Argentina Trip Report, Day 3: Tierra del Fuego, Day 4: Cerro Martial, Flight to Calafate

DAY 3, Dec 1, 2013  Tierra del Fuego National Park:

The park has dramatic scenery, with waterfalls, forests, mountains and glaciers. Its 630 sq km (240 sq mi) include parts of the Fagnano and Roca lakes. The Senda Costera (Coastal Path), connecting Ensenada Bay to Lapataia Bay on Lago (lake) Roca, is a popular hiking trail within the park

We had read a shuttle takes hikers to the park and has a set of stops inside from where we can take it back for returning. 

Temperature that day was 10°C to 3°C, OCCASIONAL MILD DRIZZLES

We reached Maipu by 8.30 am and at the Fadul intersection saw a bus with passengers. It turned out to be the one going to the park. We paid the driver for the return ticket. 

 TREN DEL FIN DEL MUNDO is the 1st stop. It is a heritage train which covers 5kms in 50 minutes. It was established in 1909 for transporting prisoners in and taking the logged timber out. We decided to skip the train ride, 

We reached the Visitor center and bought our entry tickets.

We wanted to start our senda costera hike and asked to be dropped at the post office at the end of the world. Our driver asked us to look for turisur vans when we wanted to return after our hikes; we could take it from lago roca.

This is the post office at the end of the world; they stamp our passport with the end of the world, fin del mundo stamp as the green sign says.

We had already got our free stamps at the Touristico info office on Maipu the previous day on a piece of paper... not advisable to waste a page in the passport for such things. Also it's illegal to put such unofficial stamps in the passport! The passport can get revoked!

The post office was not yet open. we started off on our senda costera trail. It's a 8 km trail up and down hills, we go through dense forests and the trail keeps coming down to present lovely coastal views. Then it again goes up, to come down again and so on and so on. 

In Spanish, island is isla—s is not silent; ensenada is a cove/creek, bahai—h silent—is a bay.

SENDA COSTERA:

An aussie tourist who we nicknamed Jesus for his beard took this pic.

Later when we were in a dense forest with a slippery trail, we saw him on the rocky coast, so we left the trail and came down to the coast saying Jesus has saved us—after walking a while on the rocks, turned out there was no way to continue as sheer cliffs came up and we had to again climb back up into the forest. Wish we had taken his short cut to reach Lago Roco faster. Our plan had been to finish this hike and then take the shuttle to the next scenic spot Lago Fagnano. e could only finish one hike and saw the scenic spot on he shuttle on our way back. In fact the Aussie family got into the shuttle there and we really wished we had followed them on our 1st hike instead of trudging through the whole trail

On our coastal trail...as said earlier, it takes us up the hill through forests and streams and brings us down to the coast with a spectacular view.

Nice info board...lost this green cap on the trail...

Post office behind...it started off a cold, foggy day with occasional drizzles.

Decent trail in the forest—it would soon become slippery slush.

Quindo evergreen tree, nice flora to enjoy— antarctic beech trees.

This is after first trek up and down to the coast— we did not know there will be several of them and the trails in bad shape.

This is after another trek up and down the hill—rewarding view.

Another trek up—sight of a lone raft.

These are lenga trees—antarctic beech.

A stream to cross—got our shoes wet. We chose not to have hiking boots—just city walking shoes; worked out OK but a better grip would have been welcome—we were slithering on some slopes.

Gushing stream below in the midst of a dense forest.

Again back down on beach—a pebbly coast this time.

Saw a skua and pudu. This is a kelp goose.

The trail which was 8km up and down hill had been tough because of the rain and slush.

Also we did not relish the sight of beaver damage in the latter part of the trail.

Wish they do something to stop the beaver menace— the pests are bringing down huge trees.

After almost 6 hours, we reached the end of our trail.

Alakush is the visitor center... our van stops there also for drop off/pickup.

Bahia lapataia...should have gone on a little further to the lake lago roca—but we thought this was the end. Walked around the scenic bay.

Capilla Maria...Mary's chapel here...

Wasted our time trying to get some dollars exchanged. Mediocre cheese and egg empanada —trying to get some exchange for our dollars.

Our bus came at 5pm at this spot and we boarded it and traveled back to the town.

DAY 4, Dec 2, 2013, CERRO MARTIAL:

Our clock showing the time—5.20am.

Light makes it feel like mid day—we never drew the blinds on the slanting glass roof even when we slept. we enjoyed the antarctic summer.

We had a flight to El Calafate at 1.15. Packed up, checked out and left our bags at the reception.

Decided to take a taxi to Cerro Martial which is 7km away, spend an hour there and get to the airport by 11.30.

Cerro martial chairlift starts only at 10. 

Took a cab to Cerro MartiaL 50 pesos.

This is on the way...

asked the driver to come back for us at 11.15 and take us to the airport. after collecting bags from hotel.

Our rudimentary Spanish was effective in communicating all our needs...

Here's the chairlift at cerro  martial. aerosilla(eye-roh-see-ah—ll silent)—chairlift

bienvenidos—welcome.

Waiting for the 1st ride at 10am. The board gives very important skiing info—-where it is safe to ski and where it is dangerous and forbidden...

This chair has a footrest. At Bariloche CERRO COMPANARIO, there was no footrest, only an armrest we had to lift down. It was a hilarious experience to go up on the cable with our feet dangling free.

 Tree top seat for staff...

Started off as a clear day with no hint of rain but on top of the mountain, it stared snowing heavily.

Bought the tickets at the Info center and ticket counter.

After the chairlift ride, on the 1st viewing platform of the mountain here...

Friendly dogs—all the 4 cities we visited had stray dogs running around.

Started our trek—needed to zip up all layers.

Lovely snow and the gurgling stream by the side.

This is the river feeding the town of Ushuaia with drinking water—it is fed by the snow of Cerro Martial and runs all the way down—very pretty sight from the cable ride.

 Wow — a nice sense of achievement.

 Martial Glacier lies 1,050 meters above sea level and it is the most important source of fresh water in Ushuaia. It has been named after explorer Luis Fernando Martial, chief of the French expedition in 1883.

In the summer, this is an ideal place for hiking or trekking with circuits of different durations (from a few minutes to a whole day itinerary) and difficulties. But when the winter comes, everything is covered by a white blanket.

.

 It started snowing.

We cut short our trek, got into our cab whom we had called at 11.15 and went to the airport after picking up our packed bags from hotel

Airport at Ushuaia had lovely craft pieces made from semi precious stones—- all these are video grabs.

Swan from agate...

This pink stone is rosa inca— which is available only in Argentina.

Landed in calafate and our bags were the first to arrive on the belt.

EL CALAFATE:

Took a taxi to our hotel Solares del Sur.

Artistic welcome sign at city entrance...with mountain ranges, sun, stars — the calafate bush and flowers are in the left bottom corner.

The town is named after the calafate bush with yellow flowers and purple berries.

Legend says a person who eats the calafate berry returns...we did eat it when we found the bush in the wild... we'd love to return …

Our cab deposited us at our hotel—Solares del Sur; cabbie charged 180 pesos.

Solares del Sur:

 

We had our individual cabana—with kitchen, gas stove, microwave, fridge, bathroom with even towel warmer, dining room, 2 radiators and a big bedroom upstairs with a balcony having a great view of Lago Argentino.

Lots of lovely art work in our cabana....

we were so happy we chose to stay away from the main town... the centro was so crowded and a hotel room there would have been small and more expensive!

Here's the next post covering our first 2 days in El Calafate:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2017/05/argentina-trip-report-day-5-el-calafate.html