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Posts Tagged El Calafate

The Magnificent Torres Del Paine

Jun 16

Posted by dillon in Chile | No Comments

Another satisfied Chimu customer – Bonnie explains her amazing trip to Torres del Paine and Patagonia:

We´ve just returned from the most awesome 24 hour whirlwind trip to Torres del Paines, some of the most beautiful (and remote) mountains in the whole world!  When I emailed from BA we were due to be off on our Patagonia package but after 6 hours in the airport our ¨delayed flight¨was cancelled.  Fortunately the airlines put us up in a nearby hotel (provided transport and meals) and the next morning we left at 7.  The unfortunate repercussion was that it eliminated one of the 2 precious nights at the Torres del Paines National Park (which involves a 5 hour journey by bus followed by 2 more hours of private transport)

We spent the first night in El Calafate, which is a tiny remote townway down south on the Argentinian pampas on a beautiful glacial lake with snow capped mountains all around.  We are in the most adorable ¨chalet¨in a huge room with 2 windows with neat views (Its a real treat to not only be able to open windows but also to cool down our wines!!!).  We loved the little town…we feel like we´re in a ski town.

Torres del Paine in Patagonia

Torres del Paine in Patagonia

Yesterday we got up early to make our momentous journey.  The first surprise was to find out that the sun doesn´t come up until 9:30 AM (we´re that far away..actually 1400 miles from Buenos Aires). So we left in the pitch dark in 3 degrees below zero and within a few miles I thought we were on the wrong bus because I recognized a town that was north (today I understand that hiccup).  After that panic, about an hour and a half later the bus suddenly left the tarmac and was heading about 40km. per hour on a gravel road.  All I could think of was not only enduring that for 3 and 1/2 more hours but also needing to do it 2x.  The other disconcerting feature was that during the first 3 hours we only saw 3 vehicles!! Now how´s that for remot?? ( And when those vehicles pass there´s alot of flashing lights and waving!!!)  We did see some huge birds like ostriches in big groups but mostly sheep and cattle.  As we slowly passed over grates in the road it was evident that these were various properties or estancias. I was so relieved that after 1 and 1/2 hours later we got back on normal road (this turned out to be a ¨short cut¨) and made a pee stop. This was only the 5th ¨building¨we´d seen!!!  What we did see was the most incredible view alreay of Torres del Paines and from then on we could follow it the rest of the way.  I felt so exhilirated.  The trip also involved going over the Argentinian border into Chile.  This was over a mountain pass where it had snowed the night before so it was quite dramatic (and cold).  In fact, all day long we had been seeing frost along the grasslands whose muted yellow grasses and green clumps was so picturesque.

5 hours later we could see the sea, arriving in Puerto Natales a huge bay enclosed by more beautiful mountains.  A man was waiting there with our name on a sign as they have been doing all over the continent.  He had a great vehicle…Ian and I were both able to make the windows go down whenever we wanted a photo.  Well it turned out the guy got into our kamikaze photo session and we had the most momentous 2 hours to our lodge at the end of the rainbow!!  First, Ian spotted our first condors of our trip (did you know they have a 3 metere wingspan?) Not only did we see these 2 soaring giants but just beyond we saw a hillside covered with huge birds as there was a dead carcass that brought in not jus many condors, but vultures, eagles etc.!!!  Next as we passed along the lake we saw pink flamingoes!!!which have always been a favourite.  I was also so excited that at last we had an opportunity to stop and have a closer look at those huge running birds like ostriches. Then the guanoacoes (Like llama) began appearing in ever growing numbers.  We couldn´t get our fill of them and stopped so many times though we were told they´d grow in number as we approached the park.  But I can´t believe the classic shots we got with theose magnificent towers (torres) smack in the background.  We just giggled as these gunacoes stood at the edge of the road lining up for us in the mosrt perfect spots. Ian also spotted a fox and there were rabbits galore too.  But all the while there were those glorious mountains coming closer and closer.  The absolute pinnacle of the day was when we were taken to a salt lake (linda greenish with a white ridge) where there was the PERFECT relection of my belove mountains, The Torres del Paines.  It was AMAZING.  From there we wove around tiny bumpy roads crossing over tiny bridges and coming closer and closer to the entrance to the Park which is the most undeveloped National Park I could ever imagine.  2 and 1/2 hours later we were at the door of our hotel, a huge sprawling timbered lodge that has grown from 9 rooms in the early 19990´s!!!  This was the last night it was to be opend (they take a month off begore the busy July/Aug season) and there were hardly any people there.  In fact, there were only 3 other tables at dinner.  So we had 2 more hours to wander around and take it in.  Of course, the hikes are the way to enjoy it but I felt privileged that we had had such a wonderful adventure coming in!!  And the amazing reality is that had we come on the previous day as we should have, we would have seen NOTHING as it was puring and all the mountains were clouded over!!!  It will always remain as a memorable day….even though we had to get up at 4:30 AM this morning to be taxied back to the 7:30 bus!!!  Such is life but Que Suerte (what good luck) that our flight was cancelled.

Tomorrow we are off to an all day trip to a glacier, the Perito Moreno on our Calafate tour! This has been such an amazing journey.

Chimu Adventures provides several amazing tours to Patagonia and Torres del Paine. Visit our Chile & Argentina page for more details.

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Glaciers in Argentina – El Calafate

Dec 2

Posted by gavin in South American Tours | No Comments

Moreno Glacier, Argentinean Patagonia
Moreno Glacier, Argentinean Patagonia

Argentina is home to some of the worlds largest glaciers.  Perhaps the biggest of them all is the famous Moreno Glacier. See the recent below article on the glacier as reported in the Sydney Morning herald. Come and see  these natural wonders with Chimu Adventures.  From Patagonia Glacier tours in Argentina to Peruvian Highlights and all inbetween emails us at info@chimuadventures.com

“..It is hypnotic. More than a hundred people are watching and waiting, their breath punctuating the air with hot, steamy gusts. We have all been up since before dawn and the morning fog is only just rolling back to reveal what we have come to see. Despite the bone-chilling cold, I feel like I could spend countless hours mapping the chiselled white and blue face, trying to anticipate when the next splash will occur.

There is a crack, like lightning. A shard of ice the size of six double-decker buses slowly begins to splinter off the face of the glacier directly in front of where we are standing. Gaining momentum, it smashes into the water with explosive force. Waves ripple across the lake. Icebergs bob. And the crowd goes wild.

Seventy-eight kilometres from El Calafate in Argentina, Perito Moreno glacier is one of Patagonia’s biggest show-stoppers. Covering 250 kilometres, it is a massive and beautiful beast: five kilometres wide, it peaks 60 metres from the watermark, with a total ice depth of 170 metres. Part of the world’s third-largest freshwater reserve, the glacier creates a natural dam, splitting Lake Argentine in two.

Most people view the glacier from a series of balconies built where the glacier pushes up against the land, but boat trips are a popular alternative. I’ve chosen something a little more challenging – and hopefully rewarding – a seven-hour hike to the centre of the glacier. Chimu Adventures offers a 7 day Patagonian Glacier trek which visits the glacier as well as other sites in the region.

Although the glacier seems rigid and still, it is always in a state of flux. Each day it shape-shifts, its meringue-like peaks curling to the will of the wind, the internal lakes continually filling and draining, its face shattering spectacularly as it grinds up against land.

The shifting terrain, obvious cold and the famously unpredictable Patagonian weather can be a potentially lethal mix, so strict rules are in place to ensure everyone’s safety. Participation is limited to those who are aged 18 to 45 and do no have any injuries. As the ice can be paper thin in parts, you must walk exactly where the guide tells you and keep pace with the group – there’s no dawdling for snapshots. The guides are friendly but firm with these rules: anyone who doesn’t obey gets pulled into line fairly quickly.

Stepping on to the glacier is absolutely enthralling. The ice crunches underfoot at first, before it solidifies like polished marble. The glacier is mottled brown and discoloured from the hikers’ shoes but as we trek further in, this gives way to a palette of creamy whites and bluish hues, caused by the ice absorbing red and yellow rays of sunlight and reflecting the blue ones.

We scramble up and down peaks and troughs, jump over glacial streams and tramp on ridges of frozen ice. It is hard going and often I’m left breathless. But I’m also grinning. I just can’t quite shake the feeling that I’m essentially walking on water.

We stop for lunch by a glacial pool but there’s one problem – there’s nowhere to sit comfortably without getting a very cold, wet and numb bum. A plastic shopping bag provides some protection but we can’t sit for too long as we simply get too cold.

After lunch we head deeper into the labyrinth of ice. Gaping open crevices and sinkholes fold and envelope around each other, their trenches glowing a deep glacial blue.

Nearby, a waterfall runs down into a sinkhole, the water washing and churning around its edge like a water slide. One of the guides hacks off a huge chunk of ice and throws it into the subterranean tunnel. We wait a full 10 seconds before we hear the echo of a splash. It’s a bit scary to think how deep it is and how far we would fall if we slipped.

We each take turns posing for pictures in a small ice cave. While we wait, one of the guides disappears into a crevice before climbing up a sheer ice cliff using pickaxes and crampons. Tours are also available which are a little more laid back!

The sun begins to dip and we turn back for land. By the time we climb into the boat, there’s a chill through my body that five layers of warm clothing can’t combat.

Luckily, the strong whisky that is being passed around can do the job. And they only serve their whisky one way in Patagonia: poured straight over ice that has been freshly shucked off the glacier that day..”

Chimu Adventures has several trips to the Moreno glacier including its El Calafate, Highlights of Patagonian Argentina and Highlights of Argentina tours. Contact us for any other arrangements you may require in South America as well as international and domestic flights.

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