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Patagonia
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| Torres del Paine |
It is about a 3 hour drive from Mount Fitz Roy near El Chalten to the Perito Moreno Glacier, outside of El Calafate.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the few advancing
glaciers in the world. It directly feeds
Lago Argentino. A thirty minute drive from El Calafate, then walking
the scaffolding to the glacier is worth the trip. Getting up close you sense the size of the
glacier, but I don't fully realize it until I spot a tour boat cruising
alongside. If I didn’t look close I
would not have seen it.
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| Perito Moreno Glacier |
The glacier
towers almost 250’ above the surface of the lake. We can see the mountains in the distance
where it is flowing from. Several times
we hear the crack of thunder, or so it seems, but the sky has intermittent clouds. Only when we notice a large slab of ice
falling onto the lake do we realize that the thunder is the ice calving and
breaking off the glacier. It is hard to
imaging the size of the splash and waves formed by the falling ice sheets. Air flowing off the glacier feels cool in the
sun; cold in the shade. Condors soar
high above us finding thermals near the lake, far from the glacier. The top of the glacier; made up of many
peaks, is white and blue. The sides of
the glacier are streaked with mud having picked up debris sometime during its
travel.
A few miles into
Chile we find a road that we think leads us to Torres del Paine. We are not certain at this point; it doesn’t
seem to go in the right direction; again there are no signs that really direct
us. Trying another candidate we decide
the original road has to be the one; our candidate becomes a two track rough
road after a mile or so. The real road
is only slightly better. There is
construction for several miles, which isn’t bad, in fact the parts under
construction are in better shape than the parts not under construction. It’s a good thing the roads are devoid of
traffic; it allows me to slalom from one shoulder to the other dodging
potholes. Approaching the park the
mountains get higher, the lakes larger.
Our jaws drop at the deep blue color of Lago Sarmiento. Guanacos and rheas, birds distantly related
to ostriches, stroll along the road.
Arriving at the park entrance at the end of the day we decide to make a
run for our Airbnb in Puerto Natales before it gets too dark. Being so far south the sun rises early, we
are not certain when as it is already up when we wake, and sets late; after
nine with the sky still being light well after 10.
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| Flamingos |
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| Rhea |
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| Guanaco |
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| Torres del Paine |
Our next day is the big day for discovering Torres del
Paine. Since we have already driven this part of the road we speed back to the park entrance. Today’s views are ordinary when compared with
the previous day. The clouds are always
interesting looking like flying saucers hovering above. Talking with the park officials we find out
that we are lucky, the previous week’s weather was rainy with few views of the
mountains. The views of the mountains
just gets better at each bend in the road.
We are close, much closer than Mount Fitz Roy seen only the previous
day. It feels like we can almost touch
them.
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| Salto Grande |
Our next stop is Salto Grande, great waterfall. The water is milky blue from the
glaciers. When the sun is out a rainbow
forms in the mist from the falling water.
Returning from lunch before continuing our trip I spot another flat
tire, a different one from a few days earlier.
Having done this already I know where the parts are and the routine to
get the crippled jack to work. I seemed
to remember that the toy spare is only good for 80 – 100 km; we are about 140
km from town. One of the park workers
sends us to one of the park hotels for a repair. They conduct many tours from the hotels so
they have their own tire shop. Limping
along the gravel road for many of our 80 km we arrive at the hotel. They are not certain they can repair our
tire, there’s no way to work for a random tourist coming with a flat. After discussing the issue with the lead
person they decide it can be done.
Finding the hole in the innertube they quickly repair the tire although
it still leaks through the nozzle. Not
wanting to drive on this tire I ask them to put the spare back on hoping it
will hold up for the long drive home.
It doesn’t.
We all know the routine, only this time the jack does not
work, I can get it to the point it lifts the car an inch or two before it
binds, not budging any more. I have
trouble even lowering the jack so I can’t get it off the car. After several cars speed by; without even
slowing, Nicida stands in the middle of the road to get someone’s attention and
help. A guide with a couple tourists
stop and help remove the spare tire and jack, then assist installing the
original leaky tire. Once on the road –
every few miles - Nicida has me hang my head out the door of our moving vehicle
checking the condition of the tire – still good, looks round. The last 25 miles of our trip back is tense,
there is no cell phone coverage, fewer people are on the road, the day is
getting late and we are driving on a known leaky tire – but we make it.
The tire shop, a one man operation out of his
house is busy when we drive up. Waiting
our turn we call the local Hertz rep and get a response. They show up to find out what happened
bringing a new jack we can use if we get yet another flat. No, they will not pay to replace the
spare. Our argument is that no one came
out to help, we had no recourse but to drive on the spare. They remain firm in their argument so we pay
for the spare, given the history of our tires I don’t want to tempt fate again.
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| Cueva del Milodon |
As much as we want to return to Torres del Paine we opt to
visit Cueva del Milodon, much closer than Torres del Paine, therefore less
opportunity for another flat. A Milodon
was a large sloth that went extinct approximately 5,000 years ago. Humans are dated to have been here starting
around 6,000 BC. We are not able to
extensively tour the area, we have a three hour drive to Punta Arenas our final
destination before boarding a plane tomorrow for a return flight to Santiago.
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| Milodon |
I’m happy to report that there were no tire incidents this
day. After our dinner at a local
restaurant we treat ourselves to hot chocolate and sugary churros. Later that night we discover one of us is
missing our passports. A frantic call to
the restaurant goes unanswered, they closed an hour earlier. Calling the police gives us the unexpected
answer that the passport and purse was found and turned in to the customs
office for pickup. 90 minutes later we
are all breathing easily; everything is in place.
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'Love of the Wind' statue
Puerto Natales |
Returning to the airport we stop at the Hertz counter to
discuss our tire issues with the Hertz people.
They have decided to reimburse us for the spare tire. They had talked with the Hertz people in
Puerto Natales shortly after we spoke with them about the spare tire issue so
they were prepared for us. The rest of
the trip to Santiago went well.
Another, unexpected TSA occurrence happened on our trip back
to the states. Having made it through
the TSA lines we assumed we were okay with taking water on the plane. Walking down the last jetway we get herded
into separate lines, asked several questions, open our bags for inspection and
are told we have to pour out the water we have in our flasks. Just when you think you have it figured out…
The flight back to Dallas was good. I’m not certain on the landing; either it was
the best landing I ever experienced or my butt was so numb from sitting in the
same spot for the last 9+ hours I didn’t feel it.
Our adventure was outstanding. We spent 5 weeks in South America, went
through three countries, saw and learned much about the culture that we had
never heard. All our planning paid off
in the end, everything fit together; schedules, locations, tours,
AirBnb’s. While it may have been easier
to have someone else put everything together we feel great satisfaction in
having done it ourselves.
The end.... of this adventure, more are coming.
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
Leaving El Calafate we are on our way to Torres del Paine,
another famous series of mountain peaks in the Andes. The road is long, we follow along the east
side of the Andes unsure if we missed the turnoff crossing the Chile/Argentina
border for the last time in our rented car.
We stop to talk with a couple in a car pulled off the side of the
road. They are equally puzzled by the
lack of any indication that there is a place to cross into Chile. Continuing on, we find a small saddle between
mountains with a gravel road meandering through and a small sign indicating the
way to Chile. The sleepy customs office
was anything but sleepy. I mistakenly
drive the car to the Chile side of the gate before the paperwork is
completed. An official chases me and the
car back 50’ to the Argentinian side of the gate not letting the car pass until
the appropriate number of stamps are applied to the appropriate papers.
A few miles into
Chile we find a road that we think leads us to Torres del Paine. We are not certain at this point; it doesn’t
seem to go in the right direction; again there are no signs that really direct
us. Trying another candidate we decide
the original road has to be the one; our candidate becomes a two track rough
road after a mile or so. The real road
is only slightly better. There is
construction for several miles, which isn’t bad, in fact the parts under
construction are in better shape than the parts not under construction. It’s a good thing the roads are devoid of
traffic; it allows me to slalom from one shoulder to the other dodging
potholes. Approaching the park the
mountains get higher, the lakes larger.
Our jaws drop at the deep blue color of Lago Sarmiento. Guanacos and rheas, birds distantly related
to ostriches, stroll along the road.
Arriving at the park entrance at the end of the day we decide to make a
run for our Airbnb in Puerto Natales before it gets too dark. Being so far south the sun rises early, we
are not certain when as it is already up when we wake, and sets late; after
nine with the sky still being light well after 10.
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