BOTTOM LINE:
Flew from Bariloche south to El Calafate, Argentina
NOTEWORTHY: Calafate is a gateway town for trekkers and hikers who want to visit the southern half of Glaciers National Park. Otherwise, it is a desert town in the middle of nowhere.
BACK STORY:
Our drive to the airport in Bariloche took all of fifteen minutes. We had been told to pull up to the "departing" deck, unload our luggage and leave the rental car at the curb with the keys in the car! What??? Sounded like quite a liability for us!
Luckily when we pulled up to the curb our Eurocar representative was there to take immediate repossession of the car. Aside from it being filthy from the Argentina roads, he looked over the car and signed us off. I did ask him how often they change the air filter? He looked at me and said that he would have to look into it. We left.
We had been warned about the tight luggage allowances on national flights. We had no problem checking in the usual one suitcase and taking two carry-ons with us.
Our flight had been delayed by a little over an hour so we found a comfortable place to sit and caught up on some reading about the area that we would be traveling in.
Our flight boarding call was made and while standing in line we found many people speaking English! We were thrilled to find a couple from VA, another from MO and people from Australia and England. For the first time in over a month, we could have a clear conversation!
The hour and forty five minute flight went quickly and as we descended I could see what seemed to be a moonscape. There was a long, twisty river filled with aqua colored glacial water and off to the distance the town of Calafate, Argentina.
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| welcome sign |
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| barren landscape |
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| entering Calafate |
After securing our luggage we made a visit to Hertz to delay the pick up of our rental car by four days. We had determined that the town was walkable and we could take excursion buses for much less than the cost of a car rental. We would rent a car on Wednesday (March 19th), when we were ready to leave Calafate and drive back into Chile and the Torres del Pines National Park.
We caught a shuttle to Kosten Aike Hotel that we would be staying four nights in. The terrain out our van window was some of the bleakest most barren land that I have ever seen...maybe what the tundra looks like...very low growing scrubby plants. As I looked out over the nothingness I laughed asking God what we were in for?
Three guys behind my seat were speaking English and at an appropriate time I turned and asked where they were from? "Portland, OR" was their answer! As we continued in conversation it turned out that they all worked for Wieden-Kennedy Advertising agency and had worked with one of my high school girl friends sons...in fact one of the guys had hired his wife! Small world.
We all were left off at the same hotel. We let the guys check in ahead of us. One of them was without luggage (left in Atlanta) and needed to go rent clothes and backpacking gear. They were headed out on a camping hike the next morning at 5:30!
The hotel was absolutely beautiful! Everything was well planned out...from the shower controls being put on the edge instead of having to reach to the back of the stall and get your head wet!...to the bathroom mirror being heated so that it doesn't fog up for the person not in the shower. Breakfast came with the room and lunches could be packed for day outings.
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| Hotel Kosten Aike |
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| Our hotel room |
It was apparent that the town caters to tourist from English speaking countries...we could read signs, pamphlets and menus!!! How wonderful! Restaurants also opened earlier for people who wanted to eat before 8:30pm. Another town with a Bavarian atmosphere.
Our hotel lobby area had a number of over stuffed chairs and a couple of fire places lit. There was a computer room, a game room with ping pong, Foosball and pool tables, a spa with massages for $25/hour and a lovely garden area. The temp outside was about 48F degrees when we landed and should be hovering there most of the week. Thankfully there was no wind.
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