Off The Deep End

Our final day in El Calafte we tried mate, a local tea, for the first time. It was quite bad; the tea was very strong and bitter and gave us all a case of the dizzies. After that we went in search of a cool hostel in which to chill for the remainder of the day and catch up on work, drink beer etc.
Jammie came through in a big way. SHe found a place that was a combo of a sweet bar, great asada restaurant and hostel. If we were staying another day we would have been set!

We left El Calafate at 3 AM on a 36 hour bus ride to Bariloche. The trip would actually take us south-east out of our way to Rio Gallegos before turning north along the coast. After about 24 hours the bus heads inland again back towards the Chilean border and the mountain towns of Esquel, Bolson, Bariloche, San Martin and then keeps going to Mendoza.
We slept, ate the food we brought, watched a series of increasing bad movies and watched the Patagonian steppe give way to desolate coastline and then awoke the last morning to mountains, lakes, rivers and forested slopes.

Jammie describes the awesome nature of the Perito Merano Glaciar. Words fail, but here she goes trying anyway.

This time lapse fails to capture the power and majesty of the glacier, but it is all we have so enjoy.

Back in El Calafate after the glacier was a bit of a let down. To cheer us up we had the help of an adorable kitten who lived at or near the campground in town where we stayed. He was so friendly and would jump into your arms and purr like crazy. Before we left we rewarded his affection with some caned tuna fish. Lucky little devil!

Every year thousands of tourists flock to El Calafate on the shores of Lago Argentino. This town serves as the gateway for Parque Nacional Los Glaciars which features at least a dozen glaciers, but none as impressive, famous or accessible as the Perito Merano Glaciar.

We left Chile behind to venture across the border into Argentina. Ben had prepared us for the horrors of customs and immigration from his prior trip across this particular border. To our pleasure and surprise Argentina could apparently care less what we brought into their country. Unfortunately we had needlessly ditched our mayo, mustard and peanut butter and I had pointlessly hidden my coffee, chocolate and other foodstuff contraband.