Patagonia-3 El Calafate

We had a long drive from Puerto Deseado to El Calafate across the Patagonia steppe. We stopped a number of times along the route, the first being at the Jaramillo Petrified Forest. We went on a nice hike around the park. 

It was a beautiful area, despite being arid and windswept. It was clearly a harsh environment for both plants and animals to survive. 

On our walk we saw a small fox cub hiding, but I was not fast enough to get a picture. We then saw an adult Andean fox (I think), presumably the mother, who was trying to get us to move in the opposite direction, away from her cub. 

I got pictures of other “wildlife,” including a cicada and a lizard, both colorful. 

On our drive, we saw numerous guanacos along the road. Guanacos are closely related to llamas, but unlike llamas, guanacos have never been domesticated. 

It was a long drive, and periodically we stopped to stretch our legs. At one of these stops, our tour leader, Nate, and our Patagonian guide, Sebastian, talked to us about the harsh environment in the steppes and how plants adapted to survive under these severe conditions. Of course, I took photos of insects, flowers, and the grasses. And Rod from our group took a picture of me taking pictures. 

We had seen lesser rheas from the bus, and on this walk, Patti from our group found the shell of a rhea egg. Lesser rheas (also known as Darwin’s rhea) are large flightless birds related to ostriches. 

 

We had another stop at a scenic overlook where we could see Lago Argentino (Lake Argentino) and the Andes mountains in the distance. The peak of the Andes forms the border between Chile and Argentina. We would be spending the next two days exploring Lago Argentino and its glaciers. 

We arrived in El Calafate after a long drive. El Calafate is situated on Lago Argentino, and the glaciers make tourism a big industry in the city. 

The next morning, we went to Lago Argentino to board a ship for a lake cruise. It was a good-sized ship, and they provided a good lunch. In advance, I think I was probably doubtful about something as touristic as a cruise, but it was wonderful. We saw great things and had a lot of fun. 

The lake is quite large, with many separate inlets fed by multiple glaciers. We traveled all day on the ship and saw many different locales. I geotag my photos, and thus I can see where I took photos in my Lightroom software. 

The sights were amazing, with views of the Andes, glaciers, and icebergs floating on the lake. While there was a warm cabin, I spent most of my time outside on the bow of the ship. 

The icebergs were amazing! 

This iceberg looks like a dinosaur vertebrae. 

This looks like a blue whale trapped in an iceberg. 

Here is a group shot. 

Chris from our group took this picture of me, Nate, and Finn, in front of an iceberg. 

The ship landed at Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Los Glaciares National Park), and we disembarked for a walk through the forest. A crew member from the ship led the walk and gave us a talk about the area and the cabin that we saw. Historically, there had been an estancia (ranch) there, and the cattle had badly damaged the landscape; there were a lot of dead trees. There are still cattle there, now wild, who are still damaging the land. It is too difficult and expensive to round up the cattle. 

This is Gunnar and Lana from our group after ducking under the tree barrier on the trail. 

I think Puesto Las Vacas means Place For The Cows. 

We returned to our ship, the ship returned to the dock, and we returned to our hotel in El Calafate, where we spotted a Black-Faced Ibis and a Southern lapwing in the hotel garden. 

The next day we had a longer drive into Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, where we were met by Catalina, a local guide. Catalina led us on a hike and told us about the local ecology and provided information about the massive Perito Moreno glacier. 

Catalina pointed out parasitic plants that grew off trees. 

She showed us a parasitic mushroom called llao llao or Cyttaria hariotii. The tree defends itself by generating growths or “galls.” The mushrooms are edible. 

Lana from our group took a picture of me in front of the glacier. 

I got a short video of a calving event. The best part is the vocal comments from the people around me. 

Our guide Catalina took a group picture with my camera. 

We ended our hike at the Resto del Glaciar restaurant, where we had a late lunch. 

After lunch, we walked down to the lakeshore where people skipped stones across the water, played with the icebergs that had washed ashore, or took pictures of birds. 

We named one iceberg “Delicate Iceberg,” inspired by Utah’s iconic Delicate Arch. 

One of our group leaders, Chris, had smuggled a University of Utah flag into Argentina, and she used my camera to take a group photo in front of Delicate Iceberg. This picture appeared on the University Go Learn Program’s Instagram page. 

After returning to our hotel, Chris and Nate asked us to gather in the hotel garden, where they had snacks and drinks. Our drinks were chilled with genuine glacier ice that Nate had secretly brought back from the lake! 

My last pictures are from back at the lake shore where I was taking pictures of birds. Well, one bird, anyway, a Chimango caracara, which is a bird of prey in the falcon family. I got pictures of the caracara on the ground… 

I got pictures of the caracara in the air…

I even got a picture of the caracara in front of Delicate Iceberg…

… and an enlargement from that photo makes a spectacular picture!