In Patagonia - finally
Nov 28 - Nov. 30, 2025
It took a while to get here but so far what a place. We have been advised over and over by our guide, local guides and even friends from home to be ready for strong winds, rain, mist, clouds, cold…. Uhmm we arrived in weather and scenery that could have been an extension of Las Vegas trip; why bother with all this travel. Nothing but blue skies, bright sun and terrain that could be easily anywhere east of the Sierras greeted us on our arrival from the four hour flight from Buenos Airas. AND it was in economy class, whine whine.
A short bus ride from the airport and a quick check-in to the lovely hotel here in Calefate and we were off for another home hosted dinner in a lovely ranch-type house on the edge of town. Our host, Gabo was a self taught cook who moved here 20+ years ago with his kids to get away from the rat race of the big city. The meal was a hearty down-home sort of vegetable soup followed by a lamb stew. It seems lamb is the staple down here as apposed to beef in the rest of the country. During dinner Gabo had a running pattern about his life here and his 9 dogs (who we never saw). Other than walks with his dogs he didn’t seem much interested in the outdoor life which seemed like it would be a big deal in this beautiful place. Neither Lyn nor I got a good nights sleep due to dogs barking, cars zooming and distant bar noise. Strange that it was better sleeping a big city then in a small (35,000) town in the boonies.
The next day was up early to head for the Pierrot Moreno glacier. This is a big deal tourist spot with LOTS of tourists. But, as Linda frequently said “there is a reason for lots of tourists… it is a beautiful place”. So hassling the crowds was not great but, the views of the glacier front were pretty spectacular. The whole “spot” was one series of metal walkways and steps going down from the parking lot to near water level in one place. Walking them all, stoping to take pictures and skip around other tourists ended up with about 7K steps. Our local guide, Silvia was really good, making jokes and letting us know some detailed information about the history of the area and the glacier but also little stories about herself and life in Patagonia.
We got back to the hotel just in time to join a smaller group for a wine tasting session of about an hour and half. The pours were generous and wines mostly pretty good with plenty of bread and cheese to soak up any excess to prevent over imbibing. Returning to town for a short stroll around I left the group to head to the Patagonia Bar where the South American championship between Flamingo and Pardonia was being played on TV. Jorge was an ardent Flamingo supporter and there were about a dozen other Flamingo fans in attendance. Brazilians are fabulous soccer fans and when Flamingo scored what happened to be the winning goal they were all dancing, cheering, high-fiving and singing and I joined right in. A beer and a guanaco empanada helped.
The next morning was a very early start (7am on the bus) for a very long ride around a loop, through the Chilean border and to Torres del Pinius. We stopped several times for wildlife viewing and then multiple times as the massive got closer and closer. Indeed it is an amazing bunch of rocks, ice and snow. From two spots it reminded me a lot of the Grand Teton from across Jenny Lake… but with hanging glaciers and multiple peaks. WOW! We keep being warned about the weather, including the story of a disastrous period a week earlier where a major storm with super high winds caught a bunch of trekkers high on a pass with 5 dying from hypothermia. Terrible and sobering in that Erika and Justin are scheduled to do the same trek in just a week from now. We have had fabulous weather so far; Silvia commenting that in 10 years of guiding she had not seen it so wonderful before.
Our hotel “Lago Grey”, was described as being rustic `but is far from it….. though the internet is slow and only available in the common area… whine whine. Our guide provided us with a Calefate Sour before dinner. Oh dear… It is a Pisco Sour with Calefate berries to give it a unique flavor and can really sneak up on you. These are dangerous. I am writing this after dinner (with some wine) so who knows which what where how.. blah blah blah.,…. Done.
I’m glad you hit good weather. Years ago, I followed the blog of woman riding from the north coast of Alaska to the southern tip of the Americas. She quit in Patagonia, beaten by the wind.
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