12-3

We arrived at our destination, Puerto Chacabuco, in a pouring rain. After disembarking Navimag, we immediately found a residential that had all the pieces we needed: restaurant, bed and bathroom. Ambience was strictly ‘local fishing port’. The next morning we set out for Puerto Aisen and after 20km discovered it wasn’t much, bought groceries and moved on the Coyhaique.

The roadside became forested with numerous waterfalls splashing down the hillside to the river along the road. We are surrounded by snow-capped peaks. At a National Park Museum there were displays of local wild life and geography. Enjoying the scenery, the warm sunshine and moderate winds, eventually we had to work our way up a long grade to the city.

1.  road to Puerto Aisen 2.  waterfalls 3.  cabin and rock

From the Rough Guide we had selected The Salamander, a place listed as an easy walk from the plaza. We were pretty tired by the time we got to town, plenty of climbing and 80km of distance, so when we followed the directions down to the river, up from the river and then steep hills on a terrible dirt road, we were exhausted. We set up our tent and after preparing dinner in the terrible kitchen - collapsed. At least the huge group area was warm and inviting.

On Saturday, December 2, we packed up and, after breakfast, pushed and pedaled back out the awful dirt track, up the steep grade into town to buy groceries for the next leg of the Caraterra Austral. Not knowing what to expect: food or accommodations, we purchased enough for several days and didn’t get started out of town until 11am. But since the sun shines until 10pm, starting later doesn’t matter. And it is cooler, cold in fact. We are wearing layers.

1.  getting ready to cross the pass 2.  down the mountain 3.  dirt road under construction

The weather is sunny with many clouds and the constant wind. We climb into the mountains, snowy peaks appearing and disappearing. This area was burned off in the 1940’s to help provide grazing in order to attract farmers to populate the area to keep Argentina from taking it. The rolling green mountain sides are covered by dead trees and stumps with a few grazing cows and sheep and a few houses and ranches. It is sad to know that this was once a forested landscape with precious trees, some over 2000 years old all gone in blazing fires to allow settlers in. We entered a National Park: Cerro Castillo, where there have a program to protect the land allowing it to rejuvenate and the animals to repopulate these areas.

We climbed and climbed, starting to look for a camping spot. Stopping a car, we asked where the park station was and were told 1 km! Yeah! We were too tired to go much further. It actually was several kilometers, but the extra effort was worth it. A campground of six beautiful, huge sites sheltered from the wind with little sheds, tables and fire pits. The ranger told Art to build a fire in the hot water heater and in 20 minutes we had hot showers and water to wash up our dinner dishes. The tent was warm and cozy in this forested site.

Today, we awoke to partially sunny skies and COLD winds. Riding through the mountains we crossed the pass at 1,120m and began to descend but the route was up and down with plenty of wind! The wind is scary in the turns of the down hills, gusting at 25-35 mph pushing our bike around. We hit a section of dirt road approximately 2km long that was under construction. We were both glad that was all the dirt we had to ride, it was so difficult. The snowy mountains were everywhere as we made the final descent into Puerto Ibañez on the gorgeous blue-green Lago General Carrera. We snuggled into a Chilean familiar (family-style) hostel watching the winds blowing the clouds over the mountains and dropping plenty of rain up there.

It is even cold inside the hostel, but the beds are cozy and the shower was warm. We are to catch a ferry across the lake tomorrow morning to Chile Chico. We don’t have tickets and the weather is terrible. I hope all goes OK.

1.  campground 2.  burn off 3.  leaving the hostel

Whoops! The ferry won’t go tomorrow: Tuesday morning instead. We’ll just settle in for a day of well needed rest and a walk or short ride to check out this area: the beginning of the more arid Patagonian region and Argentina.

1.  our hostess ad don San Francisco 2.  ferry to Chile Chico

Hospedaje/residential/aljomiento/casa de familia/hosteria: these are all titles given to accommodations in South America. In Chile and Argentina these can be fairly comfortable – good beds, pretty linens, hot water for showers, sometimes hot water in the sink, with breakfast included. Most are run by women and it is their personal touches that make a stay warm and inviting.

Prices are per person and cost from as little as $7US in Argentina or $12US in Chile for a bed and breakfast. The prices increase for double rooms versus dorms, some even have a private bathroom! Shared baths are the norm and are so much more pleasant when the owner cleans frequently. Of course, they all have problems of “creative” plumbing and electrical wiring, so leaks or dribbling water pressure or rocking toilets (not fixed to the floor), wiring to the bedside lamps running under the pillow are normal issues. Since electricity is expensive, bulbs are sparse. Often, we use our camping headlamps to read in bed at tonight.

Some hospedajes have community rooms for hanging out; in others the kitchen provides that service. Some are community kitchens where guests can cook or kitchens where the owner prepares meals for their own families as well as for guests. Here guests gather, share travel tales, wine and laughter. In most of these places, the owners and staff participate with the guests, spending much energy anticipating the guest’s needs such as laundry, travel ideas, etc. Some owners divide their private space from the guest areas, on the other hand, some co-mingle as we dine in their only kitchen. Space is the deciding factor. Some have carved out a business in their home, others have built with the pension business in mind. It is different than the North American motel or hotel model. The closest comparison would be a low-end Bed and Breakfast. We have found these hostels to be delightful, most of the times enjoying both the owners and the other travelers. This concept appeals to the traveler on the road for many months by providing a homey atmosphere in which to cozy up and gives an experience of the country visited, its customs and traditional foods.

12- 6

Yesterday and the afternoon of the day before, we spent on the bus traveling from Los Antiguos to El Calafate, almost 22 hours from the Andes to the coast of Argentina and back into the Andes. Three movies: 50 First Dates, Foot Loose and Herbie – to the max : dumb, but distracting. As usual, sleeping in these tour buses was a trial for me. Judee sleeps. I got up and went to find two seats together and found four, so I slept with my legs across the isle. Whoopee – I slept until around 4:30am! The landscape on this side of the Andes is dry and barren sheep country: very large estancias (ranches) and huge oil fields. Small towns are oil field oriented: pipes, pumpers and tanks line the streets. These are YPF company towns with their rows of small houses for the field hands and support personnel. Wind is ever present and plastic trash coats the immediate surroundings, greeting us and waving goodbye as we pass through.

The coloring is muted soft greens, pale yellows with a splash of red spotted over the rolling hills. Dots of white move about as the herds of sheep denude the countryside. Once again we see rheas, large flightless birds belonging to the ostrich family, and herds of guanacos but almost no airborne birds or other animals. Wind and cold dominates this environment.

We arrive in El Calafate around 2pm, haul Bici in pieces out of the bus, put everything together and hope it is all OK. Seems to be ok as we wind our way through the town streets to our hostel with camping. We pay for two nights and join the six to eight other tents in a yard behind the hostel. It is fenced with an eight foot black material, tents scattered around the perimeter and small tables with benches near by. We explore town and it reminds both of us of a western US ski town - tourist shops, some high end clothing boutiques, markets and travel agencies. A tourist destination mixing roughed out back packers and leather coated couples all rubbing shoulders.

Ell Calafate sits on the shore of Lago Argentina, the largest lake in the country and on the far shore are snow covered Andes. The color of this lake is turquoise due to the glacier sediment suspended in the water; its temperature varies from 4C to 6C year around as it is fed by glacier melt.

1.  tents in campground 2.  Lago Argentina and mountains

Dinner was pizza and beer – yummy in a warm, relaxed restaurant that drew us in with its smells wafting out the front door. Yes, we are in a cold, windy climate and wearing all our warm clothes including gloves, hats and long johns at night, but its warm and snuggly in our tent and down bag.

12-7

A day trip to the Perito Moreno Glacier in the Parque National Los Glacier. This national park between Chile and Argentina has over 325 glaciers and is the third largest ice field in the world: the first is Antarctica and then Greenland. You can no longer camp in the park, so it is day use by bus for us. Our hostel arranged the whole day adventure leaving at 8am, returning at 5pm. Our guide spoke some English so we were introduced to the facts and figures. Pierto Moreno Glacier is 14km long, 5km south face to north face with 60m above the water and 140 meters below and advances 2m per day but due to evaporation and calving, loses 2m per day, making it stable.

It is an 80km ride from town to the glacier and we ascend from plains to Andes with many changes in ecosystems as we approach up the winding road of concrete and the gravel in the park. Our first sight of the glacier was the south face over the Brazo Sur arm of the Lago Argentina. This is the less imposing face, but still took our breath away. We played peek-a-boo with glimpses until we lost sight of the ice field as we turned for the approach to the north face side – our destination.

We had the opportunity to take the catamaran ship to view the north face up close and personal for an additional $13US p/p and decided to do it. Very exacting: a big new boat took us out into the milky blue lake with icebergs dotting the surface. As we approached the north face, passengers were allowed out on the deck to view the awesome spectacle of this powerful event of nature: an active glacier. It was better than watching a National Geographic special! The castle like structures, spikes, peaks and turrets with gem like shapes reflecting colors of bright blue to an almost neon crystal blistering blue. As we slowly patrolled the face we would hear a loud crack, boom! And a large calf or ice face would peal off and plunge into the water below, sending up high waves and then the broken piece would surface as an iceberg floating toward the ship. The oohs and ahhs of the other passengers added to our excitement. The sun would poke through the clouds increasing the drama by playing its rays across the crystalline surfaces.

1.  first peek 2.  boarding the "cat" 3.  up close and personal

The one hour boat trip ended too soon, then we bused up the mountain to the balconies area where there are platforms linked by wooden boardwalks and steps to get a much closer view of both the north and south faces. From the balconies, we could feel and experience the power of the moving ice. Strong winds would buffet us; mist and rain mixed with rainbows and sun; weather we could watch advance down the huge ice fields to the glacier’s face.

1.  castle 2.  view from the "balconies" 3.  ice field and weather 4.  flora and fauna

 

We ate our picnic lunch listening to the moans of the ice and cries of awe from our fellow viewers. After lunch we hiked down through the forest with our last glimpses of the glaciers mixed with a didactic of the flora and fauna from our guide. Wow – what a day!