I’m a city girl through and through. I love the ease of cabs, corner stores and gyms you don’t need to drive to. I love lipstick and not needing an excuse to overdress because in the city you’ll always be less dressed than at least one person. So it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to hear me say I’ve never been too interested in backpacking. Whatever it makes me, I’ve never had the desire to carry my life on my back and forego a shower for more than 12 hours. However, Patagonia is one place where if I have the chance to return, I’ll forget my hygienic morals, put on those unbecoming “shoes” and maybe even wear pants that zip off at the knees. If that isn’t an indication of how incredible it is then how about this:
Milky green. Seafoam green. Hunter green. Cerulean blue. Catalina blue. Sky blue. Camel. Gold. Rust. These are the colors of Patagonia.
There are no words I can think that could urge people enough to put El Calafate and El Chaltén on their bucket lists. These Patagonian cities aren’t even at the tip of Argentina, nor on the coast, but you literally feel like you’re on the edge of the earth. The air is just different that far south. It has an untouched quality, so crisp and fresh that you feel rejuvenated, almost healed by breathing it in. The long hours of sunlight, the kilometres you can drive without seeing another car, let alone a telephone pole, street sign or building, transports you to another world that’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
Dave and I visited in November 2014 and spent Thanksgiving Day hiking on a glacier and celebrating an intimate holiday evening for two, warming ourselves next to the coals of our table-side grill and toasting with an insane bottle of malbec that cost less than I spend on shampoo. Yeah…definitely on my ‘return-to’ list.
When: November 2014
Where: El Calafate, Argentina
Stayed: Hotel Terrazas del Calafate
Itinerary: Buenos Aires –> Colonia –> Montevideo –> El Calafate –> Buenos Aires
After a few days in Uruguay, we headed south to Patagonia. El Calafate was the perfect jumping off point for the two main destinations on our list, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and El Chaltén. On our first day, we booked a full day trekking excursion on Glaciar Perito Moreno. The trek isn’t anything strenuous but it puts you on top of a natural wonder in a pretty unique experience. Not to mention the shades of blue withing the glacier are breathtaking.
The next day we rented a car and drove the 220km (136mi) to El Chaltén. The drive was easily as stunning as the destination and we really felt the untouched quality to the scenery on this part of the trip. Had there been time to stay overnight in El Chaltén we could have done some cooler hikes (ahem, backpacking), but we were limited on time and only had long enough for a day hike. While I think Yosemite National Park is more striking in person, there are so fewer people in Patagonia that it seems more special.
We spent the evenings exploring the town of El Calafate which itself feels a bit touristy – souvenir shops, chocolate shops, and tour offices. Yet for how touristy it is there’s still a charm to it, especially while dining at La Tablita.
There’s so much love about exploring cities, but every once in a while it’s nice to look out at the horizon and see not one building in sight.
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