up and over the steep steps. After an hour of battling the cliff side we made it to the top which was so amazing it didn’t even look real. Heading back down was reasonably easy with our good boots and eagerness to cook burgers for dinner. Another exceptional day in Patagonia.

Day three was raining all day and the weather was getting ready to snow so we spent the day in our tiny house making pizza, playing cards, drinking Malbec and resting our now incredibly sore legs.

Day four it snowed in the morning so we ventured out at midday to buy more pizza making ingredients, more Malbec and a cheese cake from the local bakery (we earned it 🤪)

Our experience in Patagonia has been undeniably spectacular. With such picturesque surroundings, lovely locals and not a single piece of litter to be seen it really is a special place in the world we will absolutely return to one day!

This post is currently being published in real time with it being 7:30pm on Sunday night here in El Calafate. We are at the airport flying back to Buenos Aires for one more night before travelling to Mendoza to hit up the vineyards and to do some more trekking. The view at the airport is amazing, of course!