While Ushuaia is part of Patagonia, there are 2 more parts of Patagonia that we visited…the southern area of El Calafate / El Chaltén and the northern area around Bariloche. And they couldn’t be more different! Part 1 is about the south Andean mountain area.

El Calafate (pop ~ 25,000)

A short, 75-minute flight from Ushuaia brought us to this very popular part of Patagonia. It is named for the Calafate (berberis buxifolia), a blueberry-like bush that grows everywhere here, with its berries popular in jam, liqueurs, and syrupsIt sits on Lago Argentina (largest lake in the country) and grew from a wool-traders outpost to a city in the desert when the national park Los Glaciares was established in 1937. Our AirBnB host moved to the city as a child in the late 1970s and said at that time, there wasn’t even a hospital or schools. Driving from the airport to the city looked like driving through southeast Alberta or the outback of Australia. Like most visitors, our goal was to visit the only growing glacier on the continent (at the rate of approximately 2 metres/day ) – the Perito Moreno. Again, renting a car allowed us to get to the park, 80 km away, at park opening time, where we could walk through 4.5 km of ‘balconies’ before the arrival of tour bus crowds. We also got to experience Western Union running out of pesos just before the 4-day long weekend of Carnaval. On the other hand, we had an exquisite lunch at a tiny restaurant tucked away in the residential area we were staying, operated by 2 young fellows, one the chef and the owner, one the gardener, sommelier, and all else that needs doing.

Some neighbourhood visitors (‘black-faced ibis”):

Glacarium & Glaciar Bar

our vocabulary for everything glacier has grown like the glacier itself…

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares

El Chaltén (pop ~ 3000)

A 2.5-hr bus ride north is the tiny town of El Chaltén and the national trekking capital.

The whole town exists to serve the needs of hikers and climbers from across the globe. For many, hiking in Patagonia and El Chaltén are synonyms. And the famous symbol for Patagonia brand clothing & equipment originated here.

The climb to Mt. Fitz Roy/Lago de Los Tres was our goal. 26.3 km, 990 metres elevation gain, with 400 m in the final uphill kilometre requiring nearly vertical bouldering. We made it!

M’s ankle held up until the final 3 km on the way down when serious pain served to remind that this problem wasn’t over. A second hike for the next day was shelved. However, ice & ibuprofen (and possibly wine) helped and saw us doing a shorter (6 km) hike to a waterfall a day later.

Scenes from El Chaltén town: S at a ‘restobar’ (waiting for an evening bus), goulash (very popular here), craft cerveza, Patagonian lamb (quintessential), apple crumble (S couldn’t say no), beef & lentil stew, a tea house, street art, wine.

On the road again, this time a 24-hour bus would take us to northern Patagonia…and a whole other experience.