Marc & Nora ROUND THE WORLD 2005/2006 - Join us!

After not having slept due to the robbery, the extended police visit the previous night and an early flight departure we were rather exhausted when we arrived at the airport. Our "good luck" continued with a look out of the window - heavy fog!
As a natural consequence our flight was delayed! Great! In the most uncomfy seats at the departure gate we fell asleep due to exhaustion. A few hours later we boarded the flight.
Our aircraft was a "lovely" MD83 - my 1st aircraft as my career as a flight attendant. Our seats were the most hated by all passengers that flew with AUA on Charter flights! The infamous "Separé", a few seat rows squashed behind the galley - right next to the engines, which are attached to the aircraft on the back (not below the wings as they are nowadays).
Last seat row has no windows, one before has windows with view over the engines. We were the lucky ones to have the beautiful engine view! The noise was horrendous! In front of our seats were the wall of the galley, hence the legroom = 0!

After 4 hours squashed like sardines and the most windy landing I have ever experienced we arrived at the America del Sur Hostel in Calafate. Majo, one of the guys working there welcomed us with a big smile and asked how we were. I couldnt help it but i broke down and cried. The previous night was just too much and it seemed that the initial shock was replaced by sadness about the incident.
Majo was great. She gave us a dorm for ourselves which was exactly what I needed.

Traveler Tip: The America del Sur Hostel was the best hostel we have stayed in so far in South America. The design is really nice - it has underfloor heating, nice dorms with private bathrooms (toilet and shower separate), a rather small kitchen (only negative thing we could find) and a beautiful chill out area. The guys working there (Majo, Mateo, Cecilia etc) are great - their English is fantastic and their knowledge about South America amazing! Majo knows bus time tables and prices for the entire continent by heart!

The 1st day we spent walking around lago Argentino where we saw flamingos, birds of prey and other types of birds. It was a really sunny but freezing cold day!

The next day we did a 3 glacier tour with a boat into the "Los Glaciares Parque Nacional" to see Onelli Glacier, Spagazzini Glacier and Upsala Glacier. The national park was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981. We got up very early and saw the sunrise from the boat which was beautiful. A few days before our trip a 2km long section of the front of Upsala Glacier collapsed so the entire lake was full of massive icebergs which was an incredible sight! Apparently a few years ago something similar but on a larger scale happened and the lake of the National Park was inaccessible for an entire season. (we were quite surprised that this didnt happen whilst we were there)

Fact: Airforce pilots used to land on the Upsala glacier in preparation for trips to Antarctica...crazy!

We had a lunch break at a lakeside which was fed by 5 indepentent glaciers and enjoyed our sandwiches in this beautiful scenery. The lake was covered with ice bergs and the trees surrounding the lake were shaped by the heavy winds.

The main reason to come to El Calafate was however to see the magnificent PERITO MORENO glacier which we visited the following day. We rented a car with 2 guys from Middlesbrough (travel tip: renting a car is the cheapest option if there is 4 or 5 of you) and drove the 75 km to the glacier.
Perito Moreno is already a sight from far away. The close-up view however exceeded our expectations completely! We spent 4 hours sitting in front of the glacier and watching the sun changing the colours of it! Fascinating! You can constantly hear the ice creeking and breaking, it sounds like thunder! The glacier is moving at approx. 6m per day it isn´t actaully advancing. That means that its melting at the face at the same rate as it is growing at its point of origin 11km back up the valley. From time to time you see massive chunks of ice breaking off and crashing into the water. The chunks look small from where we stand and watch but they are massive as the noise you can hear when they fall into the water is tremendous. At 5km wide and over 60 metres tall at the face this thing cannot fail to impress.

When descending the steps and standing in front of the wall rather than looking down you realise how big this glacier is!
Perito Moreno was incredible - we both really recommend it! It is worth a flight even if you dont have time to spend in Patagonia!