Monday, January 8, 2024
This morning we got up early, dressed and headed for an early breakfast. After returning to the room and packing our take-on bags, we mournful left stateroom 4055 for the final time. We walked toward the bow and I went on deck to take some final pictures of Ushuaia before we headed to the crowded Living Room at our assigned check-in time (7:50 am) to await our call for departure. Nina and Ray showed up and we chatted some more before our group (White 1) was called to disembark and we said our final farewells. We descended to Deck 1 and sadly scanned our Polaris room cards for the last time, descended the ramp, verified our luggage, and got into our van. We were driven to the Ushuaia airport with another guide giving us a narration of the history of the area.
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| Roald Amundsen passed by our Stateroom Window |
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| One Last View from the Bow |
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| Along the Polaris Deck Walkway |
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| Ushuaia from the Deck Walkway |
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| Another View of Ushuaia |
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| Ushuaia Bay |
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| Sunrise over the Bay |
After checking our luggage, receiving boarding passes, waiting in a long line to go through security, waiting in departures, waving to Nina and Ray who arrived after us, we boarded a Boeing 737 to El Calafate, Argentina. The flight went well. I had a window seat and as we approached our destination, caught nice views of the greenish glacial rivers and lakes of the region. The skies were a pleasant blue rather than the dull gray to which we had become accustomed.
After claiming our bags, Viking representatives guided us outside to our bus. Thirty-three fellow cruisers had signed up for this post-excursion trip to Patagonia. We had about half an hour drive to the town of El Calafate, during which our new guide, Sol (from Buenos Aires), introduced herself and discussed our upcoming adventures. Sol introduced another local guide, Sylvia, that will narrate for us later during this trip. In town, we changed vehicles, boarding an impressive looking four-wheel drive truck-bus. Our luggage was separated from us to be magically transported into our hotel rooms where we would reunite with it later in the afternoon.
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| Aeropuerto Internacional de El Calafate |
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| Arrivals Exit |
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| Our Viking Wheels |
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| Welcome to El Calafate |
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| Passing through Town – The Black Sheep Brewery and Distillery |
We continued in the truck-bus with yet another local guide, Matias, and ascended above town to a ranch, Estancia Huyliche, where we arrived for a 2:00 pm lunch. The ranch was very attractive and afforded great views of the lake. Lunch included beef empanadas, stew with lentils, veggies and beef, and a brownie for dessert. Having heard praises about Argentinian beef, I momentarily diverged from my usual pescatarian diet. After 5 or 6 years of not eating beef, I enjoyed the empanada but the stew tasted too greasy to my liking. I suppose it’s back to a meatless diet now. After lunch and relaxing awhile, we reboarded the truck-bus
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| We ate Lunch at Estancia Huuliche |
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| Huyliche Restuarant |
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| The Horses had a Great View |
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| Matias describing the Ranch and our Lunch Menu |
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| Inside the Huyliche Restaurant |
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| Our rugged Truck-Bus |
Our truck-bus continued to climb and turned off of the paved highway onto a rough dirt road, then persevered until we reached the Lower Balcony (overlook). We climbed out of the vehicle and enjoyed beautiful views of the town of El Calafate and Lago Argentino with its magnificent green color caused by sediments in its glacial waters.
The town of El Calafate got its moniker from a local barberry plant named calafate (Berberis mycrophylla). Early immigrants settled near a large distinctive calafate plant so the town was named El Calafate, or THE Calafate, referring to that specific (now deceased) bush. At the Lower Balcony, we observed many of the thorny calafate bushes with ripening dark purple fruit. Locals use the fruit to flavor, color, or scent jams, soaps, etc.
Once the extreme wind and sand overcame our desire to enjoy the magnificent views, we again boarded the truck-bus and continued our ascent.
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| View of the Town of Calafate and Lago Argentino from the Lower Balcony |
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| It was very Windy |
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| My Cap helped manage the Wind |
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| Beautiful Landscape and View |
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| Calafate Branch with ripening Fruit |
Our ascent became more rocky and curvy until we reached the Upper Balcony, the summit of Huyliche Hill, at about 3400 feet asl. Here, we enjoyed more great views of the lake and town. To avoid the extreme wind on the summit edge, Jane and I wandered around exploring the fascinating landscape and flora. Eventually, we board the truck-bus and rode back to the town of El Calafate that we had been spying on from above.
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| Tourists enjoying the View from the Upper Balcony of Huyliche Hill |
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| Sedimentary Deposits laden with Marine Fossils |
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| Eroded Landscape |
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| Beautiful Topography |
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| View of El Calafate and Lago Argentino from the Upper Balcony |
In El Calafate, we checked into the Xelena Hotel and were pleasantly surprised by the great view of Largo Argentino from our room window. Jane was still feeling ill and took a nap. We had dinner with our fellow Viking adventurers in the hotel restaurant at 7 pm. Jane and I had a nice cheesy risotto while others were served huge steaks. After eating, Jane headed back to the room for more rest. I stayed, and with the others, enjoyed watching a couple tango around the restaurant tables before I headed back to the room to join Jane for the evening.
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| View of Lago Argentino from our Xelena Hotel Room Window |
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| Another Window View |
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| Tango dancing at Dinner |
