Diary for Off again !

Patagonia ...WOW ...All photos mixed up, don’t know why

2018-01-30 to 2018-02-02

Next stop Patagonia a three hour flight and a world away from Buenos Aires. 

Here we are spending over a week in the Los Glaciers National Park then over a week in the Lake District.

• This National Park is pretty big 2,807 square miles !!! We arrived in the southern end at a frontier town called El Calafate. Lots of wooden clad buildings and log cabins. The journey from the airport was a treat in itself with our first experience of the Patagonian steppe. Drought tolerant bushes dominate the scene, a wind is blowing and will continue throughout our stay sometimes so wild it howls around you and threatens to carry you off.
• We soon see more of this incredible scenery with the magnificent Andes and spectacular turquoise glacial lakes. Not much in the way of habitation wherever you travel. Estancias (farms/ranches) catch your eye in the middle of nowhere white buildings with red roofs and a line of tall poplar trees for protection against the winds. Thousands of hectares are owned, the largest in these parts belongs to Benetton, wool from their sheep is in clothing sold in high street shops across the world.
• El Calafate is a small attractive town catering for tourists visiting the glaciers and ice fields. Trekking, climbing, walking on the glaciers (if you are under 65 years!!! That rules us out ). Lots of cafes, restaurants and shops selling Northface attire galore. You name it they’ve got it.
• We expected it to be cold being near glaciers but didn’t expect it to be hot which it has been some days. We have layers so all is good. Lots of sun and clear blue skies and lots of wind, wind, wind. Doesn’t do a lot for your hairstyle.
• So, we went on two fantastic tours. First....Leaving at 8:00 for a one hour coach then boat trip to see the Glacier Perito Moreno. Hard to imagine but it is the size of Buenos Aries. What a sight certainly another highlight of our travels. After getting up close on the boat you then have time to gaze at it in wonder from walkways that take almost 2 hours to cover including stopping for your packed lunch. Most folks had done as we did, made up our own with tasty empanadas from the bakery and fresh salad. The sun shone and it was marvellous to hear the ice groaning then there’d be a loud crack and chunks slid down almost in slow motion into the water causing waves as it bobbed up and down. This action is called ‘calving’
• Second tour another day we took the coach again, love the journey, for a 3 hour boat trip into the canals to see the Glacier Upsala and Glacier Spegazzini. Spectacular scenery the whole way you just couldn’t take your eyes off it we stayed on deck the whole time. Amazing , the blue hues in the floating icebergs are startling.
• For a chill day we found a super reserve on a lake only 20 minutes from our hostel. We spent ages watching the birds almost all to ourselves. 
• Before I go a bit of ‘Did You Know’ (I didn’t)
• The Southern Patagonian Ice Field is the third largest ice field after Antarctica and Greenland
• Glaciers have 2 important roles
• 1.. They are a climate regulator, they keep our planet cool by reflecting back 45 to 85 percent of the sunlight.
• They are an important freshwater reservoir, only 3 percent of all water on our planet is fresh
• There you go ..

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