Month: May 2013

After my three great days in Patagonia, it was time to return to Buenos Aires. I had just a few full days there before I was scheduled to fly on to my next international destination. Perhaps I will catch a ferry to Uruguay for the day as some people had recommended to me.

Patagonia was absolutely great, but the cold winter weather was beginning to catch up to me. I broke out my spring clothes again and took a ride back out to the airport to catch my flight back to warmer Buenos Aires. When I arrived at the El Calafate’s small modern airport, I proceeded to pony up to the check-in desk to drop off my luggage. They told me that the airport was officially closed due to weather problems, which appeared to be fog, but an announcement would be made in about an hour about when the airport would reopen and when my flight would be taking off.

Now I had been warned about Argentina’s reputation for flight delays by numerous people. I was told when planning out my itinerary for the country that it was essential that I plan arriving back in Buenos Aires the day before I was scheduled to fly out, just in case of any delays there might be in returning. I had three nights and two full days scheduled back in Buenos Aires, so I was in pretty good shape if there were any delays.

Or so I thought! As we waited for the airport to reopen, I couldn’t help but notice that it was actually getting foggier outside. Soon enough, after the not-so-mysterious sudden appearance of armed guards around the airport, the announcement came at the little El Calafate airport that ALL flights that day had been cancelled!

First the announcement in Spanish, of course, and then the announcement in English. Almost immediately after the Spanish announcement there was a run for the check-in desks by the travellers in the airport to try and reschedule their flights. There were very few airline staff behind the desks and, as it became apparent, not many concrete alternatives for getting back to Buenos Aires. The line became very long and very slow by the time I got into it.

Unbeknownst to me, this announcement was actually hot on the heals of a day of cancellations due to the snowstorm the day before. Many of the people scheduled to be on my flight had actually been booted off cancelled flights from the day before – so this was two days in a row for them. This second day in a row of cancellations obviously put them in a serious panic. Although most of the conversations taking place around me were in Spanish, some of the English conversations revealed stories of people missing connecting international flights as a result of two days of delays. Many of them had no travel insurance and had no idea how they were going to get out of Buenos Aires and back to their home countries.

Now granted, there are only about four flights a day out of this airport – but I think that is what turned a small problem into a major fiasco. With so few flights and all the arrival and departure cancellations, there were never any planes available on the ground able to take off when conditions actually improved. El Calafate is really quite a remote place. Big maps on the walls of the airport actually place it closer to Sydney Australia than New York City! And the flight to and from Buenos Aires is 3.5 hours, which probably equals the distance between New York City and Salt Lake City, Utah. Flying is really the only option as the bus ride takes about 4-5 days.

There were a few options floating around. One was to get scheduled on a flight the following day, the other was to catch a 4-5 hour bus ride to an airport at Rio Gallegos on the coast of Argentina and fly out of there. The airline was not offering any compensation due to the cancellations because they were due to circumstances beyond their control. The bus ride, and extra hotel costs, would have to be purchased on your own funds – but they would cover your flight from other cites back to Buenos Aires.

After finally getting my way through the line and up for a chat with an airline staff member, I was advised to spend another night in El Calafate and visit the airline’s office in town first thing the next morning to find out what was likely to happen with the weather that day and get booked on a flight that evening. And if it sounded like that next day’s flight was not going to happen, catch the bus to Rio Gallegos and fly out of there. Both cities were scheduled to have 7pm flights.

So back to my hostel I went. Fortunately, I am tripled up on travel insurance for this trip, so I just had to make sure I kept everything documented and kept receipts for all related purchases. First thing the following morning, I trudged through the town in the slippery ice and snow to find the airline office. Sure enough, a line had already formed outside before they even opened.

By the time I got inside and had my chance to talk with a staff member, I was told that it was likely that day’s flights would be cancelled as well. They would book me on that evening’s flight and, as a precaution, would also book me on a flight the following morning. The idea of catching the bus to Rio Gallegos was discouraged because they said it was likely all their flights would also be cancelled.

Sure enough, within a few hours the fog rolled back in and all flights were again cancelled for the day. What a nightmare! Three days in a row of cancelled flights and no realistic alternatives for getting back to Buenos Aires. Keep in mind that every time another flight was cancelled there was another planeload of displaced passengers trying to get on that next flight out as well. It was a very frustrating situation because in the morning the visibility was great, but as the day wore on the slightly warming weather would create fog out of the snowfall. Because of the distance from Buenos Aires, they didn’t seem to want to take the gamble of flying a plane down if they thought it wouldn’t be able to land – but that left the airport continually devoid of planes at times when visibility was good. Also keep in mind that the mornings are dark until about 9:30am this time of the year, so it can be hard to tell what the weather is like outside early in the morning.

Once the third day of cancellations became official, I was advised to get back down to the airline office for the second time that day to ensure I really did have a seat for a flight the next day, and preferably a boarding pass. As usual, the atmosphere was chaotic, but this time they had armed guards keeping an eye on the crowd. Some people were visually quite upset, but by and large I’ve found most Argentinians to be very polite and respectful of each other on this visit. Much more so than many countries I have visited.

So… Back in the hostel for another night, I’m down to my last chance to get back to Buenos Aires before I need to fly out of the country. My last day before leaving the country and I’m thousands of miles away from where I need to be. But I was actually somewhat optimistic about that next day’s flight because it was the first flight actually scheduled for the morning – and that’s when the visibility had been clear over the previous couple of days.

I woke up the following morning and reached for my iPad to check the flight board app I use to pull up flight boards for various airports around the world. I had checked it for the Rio Gallegos airport the night before, just to see if that bus option would have worked out. Sure enough, it would have – and I would have been safely back in Buenos Aires. And this morning for El Calafate ? Oh no! The morning flight I was scheduled for has been delayed two hours already and hasn’t even left Buenos Aires yet. Here we go again! The later that flight gets down here, I thought, the more likely it will be cancelled because the same fog problem will intensify.

I look out the windows when the first rays of light start to illuminate the place and all I see are more murky conditions and more likely fog. My airport shuttle shows up (nice enough to offer me a free ride) and drives me back out to the airport as if there is nothing to worry about.

I proceed check in, just waiting for them to tell me the airport is closed or the flight will be cancelled.
But it never happens. The airport staff just act like everything is going ahead as scheduled (other than the two hour delay) and I just play along like everything is fine. Will they actually sell me the departure tax? They wouldn’t last time I was there because they had a hunch the flights would be cancelled. Will they let me through security? They wouldn’t last time either.

But today, everything appears to be running as normal. And just as I’m slurping down a coffee in the cafe, I suddenly catch a glint of real sunlight filtering down through the clouds and hitting the ground. And as the minutes ticked by, it actually started becoming brighter and then somewhat sunny! It definitely started to look like this was the day that everything was going to work out.

A few hours later an announcement is made in Spanish and a large bust of applause could be heard throughout the airport. The first plane in four full days has just landed and will be ready to fly passengers out shortly. I can actually hear airport staff give a sigh of relief at the sight of that first plane. Our plane! Soon another couple of small planes land. The airport is finally back in business!

Of course, the flight back to Buenos Aires is packed – although not with anyone I recognise from my original flight. I’m not sure what happened to all those people. Perhaps they all caught the bus to Rio Gallegos and flew out the night before? At least the airline gave us a much more comfortable new plane for the trip home. The plane I flew down on was obviously bought from some German airline because it was full of German and English warnings, with Spanish translations taped on. At least this plane appeared to have been purchased new. There was even a few inches of spare leg room this time. Unfortunately, they handed out the same crappy candy meal.

By the time we descended into Buenos Aires you could see huge puddles everywhere. It had obviously been raining quite a bit up north and that may have contributed to some of the cancellations. Nevertheless, what a relief it is to finally be back in Buenos Aires!

My last day in Patagonia and I had one last excursion to make. This one sounded a little dodgy to me: just hike to the bus station and catch a 3 hour bus ride to the little town of El Chalten, hike on some trails near El Chalten, and then catch the bus back to El Calafate again. To me it all sounded a bit vague, but I was game.

Now today’s forecast was truly meant to be pretty awful! Heavy, cold rain. What was I going to do? Well, the bus tickets were already paid for, so I might as well just go check the town out. Peering out my window and another early pitch black start of the day, I could see that it was snowing quite heavily. It was beautiful, but it probably meant that the trails would all be closed. I overheard some fellow hostellers mention that there were only a few trails open when they had gone up a few days earlier – and that was after only a few inches of snow.

I trudged out to find the bus station and find my bus for the three hour ride. The three hour trip became a four hour trip due to the very slippery, snowy driving conditions. Some parts of the road were still completely snow covered and others were only open in one lane. I hadn’t realized it while I half snoozed in the back of the bus, but they snow was actually getting deeper and deeper! Along the way we were treated to scores of llama cousins along the roadside, driven out of the mountain snows looking for food.

By the time the bus got to El Chalten it seemed clear to me there would be no hiking today. I hopped off and started walking out into the snow to find that it was seriously deep! At least the snow seemed to be stopping and that rain never materialised. I trudged around town looking for a coffee shop or some place to keep warm, as well as the national park office to see what their advice would be. I finally realized, remembering from what I had read before being bussed out there, that the national park office was actually supposed to be out around the entrance of the town and the bus was supposed to stop there on the way in. The bus didn’t bother stopping because the snow was too deep, so I decided to hike back out to chat with the rangers anyway.

Just as I headed up the driveway, around lunchtime, a pickup truck full of rangers pulled out and stopped to say ‘hi’. They said they would be back in an hour but that they had just cleared a trail that I could follow if I was interested. Of course, I thought I had to at least check this trail out.

The trail was hardly discernible from the rest of the snow, mainly due to the lack of visual contrast in the bright landscape, but it did appear to be there – stamped out with their snowshoes? I followed it to see where it would take me. No getting lost today! Every other direction just led into snow that was too high to walk through, so I just kept following the trail as it climbed up on hills, through a small pine forest, and then up onto a big cliff on a small mountain overlooking the town.

It was very deep. Maybe 3 feet?! But it was so exquisitely beautiful! A total winter wonderland, and I was so lucky to be the first hiker of the day (besides the rangers) and have the opportunity to see all the heavy snow blanketing the trees, bushes, and gorgeous landscape!

After a few hours up in the snow and going photographically ballistic (again), I returned to chat with the rangers about the park. The official measurement of snow came to 60cm (2 feet) they said. There were other hikes to do, as well as climbing and all sorts of other outdoor activities, but most everything was closed. There was the possibility of hiking 3kms out the north side of town along a road to see a big waterfall, but when I toyed with that idea I wasn’t too impressed with the slipperiness of the roads or the annoying traffic – and I needed to eat, anyway, so I hunted for a cafe. It was not easy to find one as the town was mostly shut due to the late tourist season and snowfall, but I did finally find a place to hang out for a few hours before my bus was due to return.

I did meet a local guy who had trekked out to the waterfall this morning who said it was beautiful and would have been worth it. Oh well!

But anyway, another amazing day! Three in a row!

Uh oh, the last time this happened to me, something really bad happened the following day. Hopefully my luck will hold out this time!

Another early morning alarm in the pitch black, and another tour. Where will it be today? Will the weather hold up? Well, it was not quite as sunny and clear as yesterday, but a much better than average day we were told.

Today there was essentially just one location to visit: The granddaddy glacier of them all (or at least, of those that were accessible in this area) – Perito Moreno Glacier. Unlike the other glaciers we had seen, this was one we were going to actually walk on.

I’ve long known that glacier walking is a dangerous activity, but I was not aware of all the risks. In addition to calving that could easily squish you, the terrain on top is full of secret ice cold streams just below the surface and thin ice covered ponds. One fall in either and I don’t think you would last too long!

We were first bussed to another ferry on another lake in another part of the national park – but this time we were the only bus and the overall group size was smaller. Once on the ferry we cruised across the lake along the side of Perito Moreno Glacier to get to a forested area with huts and shacks full of crampons and pickaxes.

Fortunately for us the tour group was further split into smaller groups, each led by at least two glacier experts who could read the dangers hidden below us while we trekked. Our group was predominantly English speakers, which worked well for me. We were taken to the crampon shacks for our crampon fittings, which was kind of novel – sitting down on a bench and having someone fit and lace up your crampons for you. Just like the old days in the shoe store! On the way there we were followed by a local domestic black cat named Lilo that was known to bathe in the ice cold lake waters in summer and snoop around on top of the glacier.

Once we were spiked up, we were led by our guides up on the glacier. We were given strict instructions to follow one guide and NOT follow the other. There were also very specific trails we were told to follow. Trails which must always change due to the constant moving of the glacial ice. We were told that during the warmer summer months the glacier moves a full meter every day and can block and dam the lake we boated over for long periods of time. The longer the blockage, the higher the water level gets. There were water lines high on the rocks from previous blockages that would eventually poke a channel back around the nose of the glacier and drain rapidly.

The first guide would take us around in single file and show us different aspects of the glacier. The second guide, the guy were were told NOT to follow, would run around looking for danger spots and ensuring everyone steered clear of them. He would pull out his pickaxe and tap into a spot just a foot or so off our trail that would punch through to an ice cold pool of water underneath. And although the glacier looked generally flat when viewed from the side, it was very hilly and difficult to walk around while on top. We only stuck near the edge on our trekking, but I was happy we weren’t actually going to cross the whole thing! It would have been quite dangerous with many steep up and down trekking jaunts and endless hazards to watch out for.

Our last stop on top of the glacier was to a mysterious table furnished with three big bottles of whiskey. This was for our congratulatory toast, one in which whiskey was poured over chunks of freshly chipped glacial ice. After the toast we were led off the ice, removed our crampons, had a short trek back through the pine forest to the cabin for our lunch break, and then back to the ferry to get back to our bus.

Before heading back to El Calafate, we were bussed up to an overlook across the lake from Perito Moreno Glacier to view it from above. That is, when there is a channel separating the glacier from the viewpoint! The view we had of the glacier from the ferry only showed us the small side. Once at the lookout, you could see that the glacier was absolutely massive and much larger on the other side. We were told the glacier was coming off the largest ice field outside of Antarctica and Greenland, nested in the Andes Mountains along the border between Argentina and Chile. One particular mountain that could be plainly seen from the lookout was right on the border between Chile and Argentina and usually obscured due to weather – so we had another great day for viewing, even though it wasn’t quite as blue and sunny as the day before.

Another amazing day!

After a less than impressive 3.5 hour flight on Aerolineas Argentina from Buenos Aires (no leg room, candy for meals), I’ve found myself in the little southern Patagonian town of El Calafate for three days of tours around local glaciers, lakes, and mountains. It is a very southerly part of the world, below the 50th parallel, that seems to just be moving into winter right now. Being so far south, it is much colder than Buenos Aires and is also very dark this time of year. This place is really not all that far from parts of Antarctica (1000kms? I may be wrong) and the sun doesn’t rise until 9:30am and set around 6pm. Of course, during the summer the sun doesn’t set until as late as 10pm – which would probably make it quite nice.

So having my alarm going off at 6am so I can eat breakfast and be ready for my day’s tour pickup at 7:15 feels very early – like it’s 3 in the morning. There is a surprising snowfall of about 2-3 inches on the ground. The shuttle bus arrives about 45 minutes late but manages to speed us out to a ferry terminal on a lake about an hour and a half away. Still pitch black for most of the ride out there and a depressing forecast of heavy rain for the day, I was not really sure if this was the best time of year to be doing this. I was told the tourist season pretty much wraps up at the end of this month. But here I am so now is the only time I’ll have.

Well lo’ and behold, on the drive out the sky started to slowly glow bright red and orange and the ceiling above us began to reveal itself as perfectly clear and blue! That snowfall we received overnight was supposed to be the rainfall, I guess, dropping in a little earlier than scheduled. By the time we got to the boat it was obvious that it was going to be a perfect day! Cold, but visually perfect, anyway.

We were not the only bus to pull up to the ferry terminal. There were a good 10-15 other busloads of tourists all heading for the same ferry. By the time we all crammed on there the seats were full and we were all told to remain inside. I thought, oh no!, I want to be photographing from the deck! Fortunately, once the boat pulled out we were allowed free run of the vessel, so out on the deck I went.

It was absolutely freezing, but their were pockets you could squeeze into out of the wind that were a lot more comfortable. There was also great hot chocolate you could purchase from the galley. There were three main attractions on the lake that we headed for. All three were glaciers, but each was somewhat unique. The first glacier, feeding into the lake was absolutely huge and famous for creating countless icebergs. The color of the glaciers ranged from crystal clear (smaller ones) to deep blue (bigger ones). We couldn’t get very close to this first glacier due to the number of icebergs floating around and hiding the usual 9/10’s of their volumes, but the sight of so many in the blue musty waters was very beautiful.

All along the route the scenery was amazing, especially with the dusting of snow we had overnight. If I ever measured the beauty of a place by the number of pictures I took, this would certainly be the place! I took over 1000 on my big camera and others on my iPhone (which are easier to share only while I’m on the road).

The second glacier we visited was one we could get much closer to in the boat because there were not so many icebergs around. It was gorgeous with a distinct blue color descending from the mountains down to the lakefront. This particular glacier did us the favor of calving off an iceberg right in front of us with everyone’s cameras in overdrive. As the glaciers sit on the side of the lake, about 1/4 of each is viewable above the water line and 3/4 hidden below. Once they calve off an iceberg it sinks down to the usual 1/10th on top and 9/10th below. Because of this, a lot of displacement force is generated during a calving – causing huge waves to disperse from an episode that may have looked cool but a bit more subtle once the ice mostly disappeared below the water surface. Once the calving took place, our boat, which was tracking parallel to the front of the glaciers, had to take immediate action to turn into the big 5 meter swells that headed out our way. The boat rocked pretty well as we all surfed the incoming waves.

Our last glacier for the day was the biggest longest one we could get close to. On the whole, an absolutely amazing and lucky day with rare perfect visibility for this time of year!