El Chalten to El Calafate
WE FROZE our butts off all night in the camper and were not surprised to find the puddles of water near our camper frozen solid in the morning. El Chalten is high in the Andes, and even though it is only mid-autumn it feels like winter here.
It’s a beautiful drive from Chalten to Calafate, with Ruta 40 passing by two huge glacial lakes with snow capped mountains on the far side. We were bummed for a few minutes when the road reverted to ripio – did the guy at the gas-station in Tres Lagos lie to us? – but in 10 miles we were back on pavement again and sailed into El Calafate around noon.
Calafate is a really cool – and slightly high end – tourist town, like Bariloche but without the traffic. We’re staying at a great municipal campground in the center of town. We dropped off laundry (do-it-yourself laundry is rare in Argentina), had lunch at a swanky pizza joint, and then we went shopping! In and out of stores! Spending money! Souvenirs! Chocolates! Gifts! It’s historic -- we actually had a good time!
Five days ago while camping in the town of Perito Moreno, we met an Australian couple – Simon and Catherine –who are traveling around South America for 7 months and were also headed south on Ruta 40. And here in the same campground in Calafate were Simon and Katherine again – actually the only other people in the campground – and in the evening the four of us got real social and walked to a bar on main street and practiced our English for several hours.
Store Architecture in El Calafate
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