After staying an extra day in Puerto Natales because of full buses (and finally finding a cafe with soy milk, gluten-free bread, and good music) we bussed it to El Calafate the next day. The trip was hot and dusty, with a dysfunctional ventilation system. El Calafate, as put by a fellow blogger somewhere on the Web, looked like it could easily have been created by the Disney Corporation and planted in Patagonia, with a large main street full of tacky souvenir stores, tour agencies, Coca-Cola riddled eateries and a massive casino. Plenty of chocolate shops abounded also. We camped close to town on a willow-infested creek and chatted briefly with the owner, a sheep herder who had been to Australia on sheepish business before. He invited us to his camping´s 3rd anniversary celebrations that evening complete with asador de cordero (grilled lamb on a rotisserie) and Argentinian folkloric band but at 80 pesos a head we declined. Later Michelle observed that the band was playing "to a packed crowd of no-one".After staying a night and visiting the big glacier (described in the next blog), we transferred to El Chalten. In this expensive, simple and beautifully set town inside the Los Glaciares National Park we stayed in a tiny barrack-like dorm all to ourselves for 4 nights, exploring the National Park (also next blog). In the hostel we met the Italian, Fabrizio, who waxed lyrical on the uniqueness of the Brazilian people, and also on subjects close to our hearts such as the evilness of TV, predictable lifestyles and rockhopping.
The two photos are of El Chalten from above and a statue of the Milodon in Puerto Natales, a prehistoric animal from the southern Patagonian region that I reckon would´ve made great pets.
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