Following 3 nights in El Chalten our G Adventures group was driven for 3 hours to El Calafate a much larger town with a population of around 25,000. With its close proximity to the Perito Moreno Glacier and the Patagonian ice field, El Calafate is known as the ‘Gateway to Patagonia’. From here it is also easy to cross the border into Chile for the Chilean Patagonian experience!
El Calafate is situated next to Lago Argentino (Lake Argentina) and the best picture I have of this sparkling sapphire lake was taken from the plane during our flight back to Buenos Aires!
Calafate has one main street called Avenida del Libertador which is lined with bars, restaurants and souvenir shops.
And a casino
While in El Calafate Bridget and I visited the impressive Perito Moreno Glacier (which is covered in the next blog post), the Laguna Nimez nature reserve and the Punta Walichu caves. We also spent a memorable evening participating in a traditional Argentinian barbeque!
Laguna Nimez Nature Reserve
Laguna Nimez is located about a mile or so to the north of El Calafate. Entry to this nature reserve was 12,000 pesos and we were also able to pay in US dollars. The rates between the USD and the peso are approximately 1 USD = 1,000 peso and are pretty interchangable e.g. I handed over a $20 note and received 8,000 pesos in change.
This wetland area provides a habitat for nearly one hundred species of bird.
We also found some Calafate berries growing in the wetland area. Calafate is a shrub native to Patagonia and its berries become a dark purple when they are ripe. Flor, our G Adventures guide had explained the town is named after the Calafate berry and during our visit we found Calafate jam, Calafate liquor and Calafate ice-cream!
The flat trail through the nature reserve is 3 km long and takes around 1.5 hours or a bit longer depending how often you stop.
For the first time in our trip on this day we experienced the famous Patagonia wind! We were thankful this didn’t happen while hiking the Laguna de los Tres!
Unfortunately we didn’t see too many birds due to the strong winds (or light winds by Patagonian standards) however we were fortunate to see a handful of flamingoes in the distance on Lago Argentino.
Conveniently located a 5 minute walk from the Laguna Nimez nature reserve is Cafe Brown which we highly recommend. The coffee and cakes are the best and they also had plant-based milk. In here we bumped into Fred and Katarina, our new G Adventures friends who had also visited the nature reserve.
Punta Walichu Archaeological Reserve
In the afternoon on the same windy day Bridget and I took a taxi from the taxi rank in El Calafate to visit the Punta Walichu archaeological reserve.
The taxi was 27,000 pesos (US$27) between us which included the 5 mile return journey there and back and the driver waiting there for an hour while we visited the reserve.
The cost to enter the caves was a rather pricey 22,000 pesos (US$22) each and in there, they don’t accept US dollars although card payment was possible.
We were provided with an audio guide each which came with several languages to select. Together with the map we could follow the audio at each point.
The audio provided information on the indigenous history of the local people which inhabited this 4,000 year old settlement.
The original 4,000 year old paintings are faint and difficult to see, however there is a replica which shows you what they would have looked like.
Overall we found the entry cost to the caves was expensive and not really value for money, although if the money is going towards conservation of the area, that is fair enough. The history of this site was interesting, the setting beside the lake and the rock formations were impressive and overall I’m glad we visited.
Argentinian barbeque
For our second evening in El Calafate our G Adventures group went to a locals house for a traditional Argentinian barbeque.
We were welcomed by Diego with a glass of fresh chilled home made lemonade but it wasn’t long and I had barely finished my lemonade before the Malbec was opened!
As a person who prefers more of a vegetarian, plant-based and occasional fish diet I wasn’t too keen to see a poor lamb being barbequed. This really wasn’t my thing and it didn’t sit too well with me. However, this was the focus of the evening and none of the rest of the group were vegetarians so I went with it.
We were supplied with unlimited Malbec throughout the evening. Every time our glasses were nearly empty, they were topped up again!
Soon it was time for us to make an empanada each! Diego demonstrated how to roll out the dough, put in the filling and shape the empanada ready for frying. It was important to ensure the empanadas were properly sealed!
Under the watchful eye of chef Diego… while making good use of an empty Malbec bottle!
The empanadas were then carefully lowered into the hot oil and deep fried over the barbeque. By now it was getting dark and getting cold in the Patagonian evening. We all had several layers on and started edging closer to the fire while eating our empanadas.
Eventually the lamb was ready and we all moved inside the house where we sat at 2 separate tables. Salads had been prepared and we tucked into the lamb and the salad. I tried some lamb and if you are a fan you would probably say it tasted delicious. However, this small taster reminded me that I don’t miss meat in the slightest and I am in no hurry to go back to eating it.
Overall, as we were collected in our mini bus at around 11:15 pm we all agreed it had been a fabulous evening.
Food and Drink
First up, a little mention of mate… pronounced ‘mattey’… this is the national drink of Argentina and is a huge cultural thing! This herbal tea is made with dried leaves which are soaked in hot water and drunk through a metal straw in a little round cup. Flor explained how mate is associated with particular etiquette and has to be made and brewed carefully and properly. Locals including Flor and other guides, drivers and others carry their cup, bag of leaves and flask of hot water around with them, sharing their mate with each other.
Restaurant Morrison
For our first night our group had dinner in Restaurant Morrison which was located directly across the road from our hotel. The food was excellent, I had delicious grilled trout with a tasty salad, others had steak and everyone enjoyed their meal. The service was good, the ambiance was lively but not too much and the staff friendly and welcoming. I would definitely recommend a visit.
In Restaurant Morrison, I had a dessert of Calafate berry and dulce de leche ice cream; two traditional flavours from Patagonia and South America!
Restaurant Parrilla Don Pichon
For the last evening meal in El Calafate, Flor took the group to Parrilla Don Pichon, another restaurant which was a 5 minute walk from the hotel. I had seafood stirfry which was 22 USD and tasted good to start with, although as I worked my way through, I found there was a lot of oil in the bottom which was a bit off-putting. The portions were huge and those who had steak had more than enough for a dinner for two!
If you have to choose between these two restaurants, I would go to Restaurant Morrison!
Accommodation
We spent 3 nights in the Hotel Posta Sur, a pleasant 3 star hotel on the outskirts of El Calafate, or around a 15 minute walk into the centre. I enjoyed our stay here – the room was big, the shower was hot, powerful and consistent, the breakfast was acceptable, the wifi worked and the staff were helpful. We had a power cut for a couple of hours on the windy morning where the whole of El Calafate was off, however this is apparently quite normal in such conditions.
From El Calafate, we returned via another 3 hour flight north to Buenos Aires for 2 more nights which was covered in a previous post.
The final post for this trip to Argentina is coming up next with a visit to the Perito Moreno Glacier! But before that, this is a summary of the trip overall:
Summary of this trip to Argentina
What a fabulous adventure! It’s difficult to gauge this with other trips I’ve taken as they have all been so different… travelling with companies such as G Adventures, Intrepid and Explore is my favourite thing to do. While this is now around my 11th such trip they have all been brilliant and have helped me to experience regions and countries such as Central America, Nepal, Amalfi Coast in Italy, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, African overlanding, Jordan, Armenia and Georgia, India and others. Each time with local guides who give you insight into their countries and cultures and take you to places where you would have to do much research to find for yourself.
As always, it was great to spend this time and build more wonderful memories with my lovely best friend Bridget.
Flight home
A little mention about the trip home as Bridget and I had upgraded to Premium Economy… I had not done this on a British Airways flight before so wanted to capture as part of this trip as flying anything other than economy is still an occasional treat for me.
The flight from Buenos Aires back to London Heathrow took about 16 hours in total as this included a stop in Rio de Janeiro (hence EZE Buenos Aires International to GIG Rio de Janeiro International). We didn’t have to disembark the plane, we stayed on while some people got off, the plane was cleaned and then others got on.
From a sunny landing in Rio, during the 2 – 3 hours of stopover, the sky darkened and as we were taking off, it began to thunderstorm!
The small amount of turbulence as we flew through the thunderstorms didn’t stop the on-board bar service. I asked for Prosecco and 5 minutes later, the kind flight attendant re-appeared with a couple of (proper) glasses of Champagne from business class š
With the wider seats, more legroom, little amenity kit, snug and soft upgraded blanket and nobody else sitting next to us I enjoyed my comfortable Premium Economy experience with BA. You board the plane in Group 3 and you are served more quickly. The food wasn’t much different to what we had in economy on the outward journey although it came on a bigger tray. And weirdly we were all served breakfast 3 hours in advance of landing… I’m not sure why it was this early as it was a night flight and many people were asleep!
I think I paid an extra Ā£250 or so for this 16 hour flight home which, according to my personal financial compass, is probably about the maximum I would pay for such a one-way upgrade.
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