EL CALAFATE & EL CHALTEN (ARGENTINA)

The Patagonia region of Argentina was definately one of the truely breathtaking locations I visited in South America. Following 32 painful hours on buses south from Bariloche, my first destination was El Calafate, famous for one of the worlds largest glaciers, the Pertio Moreno glacier. The size of this thing was absolutely insane with the vertical distance from the water level to the top of the ice shelf being in some parts, more than 80m. The spectacle was further enhanced by the fact that every few minutes, massive chunks of ice were cracking and falling into the water all along the glacier face. This was one of the few places in South America where I felt inclement weather didn't necessarily take away from the spectacular scenery on offer and despite the day I visited being somewhat overcast and cloudy, the sheer monstrosity of the glacier meant one could not deny its magnificence. Needless to say I took literally hundreds of photos of the glacier and surrounding scnery.
































After a brief but definately worthwhile visit to El Calafate and the nearby glacier, I travelled north to the small town of El Chalten nestled in the foot of the Andes range within Parque Nacional Los Glacieres. The scenery here was absolutely spectacular and I don't believe there would be many other places quite like it in the rest of the world although I have heard Canadian's compare it with Bamf in British Columbia. The mountains in this region were like something out of 'Lord of the Rings' and at every mirrador it was possible to take photos containing rugged snow capped mountains, crystal clear rivers and tree foliage in so many shades of yellow, red and orange, it was hard to believe. The photos I took here are amongst the best I have ever taken, but in reality it was difficult not to take amazing photos - all one had to do was literally just 'point and shoot'.

Despite numerous warnings of the potentially horrible weather characteristic of this area, I was lucky enough to enjoy 2 and a half days of clear blue skies and blazing sunshine. However, after talking to a number of other travellers staying in the town, I considered myself quite lucky given that some had stayed there over 10 days before being treated to the same weather which I enjoyed upon arrival. The weather was in fact so warm that a crazy backpacker whom I met on one of the trails, ventured into the freezing cold water at the bottom of one of the glaciers and asked if I could take a photo of him sunbaking on one of the floating icebergs !! In his defence, he was from New Zealand... On my final day however I was treated to the spectacularly erratic weather of the region, as the town was buffeted by gale forced winds for most of the afternoon, making it difficult even to venture out for food without being required to lie down on the ground until the wind eased...

Photos 1 plus 6-9: Shots of the magnificent Fitz Roy range.
Photos 2-5: Cerro Torre and surrounding mountains.