A short flight from Mendoza to El Calafate and you get a completely different climate. From California-like +30C, wineries and palm trees around to wind and snow in just a few hours.
Oh, winds in Patagonia... When was the last time you saw horizontal hail?..
Welcome to El Calafate where the main attraction is Perito Moreno - a huge inland glacier.
You can check out Glacier museum and Ice Bar before going to the Glacier itself:
If you have an extra day in El Calafate, you can explore the Birds Reserve with Pink Flamingo and other flying stuff...
One more short flight...
- and I'm in Ushuaia, the southmost City on Earth - which is its main selling point. You know, bragging rights and all.
The thing I liked about that place was hiking the Glacier Mountain Trail. It took 2-3 hours one way, there were only a handful of people on the mountain and it was snowing most of the time. Awesome! Walking on the trail you can see a river which eventually hides under snow as you get higher. You can still hear it for a while, but can not see it. Now, this glacier is different from the one in El Calafate. I was wondering when I got to the top - so... where the heck is the glacier? It's called Glacier Trail after all. But no ice there, just snow...
There is Tea House restaurant at the bottom of the trail which looks and feels like a place from Alice Wonderland.
The other thing you can do in Ushuaia is a boat tour where you see sea lions colonies and walk on an island.
Also, don't forget to send postcards from the "End Of The World" post office.
Ushuaia was the most expensive City I visited in South America.
If you are short on time, you can safely skip it without losing much. But Perito Moreno is something to see for sure!
Ushuaia photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102235300726779983109/UshuaiaArgentina
El Calafate / Perito Moreno photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102235300726779983109/ElCalafateArgentina
Enough with the cold places, time to start going North again. Next stop is warm and sunny Puerto Madryn.
Oh, winds in Patagonia... When was the last time you saw horizontal hail?..
Welcome to El Calafate where the main attraction is Perito Moreno - a huge inland glacier.
You can check out Glacier museum and Ice Bar before going to the Glacier itself:
It is fascinating to watch this giant slow stream of ice and wait for a piece to break off with a loud sound. Put spikey shoes on, get on the iceberg and you see that its surface is covered with caverns filled with water which looks bright blue. This is a must-see!
If you have an extra day in El Calafate, you can explore the Birds Reserve with Pink Flamingo and other flying stuff...
One more short flight...
- and I'm in Ushuaia, the southmost City on Earth - which is its main selling point. You know, bragging rights and all.
The thing I liked about that place was hiking the Glacier Mountain Trail. It took 2-3 hours one way, there were only a handful of people on the mountain and it was snowing most of the time. Awesome! Walking on the trail you can see a river which eventually hides under snow as you get higher. You can still hear it for a while, but can not see it. Now, this glacier is different from the one in El Calafate. I was wondering when I got to the top - so... where the heck is the glacier? It's called Glacier Trail after all. But no ice there, just snow...
There is Tea House restaurant at the bottom of the trail which looks and feels like a place from Alice Wonderland.
The other thing you can do in Ushuaia is a boat tour where you see sea lions colonies and walk on an island.
Also, don't forget to send postcards from the "End Of The World" post office.
Ushuaia was the most expensive City I visited in South America.
If you are short on time, you can safely skip it without losing much. But Perito Moreno is something to see for sure!
Ushuaia photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102235300726779983109/UshuaiaArgentina
El Calafate / Perito Moreno photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102235300726779983109/ElCalafateArgentina
Enough with the cold places, time to start going North again. Next stop is warm and sunny Puerto Madryn.
2 comments:
So nice that you decided to take this trip. The places look beautiful and you were in the snow like a penguin! 🐧🐧 stay warm!
Hola!
oh, penguins... half of the my next post is about them!
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