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West Patagonia, AR

West Patagonia, AR

After I had crossed the border in Cerro Castillio on 1.1.25 in the morning at 9.30 a.m. in 40 minutes. The Chileans had checked my van on entering Chile, but no Argentinian wanted to look at it.

After a few kilometers on gravel, I drove to El Calafate on a well-paved, almost pothole-free RN40.  Apart from a few estancias, there was nothing else along the 250 kilometers beside a gas station and restaurant in Esperanza. Monotonous Estepa, the occasional abandoned house or petrol station.

Why El Calafate (approx. 25'000 inhabitants)? It is the starting point for the Perito Moreno Glacier, El Chalten, Fitz Roy and all the other glaciers. The small town even has an airport. I would say it was the first time on the tour that I heard an airplane take off. You used to have to fly to Rio Gallegos, now you get there directly or are taken there by bus from TdP or vice versa.

El Calafate was flooded with tourists at around 14:00, although the weather was rather poor. What else could you do here! Almost everything except restaurants was closed. But the restaurants were busy. I actually just wanted to have a coffee, but then I looked at the price lists. I had to swallow. It wasn't cheap here! But I treated myself to a hot Argentinian chocolate. 

I had chosen a spot outside the city. On a peninsula, slightly above the city, with a view of Lago Argentino. After the long drive, I ended January 1st here on the hillside. There weren't many overlanders to be seen.

The next day, sunshine and great views. I was in town at 9:00. I filled up with gas, loaded fresh water, tried in vain to exchange dollars at Western Union and replenished my supplies.

I wanted to have a look around the town and tried my luck without Google Maps. Mistake! I drove the wrong way down a one-way street a total of three times. The oncoming traffic kindly pointed out my mistake. I knew that you have to look at the little signs with the arrows at every junction. That's the only way to know what kind of road it is. But these little arrows can easily be overlooked or are missing at a junction. The picture shows the luxury version of the signage. Normally they are small and grey and barely visible for me.

The city center has everything a tourist needs. Travel agencies, souvenir stores, sports stores, pharmacies and much more. In between restaurants, hotels, B&Bs and cafés. It was busy, but I got my shoelaces in a drugstore, the sports stores only had them with shoes!

After another hot chocolate, I set off for a little hike. South of El Calafate there is a striking mountain range and I had chosen a ski lift as the starting point for my hike. As it was over 20 degrees and only a light wind was blowing, I made the mistake of not taking my new warm hat with me. Once at the top, I enjoyed the fantastic view for just a few minutes. On the ridge, the wind was blowing hard and cold. Instead of following the ridge for a while, I quickly looked for a descent in the lee.

I decided not to take a boat trip for over €200, as the viewpoint is only 400 m from the glacier. The “short and easy” boat trip from Puerto F. P. Moreno costs €60. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes.

After the short hike, I spent the night near the Perito Moreno National Park pay station. An icy wind blew from the western mountain ridges across Lago Argentino towards El Calafate and on to Santa Cruz. I was not able to sit outside. In the lee of the van I only had a short lukewarm shower in my Evershower 

The next morning at 8 o'clock I went to the entrance. I already knew that I wouldn't be the first, let alone the only one, like at TdP. The queue was small and fine and it took me about 30 minutes to get my ticket for €45. As I should have, I joined the other cars, buses and motorcycles traveling at 50 km/h for the 39 km to the top of the Magellan Peninsula, Pasarela Glaciar Perito Moreno. 

The view and the facilities are impressive. Every Euro was worth it. Watching the glacier calve, even though I was too slow to take a photo of the falling ice, was unique. And I was lucky. The sun was shining and the cold wind of the previous night wasn't blowing. 

What I found out later while reading was that the calving front was about 2.3 km long and rose up to 70 m above the waterline. Doesn't look so spectacular in the pictures.

The Grey Glacier and the Perito Moreno Glacier are part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest glacier area in the Andes. With a total area of 250 km2, the Perito Moreno Glacier was a large glacier. 

During a guided tour, I learned that the glacier used to grow at a rate of around 2 meters per day, but that this growth has came to a standstill in the last 2 years. Although snow still falls at altitude on more than 300 days a year and new ice forms, it takes 300 to 400 years for this to reach the calving front. In the last 4 years, however, the glacier has lost up to 15 meters in height, half of it in the summer of 2022. The researchers will need up to 10 years to find out the cause. Let's see how much ice is left by then!

After 2 hours on the platforms, I treat myself to a coffee and decide to drive to Puerto Moreno after all. It's only 3 km!

While there were 2 or 3 large buses in the Pasarela parking lot, I counted 15 large buses in the harbor parking lot, letting their passengers off at the landing stage. I didn't even count the many small sprinter buses. Business was booming down here and nobody was too keen to pay €60 for a short boat trip.

What else is there to do in the park, not much really. I drove back a bit on the RP11 and had a look at Puerto Bajo las Sombras. Another harbor where tourists board boats. I then made myself an espresso and enjoyed the sun and the view of the mountain panorama and the milky waters of Lago Argentino / Lago Roca at the Mirador del Glaciar Perito Moreno.

As I said, there's not much more to see if you decide against a boat trip. I drove the 100 km back to El Calafate, successfully exchanged USD for pesos and tried some fast food, a Wolly Burger. 13 € for a 1a burger with fries and a Coke is expensive, but the burger was much better than one from McD and BK. 

I spent the evening on the north side of Lago Argentario and was rewarded with a beautiful sunset and a red sunrise. 

While it was about 300 km from TdP to El Calafate, it was also almost 300 km to El Chalten. Along the Rio La Leona and Lago Viedma, there was Estepa and the Parador La Leona, which Claudia had warmly recommended. I didn't get a slice of homemade cake, because it felt like every tour bus between El Calafate and El Chalten stopped here that morning. 

I spared myself the usual picture of El Calafate ala Instagram and drove straight to a lavadero to have a clean wash. At 12:00 noon, it was still easy to find a suitable pitch at Camping El Relincho. In the best weather, I explored El Chalten (approx. 1,600 inhabitants without tourists) in about 60 minutes. Compared to El Calafate, there isn't much here. Mainly hostels, hotels, BnBs and restaurants. At the entrance to the town, YPF operates a 1-post petrol station in a container.  

Here, too, there were only a few large buses to be seen. All the other people seemed to be mountaineers and hikers who were traveling as individual tourists. On Sunday I drove into the national park for €45. I would only have got the 50% discount if I had queued here the day after Perito Moreno! 

The weather was nice and I met John from Canada and we hiked the 19 km together

The Fitz Roy is a 3'406 m.a.s.l high granite block and the main attraction in the Los Glaciares National Park. The boundary between the Fitz Roy massif and Cerro Daudet is disputed between Chile and Argentina. In 1998, a border commission agreed on a shift in the border demarcation.

The Fitz Roy Massif is in no way inferior to the TdP. Breathtaking and varied. Forests, lakes, glaciers and almost always a good view. The best thing was that there weren't that many people on the trails. Only at Laguna Torre and Laguna Capri were there a few more hikers.

In El Chalten, I was invited to my second parrilla by John. Let's put it this way, the wine and beer were good, the meat deserved a little more love in the preparation!

On Monday it was supposed to rain and I set off to explore the northern region. Lago Cardiel was on my list. With a bit of luck, I was able to get diesel, as the petrol station in El Chalten only had diesel left. Just before Tres Lagos was the only other petrol station and I wanted to check it out. Here, for once, they only had gasoline

In Tres Lagos I picked up 2 Argentinian hitchhikers. I told Rosaria and Juan that they would be happy to improve my Spanish and so I spoke Spanish and occasionally English. The RN40 up to Estancia La Lucía is perfectly paved, but from here to Lago Cardiel the road becomes a long, 10 m wide gravel pit. Feared by motorcyclists. We also met a British rider who had sprained his ankle. He didn't want any help.

I dropped Rosaria and Juan at Lago Cardiel and made my way to the lake along the RP29. While the RP29 was initially only washed out, it became muddy over the next few kilometers. What then surprised me was a washed-out, dry stream bed that ran 1 m deep and 2 m wide across the RP29.  End of the line for me and probably all the overlanders who wanted to get to the lake in the next few days.

Back on the RN40, I invited Rosaria and Juan back and we drove together to Gobernador Gregores, where I bought some delicious empanedadas. I parted ways here for good and ended my day at the Rio Chico near Las Horquetas.

I spent a few days here in beautiful weather and learned to enjoy the nothingness. Take a look at the video. A car came by every day. On the 2nd day, a bus parked 1 km further up the Rio Chico. A few hours later, motorcyclists came and set up their tents. Otherwise it was just me and a guanaco.

I had two options before I wanted to cross the Paso Roballos into Chile. First, I went to the Parque Nacional Perito Moreno. There was to be a hike at Lago Belgrano and one at Lago Burmeister. The RP37 took us 90 km west on a good track. I was used to such tracks by now, but I still had to be careful that the wind didn't blow me off the road. I saw herds of guanaco and how the Estepa slowly turned into a hilly landscape and then became mountainous in the distance. 

I was the only car until I reached the Centro Operativo Guardaparques, where the sky was blue with only a few clouds until 30 minutes before the Centro, but then it got dark, rainy, stormy and cold. 

After registering, I first drove to Lago Burmeister, where I couldn't hike in this weather and snow was forecast for the evening. I hid in the camper van at 13:00. After a rainy or snowy afternoon came a windy night.

The next morning I imagined a hike in fine weather would be great. But it was only 7 degrees at 10.00 a.m. The view of the peaks and the lake was great, the waves on the turquoise-colored Lago Burmeister hadn't gone yet and there had been a bit more snow on the mountain ridges since yesterday. 

I drove to Lago Belgrano. Different lake, better luck? Belgrano comes up quite often.

The name comes from Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano (1770 to 1820), an Argentinian lawyer, politician and military leader in the Argentinian War of Independence.

On the way to Lago Belgrano, I heard a new noise. Shortly before leaving for the lake, it became too much for me and I tried to find the cause. I didn't hear any noise, but the cupboard in which my fridge is located was hanging strangely in the room. After rattling it around a bit, I discovered that 2 of the 4 fixing screws were broken. So I spent the first 2 hours in the Lago Belgrano parking lot clearing everything out and spreading it around the van as it was very windy outside. Then 6 new holes were drilled and 6 extra screws put in.

After 2 hours everything was back in place and I set off on the Chico circuit, only 10 km. The lake and the Belgrano peninsula are very popular with hikers. There are several huts where you can spend the night. However, you have to bring everything with you except water. The water of Lago Burmeister, Lago Belgrano and later Lago Posadas is drinkable. It tastes really good!

The bright blue water of Lago Belgrano is breathtaking. The northern part of the lake is a different shade of blue to the southern part. I can look at it for hours.

That evening, only two parties were sleeping in the parking lot, everyone else had spread out in the cabins. As I was advised not to take the RP41 to Lago Posadas, I chose the 350 km detour via the RN40 and Bajo Caracoles.

Bajo Caracoles is a collection of 10 houses and a private petrol station. the petrol station is an old rarity and after about 25 liters the diesel spurted out of the pump somewhere. the owner then filled me up twice with 25 liters (40 € each). the RP39 to Lago Posadas is about 80 km long and 50 km of it is a construction site. Not that anyone is working there, but it is a construction site.

The village of Lago Posadas has around 400 inhabitants, a small store, a restaurant and a campsite. The lake itself, like Lago Belgrano, has bright blue water and even a dark sandy beach.

This was the Patagonia I was looking for. Away from the tourist routes of TA & Insta, simple and deeply relaxed. I wouldn't want to live here, as it's around 200 km or 300 km to the nearest town. I wonder what you do here if you fall ill or something breaks.

The pitches on IOverlander all had lake and mountain views and the ones on the north side were really great. I was the only camper that weekend. The reason for this was probably the storm forecast for Saturday and Sunday with wind speeds of over 100 km/h.  

I would say that I had wind speeds of over 20 km/h for about 36 hours, and on Sunday the blue water of the lake turned into a brown broth, and even on my somewhat sheltered pitch I could hardly sleep all night.

Even though I felt sick in the Dog.O.Mobil, it was a wonderful weekend. It was still windy on Monday, but the lake was blue again when I set off for Paso Roballos

The RP41 was one of my highlights so far, heading north on a gravel road over several small passes and through picturesque gorges. 2 attempts to fly with the drone failed due to the wind and I saw about 3 estancias and at the end 2 camper vans coming towards me. If I hadn't used up almost all my food, I would have stayed longer somewhere along the route.

Why did I run out of fresh food? Firstly, I was going to Chile and you're not allowed to take fruits and vegetables across the border. Secondly, there hadn't been a decent supermarket since El Calafate. Lago Posadas had an approx. 4 x 4 m market, the ones in El Chalten and Gobernador Gregores weren't much bigger either.  

My hope for a large supermarket lay in Cochrane in Chile. There were more petrol stations on the route than larger supermarkets.

The last few kilometers on the RN41 to Paso Roballos were beautiful. Once I had made the climb up a very bumpy track to the pass, I found myself in front of a kind of mountain hut, but it was customs. Three super friendly customs officers went out of their way to get everything on paper. Apparently there was no computer, network or StarLink. I saw in their book that I was the first person to cross the border at 11:00.

After a short tour of the Dog.O.Mobil, the customs official  opened the gate and I left Argentina.  

The border with Chile was a few hundred meters later, but Chilean customs would not arrive for another 10 km. From a distance, it looks like an estancia. Only the flag and the barrier made it clear to me that I had to stop here. The Chileans had StarLink, but apart from a PC, everything was done on paper. After I had completed the paperwork, a customs officer checked on the PC to make sure everything was OK with me. 10 minutes later, another customs officer came up to me, gave me my passport and asked if I had any fruit or vegetables in my car. He had no interest in my camper van, just opened the barrier and wished me a safe journey.

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