Kathleen
Argentina – El Chalten
April 4, 2014
We flew from Montevideo to Buenos Aires (this is a very short flight) and then got a transfer to El Calafate in Argentinian patagonia (About 2.5 hours). Although we plan to visit Buenos Aires, it was getting well on into autumn in the far south, and we wanted to try for some decent weather in which to do some hiking. This was not our best experience to date in foreign travel. We flew on Aerolinas Argentinas. When we arrived about two hours early to the airport in Montevideo, we were informed that they could not give us a boarding card for our flight until we paid the Argentinian entrance tax (a fact that was never indicated to us by the airline or in the research we had done related to Argentinian travel in advance. This would not have been such a big deal (although it was about $150 each) however, the only way to pay this tax was to log-on to some web site, register, put in your credit card information and print a receipt. As we were standing at the airport, with our electronic devices on our backs and no travel printer, this seemed like a daunting task. We were directed to a place in the airport where you could pay for internet access and printing, however, the place didn’t open for another 45 minutes. When we indicated this to the gate agent, he offered to change our flight to a later flight, which was certainly not our first choice given that there was only one possible connection to Pategonia that day. We asked if they could look after our luggage while we ran around trying to figure out how to get this task accomplished. They said yes and my bag went back on the belt. After a stressful hour spent finally getting the receipts for the taxes, we went back to the desk and the agents indicated that they had no idea what happened to my bag. At this point we were forced to agree to take the later flight while they tried to locate my bag. Once it was too late to make the earlier flight, the agent indicated that his colleague “remembered” that they had tagged my bag and put it on the prior flight, however, the tag was in someone else’s name. This day had every indication of ending really badly, however, we managed to make it to Buenos Aires on the later flight and in time for our connection as well as find my bag in a random, uncared for spot in the claim area. Besides for a lot of frustration, the only lasting damage was that after all of that, I ended up with a jewelry case that was completely empty. I have a travel case that I have travelled all over the world with and never had an issue. The jewelry I travel with is all costume, but this was a big blow anyway as there were a number of items in my case that I was very fond of and I also happened to be wearing only one very small bracelet that day as I don’t like to wear excess jewelry on travel days. I was sad about this loss, but I guess it will give me an excuse to pick up some South American jewelry along the road……anyway, at this point I cannot reccommend Aerolinas Argentinas!
Back to Pategonia….
El Chalten is about two hours’ drive from the El Calafate airport. We drove directly there to the little apartment we had rented for four nights. The town is literally in the middle of nowhere (we passed nothing en route from the airport) and the approach is stunning with the glacial massives looming in the background. Here is where we are lucky, the reports we have read indicate that you can see the massives from town only on clear days, and it is clear from the moment we arrive until the moment we leave.
We have two amazing hikes, one to a lake at the base of one of the glaciers and one to a high viewpoint that takes in the glacier and the entire valley. The weather is perfect for hiking, between 65 and 70 degrees and sunny, and we consider ourselves extremely lucky.
The little town seems to have grown up completely to service backpackers and hikers and is charming in its own rustic way. There are many hostels and eating establishments where reasonable meals are available. The variety at the grocery store is pretty sparse, but this seems like a small price to pay in such a beautiful, relaxed location.
Unfortunately Steve is attacked by digestive malaise on the day of our second hike, and we are pretty much forced to hole up in our apartment for the entire next day, while he attempts to recover. The day after, we head back to El Calafate and the P. Moreno glacier, which is the largest and most visited glacier in Argentina, sadly leaving El Chalten behind.
