October 18, 2013
“Sleeping in these cramped quarters provided only a few hours of marginal sleep. We pushed on. At the end of another long day in the car, we reached El Chalten. It was a demanding drive, but I was rewarded with my first glimpse of a glacier.”
The drive from Puerto Madryn to El Chalten (a couple hours north of Calafate) was too long to do in one day (even for Super Chris). So, we spent the night in the car in the small town of Perito Moreno. Each time we sleep in the car, I hope it is the last. Age does not make it easier.
The drive took us into oil country. Argentina has a solid income from oil. Fortunate for us, they subsidize gas prices in the southern quarter of the country as an incentive to move there.
We traveled along dry, dusty dirt roads. Did our good deed pulling a young couple off a dirt ridge trying to get back onto the road.
Occasionally we were treated to a stunning sight. One of my favorites . . . a far away mesa with a huge waterfall.
As we traveled south then west re-crossing Argentina, the temperature dropped and we saw snowy mountains ahead.
And of course, Arctic Flamingos – really – that is what they call them.
We were almost to our destination, El Chalten, when we came to a lake. Sprinkled at the far end were icebergs. As we gazed across the lake we saw their origin: Glacier Viedma.
These jagged mountains are the home to the famous Fitz Roy. I will write about it and El Chalten tomorrow.