13/01/2020 – El Calafate to El Chalten (ish), Argentina (Dads entry)

We got up for breakfast at 0900. More crumpets, eggs, cakes, nice coffee etc. Finished packing then brought our bags downstairs and went for a swim in the two swimming pools. Josh tried to use the waterproof camera but didn’t find the necessary grease for sealant so it didn’t get used. After a shower we reassembled in reception, used the Internet for a while and paid up. We drove in to town and Mum and Jen went to the supermarket to buy some more snacks for the next few days whilst Dad and Josh sat in line in the car for the fuel pump, which took quite a long time. We then went to a café for lunch which had been highly rated on Tripadvisor – we had rolls which were really nice although Jen had the wrong sort of ham – this was corrected. Los banos were occupied for ever so the owner used the key to unlock it, to find a man in the process of changing his baby’s nappy – the customer wasn’t particularly amused.

We got on the car and drove out of town – after a stop for the view we drove about 90 minutes to stop at a building where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out at for a month after robbing a bank. This is where we had to check in for out hotel for the next 3 nights – actually it is an estancia (farm) over 3 kilometres down a dirt track which has 6 rooms. We have 2 rooms adjacent to each other in a bungalow – the view is amazing with a lake in the foreground and Mount Fitzroy and other snow topped peaks in the distance. After unpacking we walked down to the lounge building via the greenhouse where they grow the vegetables for the restaurant. We went to the lounge and bought some beer and malbec, and played a couple of games of pool, in which Josh was the only one who potted any legal balls. We then went across to the dining room in the next door building where we had a three course meal which involved the obligatory steak and lamb – at our table sat a Chilean man who was acting as a guide for a rich American who didn’t socialise but was walking around clutching many guide books. During dinner the Chilean gave us some advice on what we should consider doing tomorrow, which gave us food for thought and necessitated some internet searching prior to going to bed. We walked around the area and said good night to some of the horses and a couple of friendly farm dogs, then climbed up the sandy hill to our rooms. We had a bath and went to bed around midnight – tired but satisfied that we had found a suitably remote location with unbelievable views – the panorama is indescribably vast around here with next to no humans.