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| Day 11: January 1, 2006 - Transit to El Chalten, Argentina |
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Everyone in the city of
Ushuaia got off to a slow start this morning. We
had a 10am pickup to tour the city and then go to
the airport. Esteban met us and we piled into his
Land Rover. He first took us to the beach on the
west side of the city. In order to get there, we
had to drive through the industrial section. Industry
in Ushuaia is on the same plan as the rest of the
country - tax breaks for new businesses expired
in the 90's and everyone packed up and left.
On the beach were a number of campers and a larger
number of revelers who were passed out from the
night before. We didn't take a walk on the beach.
The next stop was to the north of the city in the
ecological neighborhood. It is called this because
no one in that area had electricity, gas or water
from the town - they had to provide it on their
own. Now there are amenities and the view of the
city is one of the best.
We transferred to the airport and flew down to El
Calafate. Typical tour - New Year's day and everyone
but us is picked up at the airport. We called and
the local person arrived and drove us to El Chalten
(about 2.5 hours). On the way, we circled Lake Viedma
which is fed from Glacier Viedma. The water is a
fluorescent turquoise which stretches as far as
the eye can see. We entered Glacier National Park
and had a spectacular view of the cerros and torres
of the park from the entrance road.
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Cerro FitzRoy |
Rio Blanco riverbed |
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We arrived at El Pilar Hosteria around 6 and walked
along the Rio Blanco looking at at Cerro FitzRoy,
Cerro Torre and the glaciers of the peaks. Rio Blanco
is a very cold glacier stream that is very low right
now. We were able to walk out to a point that would
be midstream in another month or two.
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View from El Pilar |
Robin testing the water of the Rio Blanco |
Sunset over the cerros |
The family on the Rio Blanco riverbed |
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We returned to the hosteria and cleaned up before
dinner. Everyone sits around the fire and discusses
their travels. We meet a family who is currently
in California, but was from Millis, MA. They arrived
a few days ago after a cruise down to Antarctica.
They said it was a hard boat ride, but they saw
some beautiful sights.
We concluded out evening with a quick glance up
into the clear night sky. Even around 11pm parts
of the sky were not dark enough to see the stars! |
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