El Calafate & El Chalten

A double whammy??? Yeah gang, two cities (towns) in one here, big stuff.

Let’s make it bigger even, let’s start in Porto Natales, make it a three for one. Our bus back from Torres del Paine was delayed meaning our small window in Porto Natales to tie up all of our loose Chilean ends was even smaller. See, our plan was to wake up in a tent in Chile, and fall asleep in a hotel in Argentina.

Porto Natales featured the most efficient errand run I have ever pulled. Stop 1, drop the rental stove off. Stop 2, the rental pot. Stop 3, order a pizza for pickup. Stop 4, grocery store, get snacks and our dinner. Step 5,Pick up the pizza. Get back to the hostel where our packs were. Crush a pizza. 30 minutes. (but I forgot the stickers Cam wanted from the rental shop)

Cam did good too, repacking both of our bags, and figuring out where exactly we were actually sleeping. We forgot to book a room prior.

With time to spare, we made it back to the bus stop, accidently buying a reverse sticker (why is the design on the inside????) and departed for El Calafate, leaving Chile one final time.

Crossing into Argentina was much easier this go round. The only snafu was the as promised strong Patagonian winds taking my toque as a souvenir for itself. That little buddy flew way too fast for anyone to grab it. We made it to El Calafate without further incident, and promptly passed out.

El Calafate is a nice little city. The centre of it is very similar to a Canmore or Banff, lots of tourist shops and a Christmas air to it. Nothing was open early, which was frustrating. We aimlessly wandered for a bit, before all the goofy souvenir shops opened and we checked them out. Breakfast was some overpriced empanada’s. We tried to go to a restaurant, but they literally would not take our order for food, completely ignoring us, so we left.

We were not staying long though, as El Chaltén was our final destination. We boarded another bus for 3 hours, and traversed through the expanse flat that is southern Argentina, around the massive glacial lakes. It is really flat and barren once you separate from the mountains.

El Chaltén is a funny little town. It is the base for hiking the famed Chilean peak Mount Fitz Roy. Chilean? But we just came from Chile? Yeah. The area was part of a bunch of border dispute stuff between the countries over the last 150 years, and was awarded to Argentina in 1985. But part of that agreement is that Chile has land access to the peak of Mount Fitz Roy. And that’s as far as the agreement got. If you look at a political map of the area, the border line just kind of, ends. They haven’t sorted out the glacier bits yet, but considering its all ice, there’s not a major rush to do so.

That’s not the only reason its funny. It only exists as a gateway to hiking, so the entire town is accommodations and restaurants. Lots of day trips of old people from Calafate come for a visit as well. But the entire town operates as mostly cash only, and there’s not really anywhere to get cash in town.

Ok, so in Argentina, Milei just got elected, the guy who wants to dollarize the Argentine economy. The side effect of this that affects us is that places are much stingier with cash. It’s hard to access for a tourist, but more importantly in the grand scheme of things for the public. Our hostel only took cash, and we had no pesos.

Cue the most stressful hour of the trip. The standard exchange houses of laundromats and hostels wouldn’t take our last USD, which had the unfortunate features of being marked. The ATM had a miniscule limit. It was our 5th attempt, at a hostel across town, that finally took our money for exchange, and we were back in business. We then switched hostels to one that would take card.

For dinner, we splurged (they took card too). Accidentally, we ended up with the last table at an in demand set menu parrilla (grill). We started with some deliciously fried empanada’s, before receiving an assortment of sausages, sauces, and baked cheese. The cheese with the tomato based sauce was exquisite. A much needed salad followed, as we hadn’t had a lot of veggies recently.

And then the steak. There’s something about Argentine steak that is just consistently perfection. The potatoes that come with are a bonus, but the steak. Its always grilled over the charcoals well, cooked perfect, and the right amount of seasoning. It will never get old.

A yummy brownie for dessert, and thus ended our impromptu O-Trek celebration meal.

We did one small hike in El Chaltén. An hour in and out to a nice waterfall. The path followed along the road for a bit, before darting into a marsh and then up a hill, across a parking lot with way too many cars, and then finally the waterfall. It was a busy lookout. I can’t imagine driving when the walk was to short and easy, but the crowds were a result of that. Oh well.

If you noticed, I said small hike. Who cares that we just spent 8 of the last 11 nights in a tent. Want to spend 2 more? Yes? Then join us for our next fantastic backpacking adventure. See you there!