South America Trip - Day 10

It’s hard to believe but my visit to Chile will be ending today.  I’ve absolutely loved the places I’ve seen and the people I’ve met!  The country seems like such a resilient place: even when economic or civil disturbances have emerged to destroy the Chileno way of life, the population of independent, friendly, resourceful and hardy souls have risen to the challenge.  Hopefully, this isn’t the last time I’m able to visit.  Our morning started early (0530), as usual, and I was packed for our drive into Argentina by 0630.  For the first time in days, I had a chance to relax and read a bit!  At 0715, went to breakfast and found that everyone else was already finished and waiting in the lobby.  Since I still had 45 minutes, I took my time eating the buffet, filling up on eggs, cereal, fruit, lunch meats and bread.  I noticed that Mass was showing on the TV - I know it doesn’t really “count” but it was nice to be reminded that it was Sunday… I joined the 12 other members of our Active Adventures group in the lobby at 0800 and we then headed outside with Alvaro to meet our driver, Paula.  As she arrived, she had a minor accident with another car and this delayed us briefly.  As we’d seen before, our group has a lot of stuff and we used the extra time to play Tetris with the bags.  Onboard the van, I realized it was much smaller than the one we’d used in Torres del Paine (my knees were touching the seat in front) and did not have any charging chords.  These things didn’t immediately bother me but our planned five (plus) hour journey eventually changed my mind… We departed Puerto Natales at about 0820 and passed by the Ultima Esperanza Sound - it was perfectly smooth and it was clearly portending another day of great weather.  On the down side, the seven members of the group who had done the “Experience” tour were all coughing and hacking (one was *really* under the weather).  I’d noticed one of them had a light cough when we’d previously traveled with them but it seemed inconsequential.  Obviously, the cough was contagious and we will now see if it spreads beyond their family… We drove north on Ruta 9 for just over an hour while Alvaro told us interesting stories about geology, glaciology and local history.  We learned about wool production and salmon farming and more about the International influences (both good and bad), the boldness of the early pioneers (and their initial monopoly on all the farmland) and present-day government initiatives to vitalize the region.  Most of the time, we were driving through the steppe (Pampas) but we did get a few last glimpses of Torres del Paine.  Throughout the day, we saw many examples of Guanaco, Darwin’s Rhea, condor, flamingo (along with many types of domesticated animals).  When we reached the town of Cerro Castillo, we stopped at the Chilean border crossing.  We had to walk through a line (for a passport check) but were quickly on our way again.  We then proceeded through a gate and continued east on a gravel road (I believe it was called Y-205) to the Argentinian border crossing.  The “DMZ” area was actually rather large and it took a while.  Once we actually reached the entry point (Paso Rio Don Guillermo), our van had to wait for a while for us to get permission to get out.  Meanwhile, Alvaro told more stories!  We also watched a funny dog who obviously “ran the place.”  He wagged his tail and tried to get a pat from all the passengers on the bus ahead of us - cute!  Eventually, we were allowed to walk through another line for another passport check.  Unfortunately, I got no stamp… Despite the delays, we were done with all our paperwork by 1000 and were able to head east into Argentina.  The gravel road to Cancha Carerra was NOT fun (very bumpy).  But we eventually got on a paved road again and this took us to the (famous) Ruta 40 that went all the way to El Calafate, our ultimate destination.  Ruta 40 is actually an “S” shaped route and it took a LONG time of driving on the flat Pampas to find any real signs of civilization. Alvaro played some of his favorite music, to pass the time, and we eventually arrived in the small town of Esperanza.  While Paula got gas for the van, the rest of us walked across the road and bought food at Hotel Esperanza (1135).  Shelly and Tony treated some of us to drinks (I chose an orange Fanta) and I bought “Kit-Kat-like” candy bars to share with the group.  By 1145, we were back in the van for the last two hours of our drive.  Along the way, we ate our box lunches (large chicken sandwich, chocolate, energy bars, brownie) and entertained ourselves in various ways.  Kirk had, by this point, offered to switch his more comfortable aisle seat for the window seat I’d endured for the first half of the journey.  Several of the guys talked about politics for a little while (Janice and Shelly said they liked how their husbands had others to discuss this topic with).  We didn’t have any major disagreements because this seems to be a rather mature, pragmatic and respectful group.  We made one short stop (at El Mirador Tec. Julio Heredia “El Monito”) to get our first glance of the Rio Santa Cruz and Lago Argentino before we drove the rest of the way to El Calafate.  By then, we could see the amazing backdrop of the high Andes on the Argentinian side of the border - breathtaking!  We checked into the Patagonia Queen Hotel and 1400 and I ended up resting and doing “laundry” in the sink (because the laundry-mat was closed) until 1530.  I then walked down the main street (Avenida Del Liberatador) to meet Kirk, Janice, Shelly and Tony.  There were a lot of interesting businesses to see and lots of folks walking around.  The place reminded me of a ski town and it was clear that the clientele is mainly the types of people who visit Patagonia for outdoor fun.  When I arrived at Cerveza Patagonia El Calafate (Patagonia Brewing Company), they were one round into their beers.  I was interested in getting a “flight” and we tried to communicate this to the waiter.  What came, however, was four little tasters of Vera IPA, Bohemian, Chocolate and Kilometro 24.7.  I made the best of things and decided that, from among the four, I liked the 24.7 the best - the waiter brought me a “small pint” after that.  The atmosphere was great (especially with the dogs) and we had fun doing some people watching.  The character of the country and people already seems totally different from Chile.  There are many more people, that’s for sure… Meanwhile, our waiter left at this exact moment and we ended up having a heck of a time resolving the billing issues with the new waitress.  In the end, I was told (she used Google Translate) that my samplers were free!  I paid very little, in the end, for some great tasting beers (1655).  The couples wanted to do some shopping so I walked back alone (I took the “scenic way”) towards the hotel.  I did do some window shopping of my own and practiced Spanish (got maps) at the headquarters of the Los Glaciares National Park Visitors Center on the way.  I found a statue that memorialized the Peron family near the hotel.  After reaching my room, I rested some more until it was time to meet the group in the lobby (1830).  Alvaro guided us from there, down the length of Avenida Del Liberatador, to our restaurant (La Tablita).  When we arrived (1900), the place was mostly empty.  Alvaro coordinated a huge meal in the Asado (BBQ or Family) style.  The food then started coming out: salads, fries, fried cheese and (most importantly) three huge trays (with charcoal burning underneath) of meat.  From that moment, we quickly devoured huge cuts of beef, lamb and other kinds of carne.  Several bottles of Malbec accompanied the food.  I tried everything and it was good.  The rest of us had fun watching Kirk and Shaowen practically clear the table with their ravenous appetites. Several other members of the group told us about how they had found a rodeo nearby - they had videos of several tricks performed by the gauchos. At the end, no one else had room for dessert but, when I asked to sample some of them, Alvaro arranged for me to get small amounts of Dulce de Leche, Flan and Crema.  Everyone else just watched as I tried each - they were all awesome.  Afterwards, we all walked back to the hotel (2100).  I later met Alvaro, Kirk, Janice, Shelly, Tony and JoAnne at the hotel bar for another glass of Malbec (2115).  We talked for a little while and watched some of the Argentinian Football National Championship Game.  I finally went to bed at 2230.  We didn’t do a lot to day but it was still quite memorable.  Looking forward to seeing more of Patagonia tomorrow!