On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Gin & Tonic
Nothing to add beyond what was in the intro for the first pass.
This is the Hotel Llao Llao. Apparently high tea is quite a thing there – we didn’t go because you need to make reservations too far in advance.
So, instead of tea, beer. We went to the Patagonia brewery (there isn’t much of a craft beer scene in Argentina.) This is the view from their patio.
There are totem poles in the heart of the town. I’m not sure of their history.
We flew from Bariloche to El Calafate (the distances are vast, this is about 1,000 miles) which is the largest town between Bariloche and the end of the country. The highlight here is the Perito Moreno glacier, which you have to take a boat to see. So we did. I was fascinated by the colors of the icebergs – if you find a broken-off piece, it is as clear as crystal – this is physics at work.
The lake in El Calafate is called Lago Argentino. Here is more of the interplay of light, ice and water.
The Perito Moreno glacier, from a distance. If I recall correctly, this is the only active glacier on Earth which is currently growing in size.
A closer view of the face of the glacier. It is over 200 feet high here.
Another view of the face. Boats do not go there, because blocks are constantly breaking off. You go out on land, and there’s a walkway across from the face but far enough away and high enough that you won’t be in danger. We were extremely impressed with the Argentinian National Parks administration, in terms of logistics, facilities, managing the tourists, it was all really first rate. The only comical part was the “safety briefing” on the boat. The lake has icebergs in it – if you go overboard you’re dead of hypothermia in about a minute, so I don’t know why they bother.
Benw
Wow! I would love to go there someday.
raven
Awesome!!
Wag
Awesome trip! On my bucket list for sure.
Jager
Sailing friends of ours, sailed around the world and spent a month in Patagonia. They traveled to a number of the places you visited and loved it. Got back on their boat and rounded the Horn East to West and into the Pacific. I asked him “How was the sailing?” Stevie said, “You get used to sailing in 30-40 knot winds after the first day.”
delphinium
Wonderful photos-those glaciers are stunning. And the totem poles are very cool.
Betty
Looks like an exhilarating experience.
Torrey
Wonderful pictures. Very much appreciate the explanatory commentary. I was really curious about those statues, so I consulted the great god Google, and the consensus seems to be that they are associated with graves.
frosty
Beautiful! I saw that same blue when I took a trip to Glacier Bay in Alaska; it’s surreal. It looks like I have to fit Patagonia into a South America trip in the near (I hope) future.
Netto
Nice photos. In an alternate life, I would have spent a lot of time climbing in Patagonia. In this life, I’ll be lucky if I can just visit once.
El Calafate is well known in some circles as the base for the Perlan Project, an attempt to reach an altitude of 100,000 feet in an unpowered sailplane. A few years ago, they reached over 75,000 feet, far eclipsing previous sailplane altitude records. This is possible due to stratospheric conditions that are fairly unique to the Patagonia area. See https://perlanproject.org/about/ for more.
mvr
There are some nice photos in there. I especially like the blue ice berg.
BigJimSlade
I recognize that pose in the totem poles – they are guarding/protecting themselves against a free kick:
https://media.gq.com/photos/5d42fec812c62d0008a6d8fb/16:9/w_2560%2Cc_limit/above-average-joe-soccer-clay-skipper-gq.jpg
Gin & Tonic
@Netto: That’s fascinating. I have a close friend who is an avid sailplane pilot, I’ll mention this (although he probably already knows.)
StringOnAStick
Very nice. Did you go for the glacier walk at Perito Moreno? They for you out with ancient strap on crampons, even for people wearing sneakers, which kind of worked. I agree with how top notch the parks personnel are at that location, truly people who know their park.