Patagonia

El Calafate 

El Calafate was our first stop in Patagonia. El Calafate is the town nearest the Moreno Glacier. On the first day, we drove down to the glacier. As the big blue white land mass peeked over above the hills in the distance an excited squeal exited our mouths. The glacier was incredible! It spiraled down valleys and mountains, freezing everything it touched. It presented a bright stunning blue that looked luminescent. By the viewing deck, the blue took a sheer drop-off into the icy waters. In the afternoon, you could hear the cracking of the glacier and, sometimes if you were lucky, you would see a large chunk of ice plummet into the water creating an enormous splash! As the sun squeezed its way out from the clouds, it would shine through the ice, making it look even more blue and chilling. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

We also saw several foxes in El Calafate. Cream and brown ones whose fur would blow in the wind. They scampered around or slept. When they slept they would use their bushy tail as a pillow. They were so cute!

Along with foxes we also saw wild horses. They stood against the horizon swishing their long tails back and forth; they were beautiful!

El Chalten

The next place we went was a little town called El Chalten. El Chalten is famous for a tall skinny mountain that towers over the already small town making the town look miniature. There are several trails and treks you can take to get a picturesque view.

During one of the hikes we had to climb up a practically sheer cliff that was covered in snow. My heart was pounding so loud it felt like it would just pop right out of my chest. We made it though and it was surely a hike I will never forget. The hikes were great until you got close to the end. Then, you just felt like collapsing on the ground, hard rock or grass. My feet felt like they were being stabbed every time they touched the earth. As soon as we stepped inside the Airbnb, I fell onto my knees. Walking on my knees for the rest of the afternoon was my go-to transportation. Also, on one hike we were just walking along when all of a sudden my dad looked back at me and said, “Ha, oh no. Oh no.” As I peeked over his shoulder to get a better view of what everyone was making such a fuss over, I saw a long black hairy body with two white stripes down its back and a pink nose: a skunk. Calm is a word I would never use to describe how I felt then. I bundled my sweatshirt together and pressed it to my nose. The little creature busily dug around for food. We scurried past. My mom was the last one to leave that area of trail. When she caught up to us she remarked at how “cute” the skunk was.

The next thing of our trip to El Chalten might be the highlight of the whole trip to South America. My dad had booked a horseback ride just thirty minutes out of town. A shuttle from the horseback ride place picked us up at our Airbnb and drove off, down to the place. We arrived on a small dirt road, and hopped off. There was a rushing river on the other side of the dirt road. We followed our guide through some shrubs and emerged on the bank of the river. There in front of us, was a skinny, wobbly bridge that hovered over the river and was only connected to the bank by ropes. We waddled along on the bridge, as the fast current swept underneath us. We stepped off the bridge and entered the stables area. There was a field of grass with a few trees that horses were resting under. There were about a dozen horses standing around the field all with their eyes closed, sleeping. We were led to a barn and given chaps to put on. Then, we were each separately shown to a horse. We were in a group of about six people or so. I followed the guide to a tree far back with two horses who were saddled up. The first horse had a tan coat with a white mane and a stocky build. The second horse was smaller but not pony size. She was white and had a long tail that swished back and forth. She had little gray freckles and fuzzy ears. I followed the guide to the white horse. I am just going to say now that this horse, was and is still my favorite horse I have ever ridden, ever! I loved this horse so, so much! She was sweet, responsive and gentle. I mounted her and stroked her neck. The guide held the reins in front of me and gestured to the right and then to the left and then said something in Spanish. I understood enough though. I walked my horse over to where the rest of the group was meeting. My mom had a white horse with a short mane and no freckles. My dad had a very large black and brown horse with a patch of white on his forehead. The guide mounted her horse and we were off. We walked alongside the mountain and came into a large field that had dozens of horses sleeping, eating, froliking and staring at us. We later called this place “horse paradise.” We came upon a stream that stretched down into the valley, forming a small lake. Our horses stopped and took a drink, and then waded through the stream. We also had the pleasure of trotting at a fair speed, half of the time. We walked across big rock formations and went down into the valley. We trotted through the valley and into a marshy forest. Our horses were a good sport and clomped through the flooded trail. We exited the forest and hiked up the mountain. Here we stopped, tied our horses to a post and had tea and alfajores (as I described earlier in Buenos Aires, alfajores are a cookie with caramel in the middle). When we finished, we went back to our horses and got ready to ride again. This time we rode on the other side of the valley. We came into a very large field that had hundreds of sheep. They ba’d like crazy. Occasionally, there were little white lambs that ran behind their parents to hide. Then, we went into another forest. There were fewer sheep here but there were some who were taking advantage of the shade that the trees provided. As we exited the forest and went into the sun again, the guide pointed up to a gap in between two mountains. In between the gap was Mount Fitz Roy, towering into the sky. It was beautiful. I was so sad when we re-entered the stables. We got to stay for a little while and un-saddle our horses, and see our guide throw alfalfa and hay into the field and the horses happily munch away. I said bye to my horse that had been so good to me throughout the ride. We walked across the wobbly bridge again and hopped in the shuttle. As we drove along the road our guide pointed out the window down into the valley and said, “Mi padre” (my father). We looked down into the valley and saw man on a tall, strong horse galloping across the valley with five dogs behind him. When we got back to the Airbnb I said, “That was the best time ever

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NEXT STOP: NEW ZEALAND