Fourth stop: Argentina, Part 1: Hiking and lots of chaos

To go further south on the South American continent, we had to make a detour to Argentina, as Chile is not accessible by car for hundreds of kilometers due to its fjords. From Chile Chico, we crossed the border early on Christmas Eve. From there, our journey on the famous Ruta 40 can be described with one word: boring!!!!!! Because in the south, Argentina consists mostly of Pampas, which may be impressive for 5 minutes but then becomes rather sleep-inducing. So we spent our long drive through nothingness with lots of cookies and an audiobook, and finally reached El Chaltén after 600km. Along the way, there were occasional amusements, such as the illogic of Argentine banks, which either had no money at all or allowed a maximum withdrawal amount of €30 and demanded a 25% withdrawal fee. It also seems easier for Argentinians to set up a huge warning sign in front of a pothole than to simply repair the pothole. And the gas stations in Argentina also fascinated us, as they are very scarce and often run out of gasoline. This is why we ended up stranded in El Chaltén for a day, but more on that later. However, a very positive highlight on the route that we don't want to forget is the baby armadillo that crossed the road in front of us (yes, the route was so boring that this was the only highlight worth mentioning).

Arriving in El Chaltén, we spent our days there doing the only thing you can do: hiking. El Chaltén is located in the Parque Nacional los Glaciares and is a pure tourist town that was founded due to its very picturesque mountains in the vicinity.

This jagged mountain range with its famous peaks Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy is beloved by hikers and climbers alike. The fact that very few climbers have managed to climb these mountains makes the scenery even more impressive. So as a Christmas gift to ourselves, we decided to embark on a two-day hike to get even closer to this landscape. With bright sunshine, we set off on December 26th with our backpacks towards Laguna Capri, the first viewpoint of Fitz Roy. After a short break, we continued through open forests and past a beautiful river, always with a view of the mountains and glaciers.

After about 10km, we reached our rudimentary campsite "Poincenot," set up our tent, and embarked on the very steep and strenuous hike to Lago de los Tres with lighter backpacks. This lake is approximately 500m above the campsite and offers a spectacular view of the Fitz Roy peaks.

Back at the campsite, we enjoyed the clear glacial water of the river and set our alarm for 4 am because we really wanted to see the sunrise. Apparently, we were not the only ones with this idea, as the entire campsite woke up at around 3 am and entertained us with a mixture of half-whispered conversations, rustling tents, and techno music. After packing up our belongings, we walked against the flow, not towards Lago de los Tres (not even 10 horses could get us up there again), but to some beautiful ponds and river arms in front of the campsite, where we enjoyed the beautiful sight of the deeply red and orange-colored mountains all by ourselves.

VERY frozen and hungry, we then started our 20km hike through dense forests, past Lago Torres and its viewpoint, back to El Chaltén. Unfortunately, the weather was not very "friendly" to us that day and only allowed us a brief glimpse of Cerro Torre.

In addition to the cloudiness, a storm developed in the afternoon that kept us awake all night at our campsite in El Chaltén. But the storm had one positive aspect: it showed us that our tent could withstand a tornado. Due to this bad weather, we wanted to continue further south as quickly as possible because, as mentioned before, there is nothing to do in El Chaltén besides hiking, and that's not much fun without visibility and in a storm. But we hadn't counted on Argentina.

Let's start from the beginning: El Chaltén is quite remote, and we arrived there with so little fuel that we couldn't leave without refueling. Of course, we had found out beforehand that there is a gas station (or rather a fuel pump) in town. However, to be able to refuel there, you need cash, and the only ATM in this tourist town had run out of cash. But we had prepared for this as well and brought US dollars that we could exchange at a currency exchange office (by this time, half a day had passed). So off to the gas station and then away from the bad weather, right? But we hadn't considered one possibility: the only gas station within a 200km radius had run out of gasoline. Imagine this: 30 cars lined up in front of a fuel pump, 10 hitchhikers waiting at the entrance of the town to be picked up, and nobody being able to leave this place because there is no gasoline. Honestly, as Germans, this was completely new territory for us. But by now, we were used to being patient and spent a few pleasant hours in one of the few restaurants in town that accepted credit cards. Fortunately, the fuel truck made it through the storm by the evening, so we arrived in El Calafate, about 200km away, very late at night and very tired. It's a good thing that it doesn't get dark in Patagonia until 11 pm.

El Calafate was our second destination in Argentina, as it is also located in the Parque Nacional los Glaciares and provides access to a rare natural spectacle. It is only a few kilometers from here to the Perito Moreno Glacier, a glacier that not only grows but also extends almost down to sea level, allowing for a close-up experience.

The glacier also acts as a barrier between two lakes and regularly forms a kind of bridge at the same spot, allowing one of the lakes to flow into the other. Due to the high calving rate of the glacier (Jan's favorite word), this bridge collapses regularly with great noise, which has made the glacier famous worldwide. Although we did not witness the collapse of the bridge during our visit, the proximity of the glacier, the constant cracking, and the falling ice chunks were spectacular.

In El Calafate itself, another tourism-based town, we spent a very relaxed New Year's Eve with ½ kg of ice cream from a very good ice cream parlor and an evening BBQ at our campsite with our neighbor Max. We had originally planned to go to a bar to warm up and wait for midnight, but El Calafate doesn't seem to have a big party scene, and all the restaurants and bars were closed. We drank our last beer together in the lobby of the campsite and wished all the shivering campers a happy new year at midnight.

So we also wish all of you a wonderful new year with lots of health, happiness, and joy in everything you do, and may all your wishes come true.

Song of Argentina: Life is a Highway - Tom Cochrane