Buenos Aires to El Calafate 12th Nov

We got up early and took a taxi to the airport. We were heading south to Patagonia and the town of El Calafate (still within Argentina).

The main reason people go to this town is to see the Peirto Moreno Galcier and so we expected a similar town to Iguazu.

Landing in El Calafate we got on the shuttle bus and headed into town. The first couple of stops gave the impression of good basic accommodation, scattered here and there, with great views of Lago Argentino but on un-tarmaced makeshift roads. However as we approached our Hosteria it became apparent that El Calafate was an established and arguably a more prosperous place than Iguazu.

The town has exploded in size over the last 10 or so years, from ~6,000 to 22,000 locals however unlike Iguazu it looks like they have taken care to try to create a consistent theme, albeit one of 'traditional Swiss ski chalet'. The shops on the main street are mainly either Resto-bars, outdoor clothes shops or gift shops and like Iguazu has a whopping great big out of place casino taking a prominent position on the main street.

We spent the afternoon getting lunch, booking ourselves on to a trip to the Glacier, including a walk on the ice itself and buying food to make lunch for said trip.

Whilst the town was better presented than Iguazu our “Hotel” left a lot to be desired and not a patch on the Iguazu accommodation (but it was cheap!).

Our room, room number 1, was right by the entrance to the hotel and below the squeaky wooden thoroughfare, the shower was missing the knob to redirect the water from the tap to the shower head, the room temperature was like I imagine it would be if sunbathing on Mercury, there was not a fresh thing in site for breakfast and it had a window that would not shut but happily fly open at the slightest movement past it.

We got some snacks for dinner and had a drink in a nice bar, that would have been equally at home on the main drag in Verbier.