Day 298: Ruta Cuarenta – Day 3
We had the most wonderful night’s sleep (in a real bed!) and a huge, warm, selection of breakfast pastries, eggs and coffee for breakfast – we checked out of the hotel in El Calafayte feeling like a million bucks. Since the road to and through Glaciers National Park is completely paved, we decided to keep risking it and finish our Argentinean sight-seeing before returning to Punta Arenas to fix the rental car. After all, there was a decent chance there wouldn’t be a Subaru tire available in the city (we checked online – there is only ONE Subaru dealer in Chile and it is in Santiago – the chance that Europcar would have to special order a new tire was pretty high). If that was the case, we might have had to get a replacement car instead, and that car would not have a permit to cross into Argentina (it takes a full week to process the permit). We would hate to get stuck in Chile and miss *everything* in Argentina, so we crossed our fingers and continued down the road…very slowly…
Enjoying a delicious breakfast buffet – WITH HOT COFFEE!
Driving (slowly) toward Glaciers National Park
Glaciers National Park is the largest park in Argentina and home to one of its most famous attractions: The Perito Moreno Glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier is massive: 30KM long, 5KM wide and 70M tall. Even so, it is not the biggest glacier in the Patagonian Southern Ice Field, but its easy accessibility and the fact that it is one of the *very few* glaciers in the word that is stable and not receding make it a wonder to behold. We limited our activities to the park’s extensive walkway and viewing platforms, which were flip-flop friendly. Perito Moreno was the most active glacier we’ve ever seen: it advances approximately 2M *per day*, which means it is constantly calving (breaking off chunks of ice). As we stood watching the sunlight dance across the face of the ice, we would hear loud cracks and roars as the glacier moved – every 10-15min or so, we would be rewarded with a piece of ice breaking off the face and falling with a splash into the water.
Glaciers National Park – home to the Perito Moreno Glacier
The Perito Moreno Glacier! In some years, the glacier advances so far across the lake that it reaches the other side (like in this picture), creating a dam separating the Lago Argentino from the Brazo Rico
As we admire the glacier, the clouds part and brighten the face of Perito Moreno
We can easily watch the glacier for hours as the sunlight continues to move and shift, creating dramatic new landscapes
Even though there are hundreds of tourists eager for a glimpse of the glacier, it’s easy to avoid the crowds as the viewing platform is connected to a series of walkways, all with a clear view of the ice
Lindsay & Igor at the Perito Moreno Glacier
Even the view from the forested lower trail is stunning – where else in the world can you see blue ice peeking out through the branches?
We can see the milky-blue waters of Lago Argentino fade into the distance from the top of the walkway. We pass the World’s Smallest Glass Elevator (at least, we’re sure that’s what the Chinese parks would call it) as we head back to the parking lot
All the miradors on the way out of the park are now empty, so we stop to admire the mighty glacier one last time
We spot a pair of Carancho Caracaras at one of the miradors. Unlike the Chimangos we encountered in the bird reserve yesterday, these guys are not at all aggressive
After leaving the park, we backtrack through El Calafayte and stop to pick up enough groceries for the next two days of camping in Argentina. We had discussed possible routes with the guys from the tire shop and they informed us that Ruta 40 actually would have *yet another* patch of gravel as we drove south! They recommended that we veer off onto the local Highway 5 to stay on better turf. Since the road on 5 would take us halfway to the coast, we decided we may as well go all the way to the other side and visit the town of Río Gallegos – the official end of Ruta 40. Sure, we weren’t taking Ruta 40 to get there, but it’s the same ending. We found a paid campground just before sunset (such a relief, as we did not like our freedom camping experience in Argentina – we felt much safer knowing we had permission to be where we were, and that people were nearby).
We stop in a grocery store in town to pick up some more supplies for the road: food and WINE (Argentina has both quantity & quality)
We return to Ruta 40 for a short stretch outside town, then veer off to the left on Highway 5 to remain on paved road while taking a shortcut across the country to the coast
Igor picks up a new pair of sunglasses at a roadside stand when we stop for gas (now he can stop borrowing Lindsay’s)
Just when we were about to despair finding a private campsite along the road, we find a paid campground along a river
Golden Hour in our perfect (nearly empty) campground
The owners dog’s is super friendly and keeps us company as Lindsay prepares our dinner
The owner’s horse, however, is not so friendly. Igor names him “Bite-y”
A stunning Patagonian sunset
We bust out the orange parkas, chocolates and our stolen bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte and pretend we are still on the Seabourn Quest