Ice, Ice, baby

We parted with the car for a not so smart bus & sat behind 2 incredibly blonde & bean pole Belgians- Sam and "hey Burt". They were adding more chaos to their trip by travelling by the weather, on a day to day basis, watching the reports & cancelling tickets if it looked even slightly iffy..I hope it all worked out for them.

17 hours later we arived in El Calafate home of glaciers and those much anticipated iceburgs.

The journey wasn't the best, some of it was extremely bumpy & reminicent of Bolivia. Plus we had the bonus of being stopped at a patrol for an inspection that didn't go well , and they sent the bus back to the previous stop an hour away, just beacuse they could we summised.


see our tent blending in (right)

On arrival we pitched our tent just over a little bridge, next to a stream (kept the beers cool in this peachy micro climate), at a fine campsite 2 mins from town. No mossies as its too cold at night for the little darlins & lots of sparrows a tweating. They had the warmest shower block you could wish for which took the edge off those late night trips. Hot water for washing clothes and a very friendly hippy owner all for 10 pesos a night (one fiddy english pounds) bargain, happy campers!

El Calafate: Little town, very touristy but in a quaint wooden cabin kind of way. We get to eat our second decent pizza of our trip (a normal dave Jax staple) so all is well.


nice bar we hung out in (too much u2 though)

Next morning very animated early risers (armed with a jam crackers for lunch) get a 7.30 arranged bus to go see some serious ice.

The Southern Patagonian ice cap is the third largest glacier area of the world after Antarctica and Greenland. This vast amount of ice is continuously replenished with snow created by the wet winds as they rise over the Andes. Large glaciers flow down from this field of ice in multiple directions, some carve into lakes the others etch into the fjords of the pacific on the other side.



The bus travels though the outskirts of this ever expanding town of pointed swiss chalet style buildings and within 20 mins we see the snow capped mountains & surreal coloured lakes. The greenish hue of the water is known as Glacial Milk (created by pulverised minerals from the glaciers underbelly).



On arrival we file onto the boat with 40 odd others (luckily ours was only a quarter full as apose to the first boat where they where packed in like sardeens, it doesnt always pay to book early). Including park entrance it has cost us 50 pounds, quite a lot for us, but to be honest we would have paid 4 times that if we had too.

Its chilly on deck but sunny and this cold blooded girl is toasty in her 6 layers of clothing. We are told its very lucky not to have any wind.

Our first burg comes into view, its a way off but we excitedly take lots of photos not realising we would soon be passing right next to stacks of them.

The lighting is extraordinary, like a gleaming toothpaste filter.



We soon get closer to lots of iceburgs, they were inconceivably amazing, most at least the size of houses, all unique and very different (aparently this place is famed for the variations in shape). Many glow deep blue from the compressed ice & reflected effect of the light.


no its not syrofoam

Hard to belive we are just seeing 15% on top of the water, we get pretty close considering.

As you move passed their complex shapes unfold and shift, as the light skips off the new surfaces.



30% of Los Glaciers park is coverd by ice & the glaciers feed into 2 massive lakes this one is Lago Argentino the largest in the country, 1,466 km².







We were pondering what type of cloud this was, after a thoughtful pause Dave piped up with
"it might not actually be a cloud at all"



mmmm...perhaps its a skyburg?


pic stolen from somewhere on the internet

Or perhaps we´ve discovered a new cloud?



We didnt expect to see this many iceburgs.





Crazy to think these monsters have all broken off glaciers.







Glaciers

The first glacier we visited was Spegazzini, a high glacier & fairly rare as it shows no signs of receding. A piece fell off while we looked at it, which was nice.


Length: 25 km
With: 1,5 km
Height: 80-135 meters
Surface: 66 sq km


Upsala in the distance

Next we went to see the Upsala glacier the largest Glacier in South America. Several glaceirs feed into it and it seems to go on forever dissapearing on the horizon.


Length: 60 km
Width: 5-7 km
Height: 60-80 meters
Surface Area: 595 sq km

Its a branched-valley glacier fed by several others. Though only 60 to 80 meters high at the front it is hundreds of meters thick in the middle. The dark ziz zag stripe is the moraine. This is a medial moraine formed when two glaciers meet, it allows scientists to see the directional changes of the glacier, this one is a particullay important example.



The glacier seems to have stablised in recent years but receded more than 4km between 68 and 95.


The baby glacier above (Onelli) you can see how its retreated.

For lunch we stopped at Onelli bay and walked into a dense moss covered wood, through the trees we could see tempting glimpses of ice. The magic was only slightly dampened by the fact we were in a group of about 40 very chatty other tourists. Finally we came out into the sunlight beside a dazelling milky green lake teaming with chunks of ice fed by the glacier behind.



Marvellous lunch stop.




still life with orangeness


never touched by a human before?

Dave went for an icey cold paddle to get the above specimen.

Lunch went far too quickly & before we'd had a chance to stop playing on the waters edge and go for a walk to look at the glacier, time was up & we were hurried back to the boat.

We lagged behind momentarily so as to have the still & icey wonderland to ourselves.


glacier in the backright

Hot Coffee back on board & the outside decks practically to ourselves as the older passengers rested indoors. We got to see all the iceburgs again from different angels without the rest of the David Baileys.



As the ice retreats from view & the wind picks up we start a craze of lying on the top deck in the sun.

For the last 30mins Dave and I are the only ones outside, we take shelter behind the drivers window from the wind and spray (they look out occasionally, amused, do they know we are Brits?).

Later we have a BBQ Argentinian style: You build a fire up in the corner and once most of it is glowing spread the embers out under the grill to cook on. You keep feeding the small fire in the corner so that you can keep the process going, though the parillas we have seen they normally cook half a cow rather than 2 steaks so it wasnt really necessary in our case.

mmmm steak sandwiches, vino tinto & bed.

After a day of relaxing we head for the Perito Moreno Glacier the most majestic of them all and the one you can get closest too.

We have to pay park fees twice but more annoyingly you can only stay at the glacier for an hour and a half, a shame really as 2 years ago you used to be able to camp right near it.



Anyway, soon we are on the bus and see it swing into view...

Wow!



As we walk down the steps to meet it we hear a loud crack and see a piece of ice fall off the glacier face into the water with a boom. The boom continues a surprisingly long time after the ice has disapeard under the surface. We know from this its a lot bigger than it seems.


semicircle of clear water above is where the ice fell

width 4,500 meters and its
height 60 meters above the water level, and another 130 meters below the water level.
length 37km.



Apparently it is so big it could contain the area of Buenos Aires.



It is one of the few glaciers in the world which is in constant advance and growth. We sit quietly and can hear in groaning, creaking & cracking as pieces fall off in the middle. We decided to visit it in the afternoon as it would be quieter and there are only about 20 or so people on the multi leveled walkway.



The growth actually cuts the lake in two as the glacier buts up against dry land and this creates a damn effect and the rivers flowing into the lake cause the water to rise and eventually carve a tunnel through. About every 16 years the bridge of the roof collapses dramatically, last happened 2004.



We sit willing more to fall from the front & we joke about how wonderful it would be if a peice fell off revealing a wolly mammoth or a diplodavid frozen in the ice.



The sun shines on the spikey beast & we listen to it creeping forward until we have to leave.

Watching Wales

imaginary whale

We wake after a 15 hour bus journey to another rubbish film. The scenery has definately changed, no more lush forests of the north, we are in patagonia proper, flat, arid, endless and very beige. Its very windy here too & has a high suicide rate, so does Tarifa in Spain and thats also very windy & beige. Anyway no time to mourn the jungle those large bulbous Southern right whales are down here waiting just for us.



First a pit stop Puerto Madryn, Chubut district, a massive shallow, windy u shaped bay, site of the first welsh landing isn iTT?

Ohw luck heres our davVid noow...



Our campsite (high above the bay) though windy was quiet & had stray cats doing acrobatics in the rubbish bins for evening entertainment.


tripod with cat

The next morning we throw all our shit into a hire car and hit those rediculously straight & long deserted desert roads. Luckily we get upgraded to a 1.6 ltr chevrolet. Dave drives first & I watch the gargantuan sky & scan the horizon for any signs of life....nothing yet. Its been about 8 years since Ive been behind the wheel but theres no place more apt for a re-introduction and it all comes back easily, great to be driving again,

andale! andale! arriba! arribra!


On route we pop into the visitor center for a bit of education about the whales & stuff. These whales have hands hidden in their flippers, see......



After a couple of hours we reach the home of the whales, Puerto Piramides a tiny sea side village. Its oddly reminiscent of a small cornish cove with a cluster of ice cream, coffee & souvenir shops round the bay entrance & not much else. The campsite is in the dunes & we immediatly get the car stuck in the sand driving round it. Its a basic site but has personal BBQ`s & is only 10 strides to the beach, perfect.


stride eight

We´re loving camping with a car, such a treat.

Down on the beach theres a whale watching party leaving straight away, so we hot tail it to catch up with boat being towed out by a tractor. We were lucky as the weather had stopped boats getting near the whales on the previous 2 days, but today we have perfect condtions. Only Spanish spoken unfortunately, so not as informative as it could have been. But I think we must have seen 15 to 20 whales in the distance, every direction you looked a tail or jet of water was in view.


token tail shot

There was only us and one more boat taking people out, we were pleased the whales (and us) werent being overcrowded. Southern right whales stand out as they have 2 blow holes & the water spurts out in a v shape. We can tell the size of the whale by how deep a sound the expelling of water makes, its really cool.

We get very close to 3 of them and watch as they silently glide by, occasionally flipping their tails in the air to make vertical dives. For a while the mother & calf play right on the bow of the boat, turning and twisting around each other on the surface with their flippers a flapping. Then the calf swam under the bow & he was so close you could see his whole body though the waters surface & the whale was in full view. At one magical moment we heard them singing to each other, really tempting to just dive in and swim away.

We stayed out for 40mins, then reluctantly had to leave. Saw a sea lion pop his head up to say hello on the way back.

Tuna is the way to a cats heart & back at camp we named our new friend orka, here he is....




He`d mew for a while when we went inside our tent & follow us to the loo, faithfully sitting outside till he could trot back to camp with us, bless! We (in turn for his faithfulness) fed him pasta and chased the dogs away.


An American couple Rob & Jenny take a fancy to our car, & we to their contribution so now we are 4 for our trip to see the elephant seals. The next morning we depart having not had to pay for the campsite as its out of season, nice! Some people that were working in the village or on the whale boats were living at the site, they had built walls out of sand bags round their caravans & rigged up complex lighting systems. Heres one......





Rob & Jenny turned out to be "super nice" and full of great tales, they pronounced Chile chiLAY but none of us are perfect, I for example am particularly succeptable to drafts (thanks Oscar).

Dave and I shared the testing driving, you had to concentrate hard on the gravely roads to avoid skidding and stones firing up at the lovely silver paintwork. After an hour of joking that there really were no animals in the whole of patagonia we see some. First herds of shy Guanacos, then these strange creatures (jenny called freaks of nature, a little harsh really) , they were kinda half rabbit half deer. The odd Rhea or two & lots of sheep, one went bucking and leaping all the way across the road in front of us as if it could kick & injure the car, funny sheep!

heres some beige photos.....


Guanacos


freaks of nature


Rea

We stopped at a spot where magellan penguins nest & saw a handful clinging to the cliff. I thought they looked rather sad but I expect this bleak windy place was their idea of a peachy spot (glad I have a wind cheater). They didnt seem to mind people peering at them from the safety of the other side of the fence.




lizard sex also seen here

Next stop the elephant seal colony, we have just missed the mating season so no blubber blood bath for us... fortunately. Shame we wont see any males though, heres Dave with a stuffed one to show you how large they are, and this is only a female.


seperated at birth.

We wind our way down to a path above the beach and below us are a couple of hundred sleepy ladies and pups. They look dead to be honest, (the peeling malting skin doesnt help) then you see the odd one scratch her belly with those ultra dextrous flipper fingers.


click to see larger version for cute faces

Next you notice the twitching, flexing of tails, the odd grunt & sigh. Some are in sardine formation & jostle for position with the odd retaliating bark revealing the blood red insides of their mouths. It all gets a bit too exciting when one lollops off for a swim, fat rippling across the missile shaped body(they have to rest along the way its too much effort in one go). Or you see a couple of young pups play duel at the waters edge. On closer inspection they have the cutest individual seal faces and dont have to do much to be quite enchanting.



The males can have around 6-15 in their hareem on average but one of the guides tells us the record here was a hareem of 150! that must have been one fit blubber bucket.

Theres a lonesome penguin who seems to be lost, he`s wandering across a seamingly endless pebbled beach. Every now and again he stops and looks around "where are they?" We watch him & are glad at least when he finally makes it to the cover of the bushes.

here he is......



and heres a funny looking very nice armadillo we met on the way back to the silver dream machine.



3 hours driving back on even bumpier roads: we pass 2 salt lakes but couldnt really get close, a bit of a missed tourist oppotunity there, finally we hit tarmac, halelughlah!

Back at base we drink beer in the sunshine and listen to Robs mad tales about meeting hells angels: quote of the day "Im here for a good time not a long time!"

Afterwards we watch the sun set on the beach & Dave twats about on a big pole.






again daves drawings alive!

Rob suggests a parrella & we cook some fine steaks covered in chilli & black pepper, strangely they Argentinians dont have a taste for spices I assume the beefs so good they dont want to mask, but we do. Rob cooks garlic & squash over a blazing wood fire & with the ipod on shuffle we consume beer until sleepy. Me & Mrs Jones comes on sung extremely well by my old boss Richard, a nice treat for the campsite!

The next morning Dave & I go off to visit one of the largest colonies of maggelan penguins in the world. Its a hot and tedious 3 hour drive & we dont have masses of time there due to a tardy start but are so glad we made the effort.

On the way we try to avoid squashing the numerous tarantula spiders that have crept onto the road side to sun themselves.





They have made a path right through the colony and the penguins mostly carry on as if we are not there, theres thousands of them here. We see them nesting, sleeping, cleaning, ejecting flourecent poo missiles, swimming, we see their chicks, them having sex (at perhaps too close a quarters right in our way on the path) & quite a viscous bloody fight to boot.



I think they nest in the same place year after year so some have to cross the path and patiently wait for a gap in the human traffic before waddling across, its funny how different individual waddles are. You are not meant to stop on the bridges as the penguins use the underneath as a highway and they dont like walking under if you are there, of course there are big groups of tourists that annoyingly do. We also see a couple of lads with beers?? not really the right place for getting drunk. A shame but the colony is massive so we are only disturbing a small part of it.


they look pretty chipper dont they?

The best bit of the day was sitting on the cliff edge looking down at them entering and leaving the water. At one point a little fellow dives in & has what looks like a most enjoyable wash. Turning on his back & splashing the water over his dirty white belly while vigorously scrubbing with his flippers. Then twisting over and torpedo swimming through the water, surfacing, then repeating the process. He waddles out at one point but decides he could be cleaner and plops back in again.

movie coming soon... or is it??? yes it is..... but is it really?

Have to dash back to aviod driving at night but dont quite manage it. Dave has a hairy hour driving in the dark, its busy & some cars dont have lights on at all, plus there are no streetlights on these long desert roads. Make it back safe and sound, he´s a fine driver.

Next stop the glaciers, both extremly excited............