Early morning 430am wake up and breakfast of strong coffee and croissants in lobby to check out and catch bus to the airport at 545am. Traffic and people were moving about on Sunday morning within the city, but thankfully not on the highway, so we arrived at the airport with plenty of time. After successfully meeting the weight restriction for the flight (my bag was 14kg and Jody’s was 12.5kg!!)
We then took a bus across the tarmack to our Boeing 737. Our flight had rough landing at Bariloche for approximately 45 minutes. Jody commented “I hope the pilot’s second first landing is better than his first!!” The majority of passengers disembarked; however, more passengers then boarded and we were off again!
After 3 hours in the air, we landed in El Calafate, we had 6 more adventurers join us, hailing from Australia, Britain and one more Canadian! So we are know we complete with a group of 16. The bus took us through the Glacier National Park, and we gazed at the snow covered Andes mountains, glaciers, icebergs (!) and saw condors, guanacos, ostrich…absolutely amazing! We stopped at La Leona on the famous Route 40, where we had empanadas and beer, at a post where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were rumoured to have been!
After our 3 hour bus ride, we eventually arrived in the town of town of El Chalten, which is referred to as the trekking capital of Argentina. El Chaltén is the gateway to Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torres, two of the most beautiful peaks in Patagonia. Our G Adventure guide, Rodrigo, provided us with commentary on our drive and then after we got settled in our room, we had a group meeting and then a tour of the town.
It is difficult to capture the vibe of this town in pictures or words, but I will try. It is at the base of amazing mountains, with quaint shops, rough looking vehicles, small grocery shops, bars, and restaurants. The air feels great, particularly after the city air, but a bit ominous as the weather can change at any moment from sun to rain to snow and wind!
Our guide arranged for us to have supper together with reservations for 7pm at the Cervazia, Brewpub. Jody and I shared a pizza and I shared a bottle of Malbec with Cait (when in Argentina!). Earlish to bed (damn blog :-)) as tomorrow we hike and whitewater raft!
