El Calafate

Saturday February 1, 2020

El Calafate, Argentina

Seems like we got outta Dodge just in time.  We woke up to rain and clouds totally enveloping the mountains.  We were early to the bus station so got primo seats for the 3-hour ride to El Calafate - upstairs, front row.  And - the seats were very comfy; leg supports and big recline.  I may have slept for a while.

We quickly left the rain behind and reversed our drive from Monday.  Stark, stark, empty landscape.  We saw a few guanacos close to the park, but not much else.  The road is a narrow strip of pavement through an otherwise empty landscape.  The surface is very good.  There were only one or two small bumps the entire way.  I have been surprised by the number of fully-loaded, self-supported cyclists on the road.  I would love the tailwind but the headwind is so much worse than Kansas!  All in all a pleasant bus ride.

El Calafate looks like an interesting town.  Something I found on the internet said it was a town of about 6000 people some time after the year 2000.  It is now over 25,000, so lots of growth in a short period of time.  The world comes to see one of the few glaciers in the world that is still growing.  Let's hope it doesn't start receding too quickly or there will be a lot of cheap real estate for sale.  It is located along the south shore of Lago Argentino.

It was a short walk from the bus terminal to our hostel.  The streets are a mixture of paved and gravel surfaces.  We crossed one 4-lane road with a big boulevard in the middle and lovely streetlights down either side as far as the eye could see.  And almost no buildings; I guess they're planning for future expansion.  Our hostel is lovely - new, spacious, comfy......  It was just a short walk to downtown.  A very nice little tourist town.  In our exploration of town we saw lots of interesting shops, some parks, and a national park visitor centre.  The day has turned from overcast to sunny so hopefully that bodes well for our outing to the glacier tomorrow.