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Patagonia
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| Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse in the Beagle strait |
We put on over 1,800 miles driving from Punta Arenas to
Ushuaia, then El Chalten, El Calafate, Puerto Natales finally returning to
Punta Arenas. This is just driving from
point to point, I haven’t included the miles going to the sites we visited, easily
another few hundred.
We fly another three plus hours south from Santiago to Punta
Arenas, Chile. No problems with the
flight or the rental car paperwork which we took car of a week earlier while in
Santiago. Four of us jump into the South
American version of a diesel VW Jetta.
Diesel prices are about 2/3 the price of regular fuel. This time we have good power for our
travels. Being this far south the
temperatures drop, 40’s to 50’s and blustery.
We hit a grocery store before departing Punta Arenas; a good thing, the
only places where there are people and conveniences are in the few towns listed
on the map; with several hundred empty kilometers between. 
Our first stop is to wait
for the ferry to cross to Tierra del Fuego on our way to Ushuaia. Dozens of semi-trucks make up one line,
fortunately the passenger car line is short; we have lunch waiting for our turn
to get on the ferry for the 20 minute ride.
Once back on shore everybody stomps on the gas putting on kilometers as
fast as they can to the next distant town. |
| Straits of Magellan |
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| Lago Fagnano |
Fortified, we drive up and over the mountains dropping into
a valley leading to Ushiaia. The skies
are cloudy and gray with more wind. Moving
the luggage into our room and a brief
lunch we head out for our penguin tour. We
are surprised that our main mode of transportation is by bus. We took a lot of time finding the tours in
Ushuaia; you have to read between the lines paying attention to what is and what
is not said. There are only a few tours
that actually land on the island where you can walk among the penguins on roped
off paths; others just go by on a boat.
Wind and a driving rain make photography a challenge; we have to plan to have the wind at our back when we shoot; not always possible, then our cameras dive back under our rain gear. Somehow we feel like we are intruding on the penguins. Our guide is with us at all times herding us from one vantage point to the next. Everyone is respectful of the penguins; no picking them up or sitting next to them like I have seen with other animals at national parks. Tomorrow we catch an early boat tour of the Beagle Channel.
Waking up early we have breakfast and plan to pack with the
idea that once the boat tour is complete we will head out of Ushuaia to Rio
Gallegos; taking the same ferry back, transiting to Chile, then back to
Argentina before arriving in Rio Gallegos.
A long day. Taking the first load
of luggage down to the car I see one of our tires is flat. The company running the tour is picking us up
in an hour. Calling the local Hertz rep
is no help; they don’t have the tools or tires.
The ‘emergency’ number is of no use; they refer us to the local rep we
spoke with a few minutes before.
Fortunately or unfortunately I have lots of experience changing tires so
I break out the jack and start working on the tire. The jack handle is broken; I have to work
with half of the handle; sliding it into the jack and rotating half a turn, then
reposition the handle for the next half turn.
A few minute job becomes a many minute job, but I get the toy spare tire
on just as the tour company arrives to pick us up. Explaining our plight he takes us past the
main tire shop in town so we know where to go to get the tire fixed after our
tour. The tour is enjoyable. We are in the Beagle Channel, one of the channels ocean going ships can sail between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The water is
rough in places, birds and seals rest upon the rocks watching as we go by. Only the two of us regularly venture to the
top of the ship for photos. We have our
heavy winter, wind and rain clothing on; needing every bit of it.
Not certain when and if the ferry stops at night we speed
down the empty roads hoping we will not have to sit at the dock having missed
the last ferry for the night. Arriving around
nine we witness the sun disappearing; turning the clouds gold and pink before
the sky turns black. We are not certain
how safe it is to drive at night, we have seen numbers of guanacos alongside
the road during the day, we are not certain what they do at night. Local truck drivers inform us generally not a
problem. Around 1130 PM we arrive at the
AirBnb, the host is gracious enough to meet us.
The place looks nice and comfortable but we don’t really notice, we
change into our PJ’s falling asleep almost instantly, another, shorter driving
day tomorrow.
The past day’s drive has been a long drive of open desert,
today we will approach the Andes with our final destination El Chalten near Mount
Fitz Roy. |
| Andes mountains |
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| Lago Argentino |
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| Going somewhere? |
Along the way, we stop at a hotel La Leona where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out a few days in 1905 after robbing a bank in Rio Gallegos; today a three hour drive by car.
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| Hotel La Leona |
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| Approach to Mount Fitz Roy |
After stopping several times for photos of Mount Fitz Roy we arrive at El Chalten, a small tourist community with multiple hotels, hostels, restaurants and tourist shops. The town is laid back, the real tourist season isn’t here yet. After dinner we head down the two lane gravel roads for views of Mount Fitz Roy in the waning light. The exposed mesa walls look like a wavy layer cake. We finally return to town as the last rays of the sun disappear from the mountain.
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| Mount Fitz Roy from our cabin |
The next morning Mount Fitz Roy is fully front lit giving us a whole new view. Hiking a one of the trails above El Chalten provides a view of the little town at the base of this mighty mountain. Several hours later we leave for El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier.
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| Mount Fitz Roy/El Chalten |
More Patagonia to come
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
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