El Calafate

Just to recap, we were El Calafate bound from Buenos Aires. With plenty of time to spare, we thought we'd pop into our favourite parrilla for a quick steak before heading off to the airport. All was going swimmingly, packing was a breeze, the taxi booked and Leo was tucking in nicely to his baby food reserves (still no sign of baby food and having to improvise now).
We arrived at the national airport and proceeded to the LAN check-in desk. "We're here for the 3.01 flight to El Calafate thankyou" was followed by, " there's no such flight, that's the arrival time and your flight is now airbound". Holy c*%p and freakin hell. The check-in lady suggested we try to buy tickets for another flight, next one leaving the following day(!). As we arrived at LAN ticket sales we were greeted with the news that the next available flight was the following week!! And though I'd spent ages wishing to stay in Buenos Aires, the thought of mucking up the rest of the trip was not good news at all. Ari sprinted off to Aerolineas Argentinas (AA) for more options while I managed to secure a refund on our missed flight. In some extraordinary turn of good luck he managed to purchase tickets for a delayed flight that was due to leave in 45 minutes. Not such good luck as to afford us a bargain, but at least we'd get there the same day.
Aboard the plane we were ushered into perhaps the worst seats I've ever had the pleasure of sitting in, the ones at the back near the toilets with no windows and barely any leg room. Ari spent the entire time whinging about this whilst I couldn't help thinking it paradoxical; the fact that AA was tight enough to herd in as many people as possible should be a bad thing, when it was entirely the reason we were on the flight at all. This didn't seem to appease Ari's indignation at the stink eminating from the toilets however.
All's well that ends well, we arrived somewhat later in El Calafate, located in Argentinian Patagonia's deep south. On arrival to our quaint little B&B our hosts were very welcoming and as they expected us earlier in the day we had to embarrassingly recount our tale of mistaking arrival for departure time. If they thought we were crazy they didn't show it and busyed themselves making friends with Leo.


El Calafate is home to a beautiful unique landscape, lakes, mountains and barren windswept lands. In the nearby national park you can find the famous glacier, el Perrito Moreno, one of the view glaciers of the world that is still moving. We were here on the advice of the Irish boys we meant randomly on the boat trip in lake Titicaca and were excited to get exploring. The weather was cold but not incomparable to an English autumn day, except when the wind blew. God was that wind strong. The light was eery, taking on a hue I had never seen before, and there was something different about the sky, it seemed, well lower, if that's at all possible. And it all seemed so very refreshing. El Calafate town is purpose built for tourists and takes on a Swiss ski resort feel, with chalet style constructions dotted about the place. Quite pleasant none the less.


The following day we set off on the drive to Perrito Moreno, and the weather grew slightly overcast and rainy, which just added to the drama of the spectacle.
As we arrived to take a boat from the lakeside to near the great glacier, the rain grew heavier and the wind rattled. Poor Leo's first experience of winter. Luckily he was well wrapped up in his cold weather gear (it's first outing I and I was too excited it was getting a use, small pleasures I know..) so didn't notice too much. We joined a huddle of tourists and spent an hour navigating the lake, taking in the formidable view. I don't think I can convey how amazing a view this glacier is, and I don't know if the photos will do it sufficient justice either.
Firstly it's size is amazing. Secondly it's colour is beautiful, ranging from pure white to deep blue within its crevices. And if you're lucky you just might witness a section of ice breaking off and crashing into the water below. (don't worry, this is not due to global warming but a natural occurrence) We were lucky enough to almost see two crashes. On top of the boat we posed for a few photos and I inadvertently asked the official photographer to take a photo with our camera (oops) to which he dutifully agreed!

The weather was a little too much for Leo so we climbed back inside for a cup of tea and continued to admire the view from inside. Quite frankly this glacier is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, it's so peaceful and beautiful, and I absolutely loved it. Definitely worth the visit.
After disembarking we sought refuge from the wind and rain in the cafe nearby and grabbed some lunch. (Now fully improvising with Leo with his meals and on a staple diet of cereal, bananas, bread and bits of our dinner, lucky boy). Leo's presence was met with the usual mix of delight and incredulity. Pretty funny really. Anyway as we left we decided to take a short walk along some terraces built infront of the glacier to get another look. The terraces provided more excellent viewing (Leo missed it this time as he was sleeping peacefully in his sling).
We bumped into a lady with a baby of a few weeks in a sling and also a French couple who had been on the boat with us. As we got chatting we found out they had travelled with their one year old son, but they had found a creche in El Calafate for him that could look after babies and children whilst parents could go out and about on excursions. We dabbled with the idea of maybe leaving Leo, who knows, he might relish the idea of spending a few hours with CHILDREN and not boring old mum and dad. We took details and went on our way to ponder.
Apart from el Perrito Moreno there are other glaciers to explore, unfortunately due to icy conditions the usual boat trip was not offering this excursion. There was also minitrekking which we hadn't considered doing with Leo before, but as this was back in Perrito Moreno and we'd already been there we decided against this option too. The option we took was a morning of horseriding near the lakeside, which meant we could go out and about sans bebe (sorry Leo) and could leave him in the creche for 3 hours we were away. Dropping Leo off at the creche was slightly strange, we hovvered to watch him and wave him off but he didn't seem the least bit interested in us and we were eventually ushered out of the door by the staff. A jovial 'gaucho' arrived to pick us up to take us to his ranch and we, extremely novice riders to put it mildly looked forward to our experience.
My previous horseriding experiences are few, but usually somewhat hairraising, a school trip to the lake district involved a memorable horseride over the mountains and with crazy adolescent boys falling off galloping horses and scaring all the other horses to follow in hot pursuit, my memories were less than pleasant. But we were assured that this would be a tame experience so I was happy to plod in peaceful surroundings.
I imagine that if Ari was a boy at my school, he would have been one of the ones falling off the horses, and hoped he wouldn't do anything to provoke a stampeed. As we set off in single file Ari was to learn that even if he had ideas of galloping off into the horizon all gaucho stylee, his horse had other ideas, and calmly settled himself at the back of the group. Hysterical. Ari's attempts to kick the horse into action and the subsequent frustration on his face were priceless. Mine on the other hand was happy taking his own course but luckily, kept a sensible pace. We had an understanding it appeared.

The horseriding was a little slow but a fun experience nontheless and a great way to see some of the Patagonian landscape inaccesible by car. The trip was rounded off in the gaucho's house with a cup of mate, a herbal tea drunk through a wooden straw/pipe thing. Didn't really do it for me but I guess it's an acquired taste.. We were actually in a hurry to get back to Leo as visions of a hysterical baby played on my mind guiltily. When we finally rocked up to the creche, we found Leo fast asleep. Apparently he hadn't noticed we were gone. It's a strange mix of relief and disappointment to hear such news, but at least he had a good time interacting with other babies!
Leo's been carrying a cough for the last few days, so we decided to take him to the pediatrician to check it out as the cold weather may not have helped him. The visit was easily arranged and for a small fee we were ushered in to her inviting office. Surprisingly she greeted us enthusiastically, with a kiss on each cheek! You don't get that on the NHS! Her service was great and we left feeling reassured.
Time to leave El Calafate to continue on our journey in Patagonia, this time we tripled checked our flight details and backed up to head back up north to Trelew, on the pacific coast for a spot of nature watching.