March 18, 2014 - Tuesday Calafate, Argentina

MARCH 18, 2014 -TUES., EL CALAFATE, AR

BOTTOM LINE:
Tour of Estancia Cristina (Ranch of Cristina)

BACK STORY:
Today began with an early morning pick up at 7:30am in another over sized van.  Our day was well planned for an excursion to another glacier.  After picking up other guests from other hotels we began our journey down the same road that we had traveled the day before.  At the "T" we took a different turn taking us around the mountain and up a different finger of the same Lake Argentina.

Because of the early morning hour, the sunrise cast a soft pink glow on the mountain tops.  There seemed to be a cloud hovering over one of the peaks. I took a picture and by enlarging it I found that it was not a cloud but the side of the tallest mountain peak that was reflecting the sun...looking detached in the mountain shadows, like a cloud.

Pink sunrise

As we made our way to the end of the road, a pier extended into the lake where two boats we tied up. We were greeted and welcomed onto the largest and newest boat...and  then escorted across it's back deck and onto the older, smaller boat!

Boating to Estancia Christina

There were plenty of comfortable, reclining seats to to choose from.  Finishing the safety talk, the boat was on it's way to the end of the lake arm where we would disembark for a day at the "Ranch Cristina."

The boat ride took nearly two hours and passed by arid land spotted by an occasional ranch. With water in abundance the land is simply of poor quality to sustain much growth of plant matter.  Sheep and cows grazed and I wondered if there was enough grass to sustain them.  There must be as they all looked healthy.

traveling to north end of Lake Argentina

ever changing views

We did see a number of aqua ice bergs in the lake. Our guide shared that the boats no longer travel on this particular tour up to Upsala Glacier.  In 2013 there was a huge avalanche which sent snow and ice into Lake Argentina. The wave that followed was so large that it sent icebergs onto the ridge of the surrounding shoreline.  The day after the avalanche a boat full of tourists made it's way up to a Glacier Upsala but when the crew saw the icebergs up on shore and the devastation of the avalanche, they turned the boat around believing it was too unstable and dangerous for visitors to view by boat any longer.

iceberg

beautiful calm day

arrival sign for our destination

Guest ranch, Estancia Cristina

At the end of the lake arm we were again greeted by friendly and well informed guides who took us on a walk and into a sheep sheering barn that had been converted into a historical museum.  The walls and exhibits whispered a story of an emigrant family by the name of Master's who came to the land in the early 1900's with hopes of ranching.  Tragedy hit when their only daughter Christina developed a cough in the harsh winter months which turned into pneumonia and she died.

The parents lived long into their nineties at which time their single adult son carried on their dream of raising sheep for wool. Apparently sheep are prone to the same kind of mange that dogs and cats get. A dipping trough was made on the property to fight the problem.  It has now been determined that sheep in that region cannot get mange.  It is only a problem in the central and northern regions of Argentina.

sheep dipping trough

old stone building

families church

The government of Argentina wanted the land as part of the national park and made the rule that the ranch could only be passed on to descendents.  With the son being in his eighties and not wanting to lose the land, he and his parents care giver married with the intention of adopting a child.  The government intervened and would not agree.  The son eventually died and the government reclaimed the land for the park.  The ranch is now run by a concession with very strict rules to follow.

There are two restaurants and a lodge for guests to stay in.  Trekking is the main draw.

empinada

flan

After a hearty lunch we hiked down to the river to see salmon spawning in the clear waters.  Because the salmon are no native and were introduced and considered invasive, the government has plans of damming the river to kill off the salmon within the ranch boundaries!!!  Hard to believe! Environmental groups are trying to fight the plan.

salmon spawning river

water wheel

gaucho

Hiking back to the building we boarded four wheel drive safari type trucks and headed up into a steep mountain and down to the Upsala Glacier.  Our trek to the glacier overlook took us through rocky areas that had fossil impressions and geological significance.  One fellow tourist stepped on a rock and it broke open revealing a beautifully formed fossil of a nautilus shell!

4-wheel drive transport

coal deposit

shell fossil

vegetation fossil

fossilized teeth and bones

The Upsala Glacier was another massive formation to view.  Unlike the Moreno the tip of the glacier is on land so it doesn't have the growth and break-offs nor the exquisite coloring.  The aqua coloring of the glacier is because there is less air in the ice due to the intense compaction. The more dense the ice, the more aqua blue coloring.

Upsala Glacier in distance

cold, bright day

glacier edge

panorama of Upsala Glacier on right

After time to take pictures and a Q & A, we boarded the trucks back to the ranch (estancia) where we caught our return two hour boat ride. With the ranch only accessible by boat, the area surrounding it can remain in a pristine and natural form for visitors to continue to enjoy...a true beauty of Patagonia!