We would be in El Calafate three times over the next couple of weeks. First was via a flight from BA which was about 5hrs. While the town was quite small when we arrived we initially managed to walk 20min in the wrong direction… after getting some wifi and directions from a friendly pizza shop we finally made it to our hostel to check-in. We went for a beer at a funky treehouse library pub (beers and books – my favourite things!) and then went for dinner at the friendly pizza place to say thanks. Tom liked El Calafate but it was a bit fake and touristy there for me – we weren’t to be there for long though as we were just using El Calafate as a stopover for El Chalten and we had a 7.30am bus the next day.
Following our El Chalten adventure we were back in Calafate for the 2nd time staying in a nice private close to the bus station (every night not in a dorm is worth writing about!). Doing our best to maximise our afternoon and night we booked a bus to go see Perito Moreno glacier. We got some empanadas for lunch (from which turned out to be the turned out to be the best bakery ever) and off we went.
Tom in particular was pretty sceptical about going here due to cost (roughly $100pp for the bus and entry fee) but we decided to go anyway and I was pleased we did. The glacier is incredible, it is around 70m tall and 5km wide and is thought to be one of the few glaciers in the world that is actually increasing in size rather than reducing. We saw big chunks of ice falling off and the roar it made was amazing.
The bus got back pretty late so we asked the hostel dude for a dinner recommendation. We ended up at a tiny deli with one table eating a huuuge plate of homemade gnocchi each. One of the best and cheapest meals we have had in South America and the owner was so lovely (one of those sweet interactions where she had no English and we have no Spanish but you get by!)
Empanada total: 20
The Wandering Woutersens 