Day 4 in El Calafate Sand dunes

19th February  - Our  pre - conference dinner walk from the hotel along the sand dunes and nature reserve and into the town.

Sunrise over Lake Argentina - the view from our window

It was another lovely day today and we decided that when Elwyn had finished giving his talk we would both try the walk from the hotel into El Calafate itself.  This involved scampering down some steep dunes to reach an unpaved road to a nature reserve, then a further walk along the main road into the town.  The walk there and back took about 1hr each way, but although a little challenging at some points, was well worth the effort and good excercise before the conference dinner in the evening  (This turned out to be one of the most unusual dinners I have every been to, but more photos in the next post!)  We didn't acutally make it right into the centre of the town but found a really nice little cafe bar just on the outskirts where Elwyn enjoyed a very welcome cold beer.

The main 'track' outside the hotel

Some of the rather steep sand dunes we had to climb down and then back up on the return journey

Looking back up the steep hill towards the hotel

A lot of the land is covered in this type of thick scrub which can be quite challenging to walk through

Elwyn finding the path down to the lake

Couldn't resist!

A bird of prey watching patiently from the post

The entrance to the nature reserve which is a protected area for wild birds including flamingoes

Looking across the reserve

Huge clumps of wild lavender could be seen everywhere

An oasis

A happy man with a cold beer

Day 3 in El Calafate – The Glaciarium and Ice-Bar

18^th February –  The Glaciarium and Ice-Bar

Today the weather is bright and sunny but the temperature has dropped  and the wind has also picked up dramatically.  The sunshine really transforms the landscape.  The lake is the most beautiful aqua marine colour and the wind is creating some interesting wave patterns on its shimmering surface.

After breakfast the ‘accompanying persons’ were taken for a tour to the Glaciarium Museum and Glacio-Bar.  The Glaciarium is a very modern museum with interactive displays and films about how glaciers scour the landscape and create so many spectacular features.  I particularly enjoyed the short film about Perito Moreno the famous Argentinean scientist and philanthropist after whom the glacier we visited was named.   We also watched another film in 3D (really good) which showed other famous glaciers and ice sheets and the weird and wonderful features they can create.

The best bit, however, was the visit to the Glacio-Bar.  We went downstairs below the museum and were given strange silver hooded ponchos and gloves to keep us warm.  We weren’t sure what to expect but I think this was definitely one of the strangest experiences I have ever had.  Everything in the bar was made of ice of course, including the glasses which actually made drinking our drinks quite difficult (especially with large mitts on!).  But what made it feel really strange was the flashing disco lights and club music blaring out in the background – all at 11 a.m. in the morning!

Second Day at Calafate - The Perito Moreno Glacier

17th February

Today the plan was to visit the famous Perito Moreno Glacier  - first by boat and then afterwards viewing if from above from catwalks in the Los Glaciares National Park.

Before catching the boat to view the glacier, we stopped off at this viewpoint to catch a glimpse of the glacier in the distance

You can see where the glacier meets the lake but the size is deceptive

A man spoiling a perfectly good view of a glacier (just visible top right hand corner)

Boarding the boat to take us to the foot of the glacier

Approaching the glacier from the boat.  We were standing at the very front of the boat and got sprayed with ice-cold water!

As we approached the wall of ice just got bigger ....

... and bigger!

Here we are moving away from the glacier but what is really unexpected is how blue the colour of the ice is.  If you can blow these pictures up bigger, you will see all the deep blue cracks and fissures in the ice.

Cold and wet again but thrilled to bits.

These rocks have grooves and scars on their surface where the glacier has scrapped the surface when it flowed over them in the past.

If you look carefully you will see a tiny ship in the bottom right of this picture in front of the glacier - just to give some idea of scale

After our boat trip we went to the Glacier National Park where we were able to view the glacier from different heights and viewpoints along a stretch of catwalks

Looking along the top of the glacier

We were able to see three sides to the front of the glacier (2 sides shown here).  This occurs because the middle of the glacier travels faster than the two outer sides

The front of the glacier showing where large chucks of ice have broken off (calved) and fallen into the lake in front

Just to prove we were really here

16^th February      Leaving Buenos Aires and flying to Calafate

We stayed the night at the Bel Aire hotel in Buenos Aires.  We had a lovely spacious room with a small sofa and table which was very comfortable.  However the room overlooked the street which although provided a great view, could be a bit noisy.  We thought it best to go for a smaller room at the back of the hotel when we return to Buenos Aires for 3 nights at the end of our trip.  At breakfast we met up with Neil and Becky and arranged taxis to take us to the domestic airport for our internal flight to Calafate.  Luckily Becky double-checked the flight time because we were flying out an hour later than we had originally thought.  Another near disaster!  But we caught our flight just fine and the 3hr journey passed quickly and pleasantly chatting to a Canadian gentleman who was originally from Glasgow.  Quite a character and very entertaining .  Once at Calafate we shared a taxi to the Design Suites Hotel with Neil and Becky.  The hotel is located on the shores of the beautiful Lake Argentina and our bedroom has the most wonderful view of the lake, mountains and glacier in the distance.

At 7 o’clock we met up with the other delegates for the conference reception.  (It was still really light at this time). We were treated to some live tango music and dancing which I enjoyed very much.  We also managed to slip out onto the balcony to catch a really lovely sunset – beautiful.

The Design Suites Hotel where the conference was held

The view of Lake Argentina (Lago Argentino) from our bedroom window

Huge window to look out from

Spa bath!  Will be great when I work out how to use it.

 

Dancers dancing to live Tango music at the conference reception

Sunsets over Lake Argentina