Glaciers Galore

So, it turned out that glaciers featured quite highly in the Patagonia part of this trip.  First there was Pio XI viewed from Navimag (see previous post, but pictured here to stick with the thematic).  This was spectacular and the boat went really close, but there was a signiciant amount of rain and mist which constrained viewing somewhat.

Next up was  Glacier Grey in Torres del Paine National Park.   

Chris had already been to Torres and done the whole of the famous “W” trek a few years ago (so called because it roughly follows the path of that letter) so we chose this time a scaled down version of the two outer arms plus a little bit in the middle, covering some of the best scenery of the park.  

 I really enjoyed our time here, despite what felt like hurricane force winds on the first day, that really did make it hard to keep my feet on the ground at times (check out my hair!). 

The walk to the glacier was fantastic, great scenery all the way, and the glacier itself did not disappoint. 

We stayed in a lovely little refugio that night, right by the glacier, providing welcome shelter from those gale force winds.

This is the view from the boat crossing Lake Pehoe on the second day, after the glacier walk. 

The weather then turned quite scorchio, which was a bit of a welcome surprise, allowing me to walk in shorts which made me very happy! 

 We went on a short walk in the centre of the park, going to a viewpoint of “Los Cuernos”, one of the signature views of the park.  The scenery here really was stunning.

 

On our last day in the park, we walked up to the “Torres”, named after the Towers, as seen on the photo.  I found this something of a challenge, especially as we had a very tight timetable, to get back to catch an unmissable onward transfer.  Despite starting off at 6am, we were still running the last bit back.  But it was worth it, the view at the top of the Towers is incredible.

There hasn't been much mention of Llama awards recently, mainly due to the slight disagreements between myself and Christopher as to exactly how they should be awarded. However, we concluded that TDP should get a gold, due to the large array of amazing walking and scenery. 

The third glacier was the absolutely stunning Perito Mereno, near El Calafate.  In the same way that Iguacu cannot be described as “just a waterfall”,  this is far more than “just a glacier”.  I’ve seen a fair number of glaciers around the world on my travels, and this totally stood out from anything I’ve ever seen before.  It’s vast, it’s growing, ice breaks off on a frequent basis, making loud cracking sounds, and there’s lots of mini icebergs floating around.  

One of the faces can be viewed from a boat trip and the other from a set of fairly amazing walkways built around this section of the national park.  We happily spent a good few hours wandering around these walkways, viewing the glacier from every possible angle.  And this wasn’t just me being a geeky geographer, everyone we met in Argentina who had been here was equally enthusiastic about it.  We were in firm agreement that another gold llama award was appropriate.

The final glacier really belongs in the next post, and in the end we didn’t view it as close up as we had planned, but it still deserves a mention here– that is Glacier Martial in Ushuaia.

A voyage at sea

So we had decided some time ago that rather than either flying or bus-ing for days on end down to southern Patagonia that we would like to take the boat.  Navimag sails once a week down the coast of Chile, in and out of fjiords and channels, taking around 4 days to make the voyage. 

We also decided against another tedious bus journey to get to Puerto Montt, the boat departure point in Chile.  Instead we went via the "Cruz de Andino", the Andean Crossing, traversing a series of lakes, with bus connections in between,  passing through amazing national park scenery. 

This was my favourite part, crossing lake Llanquihue in Chile, with Vulcan Osorno as a backdrop.

We also stopped to drop off some passengers in a little place called Puerto Vargas, which looked stunning as sun set approached and a rainbow appeared. 

We decided this was a really cool way to travel, but sadly the opportunities to replicate it are few and far between (although perhaps a Manchester to London voyage via the Humber and Thames estuaries has potential??).

Anyway, that was quite a diversion, back to Navimag.  It used to be strictly a container ship, but over the years has adapted to interest from tourists to take passengers as well. We weren´t really sure what to expect, had heard tales good and bad, but we had a fantastic time.

We had a cosy little cabin, sharing with two others, with a little porthole looking out to sea.  The day of departure was fantastic weather, bright sunshine and really warm, giving us splendid views of the volcanos around Puerto Montt and an amazing sunset that night.  This felt like a real bonus as one of the warnings we’d read was that it could rain for days of end, with cloud so low it was impossible to see anything beyond the boat.

The weather did deteriorate thereafter, but did not detract too much from our enjoyment.  One real highlight was a stop at a tiny fishing village in the middle of nowhere, Puerto Eden, in a national park reminiscent of Scottish peat bogs, with a rainfall of around 8 meters a year. 

That's Navimag in the background.  We had to keep our life jackets on the whole time we were walking round Puerto Eden!

Another highlight was sailing right up to a glacier, Pio XI, which was incredible viewed from the sea (see next post). 

And I also just enjoyed sailing in and out of the various fjiords and channels, sometimes observed from the Bridge when the weather was too bad to be outdoors (I really liked being on the Bridge, I think it gave me a feeling of self-importance being close to the Captain!).  Some lucky people on board spotted killer whales, but I was happy to see dolphins, sea lions and a seal.

The Lake District

Bariloche is at the heart of the Argentinian Lake District.  We were staying in a lovely hostel overlooking the lake, and to begin with the weather was amazing, like the middle of summer.  We even swam in the lake, much to the amusement of the hostel staff who cheered us on from the safety of the hostel lounge.  This is the hostel garden.

 We stayed in Bariloche for a whole week, going on various day trips up mountains and round lakes, on foot, bicycle and kayak.

 

It really is an outdoor paradise with absolutely amazing views all over the place. One of my favourite outings was a day walk we did to a refugio, that was still surrounded by snow. The views were stunning all the way, and it really was a perfect walk.

My other highlight was cycling round the “Circuito Chico”, a circuit that took in the best views of all, and included an idyllic spot for lunch by the shores of one of the lakes, where we swam again, and also a visit to a mircobrewery.

Sadly the good weather didn't last and by the time we went kayaking, it was cold, wet and windy - but we still had a good time.

Animal Magic

We spent quite a few days in and around Puerto Madryn, on the east coast of Argentina in Patagonia.  It´s an amazing place for having such a high degree of animal watching opportunities in proximity.  For this reason, it definitely gets a Silver Llama award.  The town itself was also really nice.

Here we are all dressed up about to go on a whale watching trip, to see Southern Right Whales.  Which indeed we did, as illustrated below.

We actually saw quiet a few whales, including a mother and baby, but they were quite hard to capture properly on camera, and this is about as good as it gets.  But it was a most enjoyable trip.






I think one of my favourite animals of all was the Armadillo, which I´ve never seen before.  They scurry around in a rather charming manner before burying themselves away in a network of tunnels.  I was really quite fascinated by them.

On the same trip we also went to see Elephant Seals -if you look closely on this photo on the left, you can see them in the background.  They spend hours just lying on the beach, looking very much as if they are dead.  A trip the next day enabled us to see them at much closer quarters, we were walking on the beach right by them.  They did mostly still appear comotose, but occasionally there was some activity, as captured in the photo on the right.  It was amazing being so close to them, the grown males are absolutely ginormous.

The final trip we went on was to Punto Tombo,to see the penguins.  I absolutely loved this, there were penguins everywhere, nesting, and waddling to and from the sea on their five-day fishing trips to feed their mates.  The males and females take it in turns to sit on the eggs and go fishing, very equitable.

Cordoba and around

After Mendoza, we had a brief stop in Cordoba, a lovely University city with an old colonial centre.  There were some great bars and restaurants and we had a most splendid time.  There was also a really cool market in the student district, which Lonely Planet describes as the best in Argentina.  Not sure about that, but even Chris liked it, so it has to be good. (But I think he liked the bar overlooking the market even more, he´s actually smiling in the photo below).

 

We also popped briefly to a little place called Mina Clavaro, a few hours away from Cordoba, and it was a bit of an unexpected gem.  It´s at the confluence of two rivers, and has never-ending amounts of swimming holes and places to chill out on the river banks, as well as some lovely walking.  We decided Mina Clavaro deserved a silver llama award, but it´s getting harder to award them, and Chris thinks the whole system needs a review.  I´d hate to have to downgrade anywhere, and I suspect some disagreements are looming.

 

Comida y Bebida

This post was originally just going to be about Mendoza, after it was suggested I detail a gourmet food experience in a specially dedicated post.  However, there´s been so much good food and drink on this trip, I thought I´d go for a thematic post, on what is after all, one of my favourite subjects, especially when on holiday.

So Mendoza was our next stop after the waterfalls, and one of our days out was to Maipu, which Lonely Planet indeed describes as a "gourmet experience".  Here you can see Christopher tucking into a selection of olive oil, balsamic vinegars, olives, marmalade and such delights as olive pate with garlic.  There was also a fine selection of liquors and chocolates. 

Our method of transport around the various establishments was bicycle, and as Chris pointed out, by noon I had already consumed 4 liquors and 2 glasses of wine! Luckily no incidents occured and we both wobbled around Maipu for the rest of the day, sampling various vinyards and also a micro brewery for lunch (where we also had tasty empanadas, not just a variety of beers.....). 

I may have mentioned elsewhere that empanadas have featured quite highly on this trip - rather tasty, filling and bargainous even in the most expensive of restaurants, they have become an absolute staple of our diet, but contribute little to that (even more elusive than when at home) 5-a-day!

So, to get back on track, Mendoza is the most famous wine region in Argentina, and Malbec is the most famous of all the wines.  However, there are many others produced in Mendoza, and we thought it our duty to sample a good selection, from a variety of different vinyards.  A firm favourite of the vinyards, which has dominated our supermarket choice ever since, is anything from Trapiche, which I am lead to believe is available in England, so will be looking out for that on return.  And as for grapes, being a white wine drinker, Torrontes (as previously sampled in Cafayate), remains my top choice.

Also whilst in Mendoza, we went on a trip to some natural thermal baths, which were really cool and provided a most enjoyable way to spend the day.  Best of all though was the extremely extensive buffet lunch, which was so big, I couldn´t fit it all on one photo, so only a fraction is featured here.  As with tradition for a lunch in Argentina, it was a big asado (barbecue) with a very largeselection of meats, accompanied by a delightful spread of salads and other accompaniments. 

Other culinary highlights have been a really cool fish restaurant in Puerto Madryn (a wildlife related post is forthcoming from this delightful coastal town) where I had the most delicious scallops au gratin.  I tucked in with rather greedy gusto initially, so this photo is half way through

 

and just last night we sampled a rather large proportion of a lamb, cooked Patagonia style.  This photo is of course primarily for the benefit of Mr and Mrs Norton, as the restaurant seemed to particularly favour a wine named after said husband and wife, but it does also feature the lamb being cooked over an open fire. It was utterly delicious, and if I knew lamb could always taste like this I might tuck into it a bit more often at home.

A post about food and drink in Argentina wouldn´t be complete without a mention of ice cream.  I´ve taken it upon myself to sample a thorough selection throughout the trip so far.  Although many pleasing scoops and flavours have been had, a real treat ocurred only just today in Bariloche, from a parlour called Jauja (just in case anyone plans on a visit to Patagonia, be sure not to miss it).  Lonely Planet suggests it is often claimed to be the best in Argenina.  I don´t think my sampling, no matter how thorough, has yet been sufficient to back up that claim, but it was indeed most tasty, and I suspect Heather and Simone would have found it particularly pleasing.

Still to come, hopefully, is one particular treat I am most looking forward to, and that is in Puerto Montt in Chile, which is supposed to have very good crab.  I know not everyone shares my love of this delicacy, but Rach, I will be sure to report back in a few days time!

Waterfall-tastic

I had quite high expectations of Igaucu falls, as everyone I know who has seen them has rated them so highly.  Luckily they lived up to expectations and beyond.  They are not really on the way to anywhere, certainly not in Argentina, but they are totally worth all the effort of getting there.  Without hesitation they have been awarded a golden llama award.  We spent two different days at the falls, on both sides of the border (Argentina and Brazil that is).  Both sides are spectacular, and quite different to each other.  Both involved getting soaking wet due to the phenomenal amount of spray, and in Argentina we went on a couple of boat trips, one getting v. close up to the falls.

It´s quite hard to describe in words what they are really like.  The main point is that Iguacu is not "just a waterfall".  It is a series of a large number of waterfalls, covering a vast area, and such a huge force of water, it´s quite hard to comprehend.  The photos don´t really do it justice.  But here´s a few anyway to give a taster.

We also saw quite a bit of wildlife which was a bonus, including monkeys, turtles, coaties (racoon-like critters) and giant lizards (well quite big anyway).

This is the view of part of the falls from Brazil - I found it quite cool popping to Brazil for the day!

 

And we also stayed in a rather excellent youth hostel  - since when did they have swimming pools?  So all in all a very pleasing part of the trip.

And, now I´ve finally got access to computers where I can upload photos, the previous couple of posts are illustrated, if anyone would care to take a look.