El Calefate, Argentina

There is a reason there is an outdoor clothing line named after the Patagonia region, it is an absolutely beautiful landscape that had us oohing and ahhing almost everywhere we went!

We took our first flight since arriving in South America from Bariloche to El Calafate. Adeline and UIKEYINPUTDOWNARROWCharlie were just bursting with the excitement to be on an airplane instead of a bus!

Finally! Back on a plane!

It was a quick flight from Bariloche and as we were landing we had amazing views of the bright blue crystal waters of Lago Argentina. It might have looked especially bluer because the rest of the landscape is rather barren and brown, but it was still pretty spectacular all the same.

Coming in for a landing in El Calefate. Look at that blue water! 

A closer view of the beautiful Lago Argentino.

Most people come to El Calafate for exciting outdoor pursuits, but the big ticket is the Perito Moreno Glacier in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Unfortunately, Adeline was too young to walk on the glacier, so as a family we decided not to. Instead we rented a car and went to visit the glacier from the viewing centre and walk the endless amount of boardwalks to see different viewpoints of the glacier. It was pretty exciting to witness pieces of the glacier breaking off with thunderous cracks and splashes into the water.

Perito Moreno glacier is pretty impressive!

The next day we took a boat ride up to the glacier. On the way, we stopped at a couple of places to get out and take some walks in the beautiful Patagonian wilderness to some waterfalls. In this part of the park, there were large trees because it is considered a rainforest. At one of the places we got off the boat, there was a beach made up of the perfect skipping rocks! So Charlie and Adeline spent as much time as they could trying to break their records of how many times they could skip their rocks.

The best rock skipping beach ever!

Another favourite part of the trip for Charlie and Adeline was probably when we learned what calafate berries look like. They resemble blueberries in look - and taste! Both kids spent some time berry picking - and eating! However, we did hear that if you eat calafate berries, you are destined to come back some day. I think that we are okay with that!

Once they found the Calefate Berry bushes, this is how they spent the rest of our hike!

Yum yum! Calefate berries! 

On another day, we drove to El Chaltén, another entry into Parque Nacional los Glaciares. The other days, we had to pay to get into the park, but from El Chatan, you don’t have to pay. This could be due to the fact that to see glaciers from this village you have to hike in.

This backpack might be a little heavy for our trip!

El Chaltén is definitely a hikers paradise. There are several treks that start here. We chose to hike to an amazing viewpoint of Mt. Fitz Roy, which did not disappoint! This was a popular hike and there were probably hundreds of other people eager to capture a view of the rugged peaks of Fitz Roy. We met people from France and a family from the United States. It is pretty neat how Mother Nature can bring different nations together in an uplifting and positive way.

For most of the day, the peaks of Fitz Roy were hidden amongst clouds. We heard that that’s the way it usually is, and to get a glimpse of the top is pretty lucky. Well, Lady Luck must have been on our side that day because after we lounged on the glacier beach with swarms of other eager hikers for what felt like hours, the clouds finally lifted for us to get some sights and pictures of the spectacular giant!

Thank you for your cooperation Mother Nature!

It would have been nice to spend more time in El Chaltén and to go on more hikes, but unfortunately we didn’t have the equipment and it might have been a bit too challenging for the kids. Maybe another day…