Glacier hike, mountain hike and off to Chile
Published: 14.03.2018
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and we're heading to El Calafate once again,
to the Perito Moreno Glacier.
I'm fulfilling a long dream: a glacier hike!
Let's go...
Cheers!
Now let's move on ...
To El Chalten and the Fitz Roy mountain range (behind the clouds).
Impressions from El Chalten
El Condor passes:
Our camping spot
Despite relatively bad weather, we set out on the journey
But we all agree, today no one would want to walk the 24 km again!
The approaching autumn with quite cold temperatures is urging us to hurry north. We still catch ourselves associating warmth with the south. And the question of how the sun moves on the southern hemisphere keeps coming up. For example, we spontaneously choose the roadside cafe that will surely get some sun, only to realize that the trees are providing more and more shade. We were completely confused when we saw a monument with an anchor and compass, with the 'O' clearly pointing west, and it took a thorough debate before the penny dropped: in Spanish, west means Oeste.
So far, we are approaching the 10,000 km mark, these countries are really vast. The fact that we often have long gravel sections to cover sometimes means we only manage to drive 300 km for a whole day. In addition, there are possible ferry crossings, as the roads, even if the map suggests otherwise, are not continuous. We realize that our previous strategy (arriving in the evening, doing something the next day, then shopping, refueling, and resting on the following day, and continuing the journey) will not get us to Santiago on time. So we have to tighten up the schedule. What sounded like months of laziness now turns into work.
At least Petra has finally fulfilled her dream of a glacier hike. Louis was too young in 2004 in Norway, the tour was fully booked for days in Iceland despite absurd pricing and the weather was grim. This time we almost failed again, but luckily the age limit here was 65. Phew!
The border crossings between Argentina and Chile are also remarkable. Every time, I am reminded of 'Asterix in Switzerland'. Those familiar know what I mean: The picture with the moss-covered sign 'Gaul, Roman Empire' on the same pole as the shiny sign 'Helvetia, also Roman Empire'. You can see the photo documentation above.
One thing the Chileans are not quite good at is ferry unloading. In an unbelievably cumbersome procedure, trucks with trailers, buses with trailers, camper trailers, and cars were directed by about 20 neon-colored guides. All this in gusty wind and pouring rain, of course, in the middle of the night, until nobody felt like it anymore and the chaos finally cleared up. So we were finally allowed to board and arrived on Chiloe Island at 7:00 am this morning. So we are quite on schedule again, especially since the roads here actually live up to their name.
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Answer (1)
Leander
Sehr,sehr schöne Fotos. Ein beeindruckender Reisebericht. Ein Genuss das zu sehen + zu lesen :-) DANKE!!!