Argentina!

We got up early today- we get up early everyday, because there is so much to see- but today was even earlier, so that we could get on the bus before 7:00am, and make it to the border between Chile and Argentina just at it opens at 8:00am. 

The trick is to arrive early enough that there is not a line of buses waiting ahead of you, because that can take a long time - first, you have to exit Chile - that's one line to go through, then you drive a few miles to enter Argentina - another line to get passpsorts stamped at the smallest border crossing I've seen....  But we did manage to be the first bus in line, so that did not take too long (although another big tour bus tried to sneak in front of our line, but our guide was like a pitbull! and would not let that happen1).  

It's good that went quickly because, even though we are about 80 miles straight north of Natales, Chile, you first have to go east across a vast desert, and then come back west - across same desert, which more than doubles the distance.   And the roads are not great.   Once we crossed on the other side of the hill in the East of Natales, we entered a very dry region, with monotonous hills covered with low bushes and grass. 

There are sheep and cows here and there, and once in a while a nice house, but the ranches are huge because the vegetation is so sparse that you need lots of acreage to feed the animal.  There is the odd guanaco and rias here and there but  little else to see, other than beautiful cloud formations.  

About halfway , we stopped at a town called Esperanza for coffee.  There is only desert around it and "town" is a big word for it.... I guess Esperanza is a good name for it because you'd need a lot of hope to  live there.....

As we got near our destination of El calafate (named after the ubiquitous berries), we could see lake Argentina in the distance:  it is the largest lake in Argentina, at about 400 miles long, reaching depth of 3000 feet. Still, the landscape was completely bare.  And then, you enter the charming town, and get near the lake and it all changes.  

 The town, which we just drove through (hopfully, i'l have some time to see it the day after tomorrow) looks really nice, the lake and the large marshy bay in front of it is really pretty, there is a wonderful walkway that goes the entire length of the bay, pretty little house everywhere...  it's delightfull.  Looking at the town from the back of the bay, you can still see the desertic hills behind it, making it even more stricking.   

 We arrived at the hotel around 3pm, having stopped at the edge of town for a leisurly lunch, and the group was going to go on to the glacier museum (the whole reason to be in El calafate is to go to the glaciers- but that's for tomorrow).  But we all know that I only go to museums when it rains, and the weather was glorious.  Plus, We had spend enough time on the bus and that beautiful walkway was calling my name!   So I took a 10km walk along the marshes to that lake, enjoying the sights, the many birds (which will have to be identified at a later time), the horses, the windersurfer, the views!

 It was great!  I was a bit puzzled by these people who seemed to be bicycling back from the island in the middle of the lake, in the water.....

In the distance, on on side of the lake, you can get a glimpse of the Andes.   The clouds that stream from there were very interesting.

 There were many lapwings in the marshes and, just as in Natales, they got very agitated when I so much as looked at them!  these are ground nesting birds, and I was so happy to be able to catch this sights of the chicks coming out of hiding!  no wonder mommy gets so upsets, particularly when you see all the birds of prey flying around too.... 

Lupins are just starting to bloom.  In about a week, the trail I was on will be covered with them!

 This is. Our hotel, as see from the back of the marsh.

And here is the view from our window near sunset.

Here are more birds, flowers and sights..... which i will organize when we get home….

A bit of hiking, a bit of history, a lot of food!

 

Today, we had multiple choice for excursions around the area and the hotel.   They all looked cool - from horseback riding, to all day hiking in a different area, to hiking nearby, to learning about the history of the hotel itself.  But, since you can't do it all....  I went on a morning hike to the "condor view point" - on the the cliffs over the Last Hope fjord and Sofia lake, while Joe took the tour of the hotel, to learn about it's fascinating history as a meat packing plant in the early 1900'th.

The hike was great along a path that goes up the interesting conglomerate hill (for those who know Skunnemunk mountain in NY, it's very similar!) 

The views along the way - of the valley and the cow pastures, and the Estancias (ranch) were beautiful, and the views from the top just spectacular.  

Our guide said it is very rare to see the reflection of the mountain in the lake, because it is in general very windy, so there are too many waves.   

You can indeed see the impact of the wind on the trail:  at the bottom, the trees are tall and straight (they are called beech trees, but I don't think they are related to the beech trees we are familiar with.....). 

As we go up, the trees get stunted and lean away from the wind, until there are barely any trees at all - even though the to is only about 1500 feet above sea level.  

The trail through the forest at the bottom is beautiful, and the "old man's beard" lichen that covers many of the trees make it look like a fairy land - the lichen is a sign of a very clean environment, as it is very sensitive to pollution.  It is not invasive.  

On the other hand, there are invasive mushrooms that the trees fight agains by forming calluses around them.  It's too early in the season to see the mushrooms, but some trees are covered with the large and bulbous calluses - too bad the mushrooms were not fruiting as they are supposed to be edible and good.  

 The cliffs are a great place to view condors, and indeed we saw many.... however, I had mistakenly taken the camera off autofocus.....  so the pictures are so-so.   

 But before I had done that, we also saw a buzzard eagle, and may rufus necked sparrows eating the calafate flowers.

There were many spring flowers on the way up and everything is very green.  That dows not last long, as within a month, it will be very dry.  We were however too early for the many orchids- we saw a lot of orchid petals, but only one lady slipper orchid.  

Many other native flowers at the end of the blog.  

While I was hiking, Joe took the tour of the hotel’s history, which is fascinating:  It was build as a central meat (mostly sheep) processing plant and refrigeration in 1914 - the steam engines, ammonia compressors and conveyor mechanisms (including what is now used as an incline to bring customers up and down the main stairs) are really impressive.  And the hotel has done a great job at preserving the original structure and machinery- while providing a 5 starts experience!

We had time for a quick lunch and then I went on a second (much easier) hike to one of the most important sites around here:  the Milodon caves.  These are huge caves carved in the conglomerate by a long go r lake, and def about 14000 ago by miledon- an exinct giant sloth.  

Its discovery is said to have influenced Garwin development of evolution. Theory before he got to the Galapagos.  These are very impressive! (The little dots in the middle are people!). .

The walk along the conglomerate cliffs was impressive too, it ended at the “devil’s chair”, a large structure carved by erosion that can be seen from really far away.

We had a typical asado dinner - that’s A LOT of grilled meat!  ( picture of the grill at top of blog) And early to bed because we are off early to Argentina!