Flamingos and impressive mountain ranges

In addition, we took care of provisions and cash for the next 3-4 days, as the supply of food and cash in El Chaltén is reportedly difficult according to Lonely Planet, reports from other travelers, and information from tourist offices.

The next day, we set off very early in the morning to the hiking and climbing paradise, which is about 250km away. Fortunately, on the first day, after persistent inquiries, we were able to take the bus almost to our hostel. Tip: If someone arrives with Chaltén Travel, they can take the bus to the other end of the town (Hostel Rancho Grande) and do not have to carry all their luggage to the other end of the town :-) You just have to politely ask the bus driver or, in our case, convince him ;-)

Arriving at our accommodation, which turned out to be more or less a heated "container," we explored the town on this day because the weather was too stormy and rainy for a smaller hike. At the same time, we booked an additional night in the opposite hostel Rancho Grande (highly recommended) and the bus ride back to El Calafate to have some planning security for the next days.

The town of El Chaltén actually only appeared on the map in 1985, founded due to border disputes with Chile and to assert the claim to the region. It is a tourist town under construction, which currently has no more than 1,600 inhabitants. In the Patagonian winter, this place is almost completely deserted. Nevertheless, you can already see in some places how new and even more luxurious accommodations are being built. So, if you want to experience a few beautiful hiking days at the foot of Fitz Roy in Argentina and don't want to share the hiking trails with other tourists in a "single-file," you should probably visit El Chaltén in the next few years. By the way, Fitz Roy means El Chaltén in the language of the indigenous people (smoky mountain), although it is not a volcano. The name is derived more from the clouds that are often visible at the top of the mountain.

Due to the weather reports, we decided to tackle the hike to Cerro Fitz Roy the next day. We only realized how lucky we were with the weather in retrospect. We started the quite challenging 22km hike in the morning. While Fitz Roy initially showed itself shy, reserved, and covered in clouds, we hoped that this would improve throughout the day due to the strong winds.

The 22km hike was quite long, and we were glad when we arrived back in El Chaltén in the evening.

The next day, we actually wanted to do another big hike to Cerro Torre, but this completely fell through because the strenuous hike of the previous day, combined with Lisa's not fully healed cold according to the diagnosis of our private, retired, French family doctor :-), who shared our room with his wife, had taken a toll on her stomach. So, unfortunately, the day was spent in the hostel with nausea, fever, and stomach cramps, although the weather had also turned again and the hike would not have made much sense.

In the next few days, we will travel from El Calafate to Puerto Natales in Chile and from there further to Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in Chile, from where we hopefully want to visit as many penguins as possible.