Mendoza...as tourists!

While we really enjoyed living like locals in Mendoza for a whole month, we did throw in a few "touristy" things.

First off was a trip our to Potrerillos for a day of rafting on the Mendoza River and zip lining across it! The rafting wasn't challenging, but it was fun and the kids got to try out being boat "captains" for the first time. The river is brown and rich with sediment from the mountains, but that sediment quickly settles out in the blue lake below. But we did have to rinse all the grit off in the really nice facilities at Argentina Rafting. They have nice-sized changing rooms with hot showers so you can de-river. We enjoyed a reasonably-priced, delicious multi-course lunch (a surprise since this was the only food game around and we are used to over-priced uninspiring food at places like that in the U.S.) with a great view of the river before setting off on a half-dozen zip lines. The final two were super long and crossed over the Mendoza River. It was a really fun day overall!

Such a fun day with Argentina Rafting!

Let me start off by saying that bus tours that shuttle you around to viewpoints aren't normally my thing, but since we didn't have a car we opted to book the High Mountain tour so that we could see Aconcagua, the tallest summit in the Americas at 6962m, up close. This tour took us back to Potrerillos and into the southern extent of the Incan empire. It's like our trip is coming full circle! The landscape in the foothills of the Andes was stunning, and we had great views as our bus climbed to the Cristo Redentor Monument at 4200m. This was a really cool (cold and windy!) stop that symbolizes the union between Argentineans and Chileans and allowed us to peek back in to Chile. We also stopped at Puente del Inca, a natural rock bridge. It was a long day on the road, but wine and alfajores and a big Argentinean lunch got us through it!

Saw the sites, learned about the area, and relaxed!

Frank and I snuck away for our own adventure at Bodega Santa Julia one day. We aren't super wine snobs, but knew we wanted to visit at least one of the famous Mendoza wineries and this one offered a harvest day! We learned about the wine industry of the region and how to harvest grapes, sipped wine while we harvested Malbec grapes, toured the wine production facility, tasted several wines, tried some olive oils from the adjacent grove, and finished the day with the winery's famous empanadas and wine in the courtyard. It was a full, fun, perfect adult day!

Adult Day Camp was so fun (and educational!)!

Near the end of our stay we headed about 40 minutes out of town to Lunlunta Valley for a sunset horseback ride with Los Pingos Horse Riding and it was AMAZING. This was honestly probably my best horseback ride experience ever. My horse, Padrillo, was super sweet and the trail took up into the hills over the wineries as the sun set. Then we headed back to the ranch under a clear night sky with the glow of the city lights of Mendoza in the distance. The night ended with a traditional asado meal, decent wine, and good conversation with fellow travelers. Everyone really enjoyed it.

The sunset horseback ride was a family favorite!

While we walked in General San Martín Park almost every day and enjoyed its many statues, one day Frank and I went the extra distance to climb Cerro de la Gloria to see the Monument to the Army of the Andes. This impressive monument celebrates the Army of the Andes, led by General San Martín and later Simón Bolivar, and its role in the liberation of Chile, Argentina, and Peru. As those are the three countries we have spent over six months in, it almost felt like we were bringing our trip to a close right there.

And while not a touristy thing, our time in Mendoza did overlap with Festa in Piazza, a celebration of Italian food and culture in Plaza Italia, and Vendimia, the region's wine harvest festival. We enjoyed dinner in the park with Festa en la Piazza one night, and that same night the main street in our neighborhood was closed to traffic and was full of people partying while DJs played music. It was awesome, but really loud! Then on our final day in Mendoza we had to wait seven hours between check-out and our bus, but there was a parade and sidewalk cafes, so we were good for several hours! We even talked to a local during the parade that told us a bit more about it. Of note--all the kids were excited to get stuff from the floats, but what did they toss? Water, fruit cups, grapes, pencils, trail mix, a few sodas (and two lucky adults near us got wine), garlic (a gift of agriculture from one of the regions represented)...not a single piece of candy! But they were all so excited! I loved it. Vendimia is a great celebration of the agricultural wealth of Mendoza and I would highly recommend being in town for it if you want to experience a non-touristy, local celebration!

Festa in Piazza was delicious and fun!

Oh, Vendimia...what a great party!

Oh, and we ate. We ate lots of great food in Mendoza! We didn't go out a ton, but when we did, it was good and very affordable. Many dishes are meant to be shared, and sometimes we misjudged and over-ordered. But leftover fries are always good with eggs the next morning.

Just looking back at some of these pics makes my stomach hurt, but we tried picadas, the empanadas, the milanesas, the papas, the calzones, the cafes, the beers, the wines, the Peruvian food, and so much gelato!

We have talked a lot about how much we enjoyed our very slow time in this great city. We didn't "do" all the city has to offer, but we did feel perfectly comfortable in our neighborhood, got to really observe a non-American lifestyle, and even learned about some locals' feeling about the U.S. We are a bit reluctant to leave, but there is a lot more adventure in store for us in the coming weeks!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma 

Slow travel in Mendoza

We arrived in Mendoza after a wonderfully comfortable 18-hour bus ride a week ago. What have we been up to? Absolutely nothing! Ok, that's not totally true, but when most people arrive at a new place they are out "doing" and that's just not how we are all of the time. 

Our beautiful neighborhood of Arístides.

We have planned to be in Mendoza for four weeks so we have time to slowly take it all in. We got a very affordable apartment right near a very nice park and a street full of amazing bars and restaurants. In this first week we've found a fantastic fruit and veggie stand, our empanada guy, a few great happy hours, amazing ice cream, crazy affordable spa services, and several mini markets that have tables and a big screen so you can drink beer and watch fútbol there. And the best part? The park. I have been there every single day. There are so many walking trails, workout stations, statues, food trucks, weekend markets...I am so happy here!

No problem finding food and fun around here!

Our workout circuit sometimes has food stands! And an artificial lake that adds some ambiance.

We haven't even explored all of this park yet, but isn't it pretty?

Ok, but it IS Mendoza. And why is this significant? It's the heart of Argentina wine country! Malbec is the star here and we have definitely been enjoying it and we do have plans to go to at least one winery. We have a few other "touristy" things planned for our time here, but this apartment has been a perfect spot for getting lots of school done and just taking time to prepare for our next moves. So standby for not much happening with us!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

A mountain escape to Bariloche, Argentina

By now we've learned to expect that 20+ hour bus rides will arrive a few hours past the scheduled time, and our 23-hour (27-hour) trip to San Carlos de Bariloche, also known as Bariloche, was no exception! Thankfully our AirBnB hosts welcomed us at 2230 and had pasta that we could cook up!

This is our first time in the lakes region of Argentina so we planned to stay for two weeks in this mountain town and enjoy its Bavarian-influenced culture, natural beauty, and of course, chocolate. I chose our AirBnB about three kilometers from the city center because it was one of the most affordable I found for the time we wanted to be there and from the pictures it looked like it had amazing views of Nahuel Huapi Lake. We were not disappointed! We found the place to be comfortable with a great kitchen and crazy good views, it was close to a decent grocery store, and we could walk into the city center in 40 minutes or take a bus. All good, plus the kids had a great space to do school. And that's just what we did for our first few days! 

Our first "excursion" was to a mate (mah-tay) lesson that I found through AirBnB. We opted to book this as a private experience and I'm so glad we did. It's not that we don't want to meet other people, but we've had mate before and love the taste, but had so many questions about how to prepare it correctly. This way we got to do the whole lesson in English and really experience the ritual of Yerba mate, which is a social ritual that involves sharing the drink and sharing a straw and with COVID they have altered the class. Since we are a family, we were able to practice the full, shared social experience (fun fact--we definitely shared a mate with several people 16 years ago). Our instructor, Melanie, was amazing! We learned about the history of Yerba mate, where yerba is grown and how it is dried, about different mates (the cups) and bombillas (the straws), how to properly prepare the drink, and how to share it. We tried three different types of yerba, both alone and paired with a snack specifically chosen for each type. It was an AMAZING experience and we learned so much. 

We really loved learning about yerba mate with Melanie!

We also booked a local walking tour, "German Footprint and Nazi Presence in Bariloche" with Diego as the guide. This one is available through AirBnB experiences or local travel agencies (we used Zig Zag). Though the group was pretty big (maybe 20 people) and the information was delivered in both Spanish and English, it ended up being a super informative, super engaging walk with some really nice travelers from all over the world! Diego is a master at delivering bits of info in each language, rather than huge chunks, so that we all were listening for the next tidbit. We learned all about how the town was founded by German-Chilean Carlos Wiederholdt, the three waves of German immigrants to Argentina, and the Nazi's who were caught living in Bariloche. We really loved that it wasn't just about Bariloche, but rather incorporated what was going on in the world during each of the immigrant waves so there was much more context. And this was a fabulous tour given what the kids are currently studying in history (and Trent just finished "The Diary of Anne Frank" in English). We also watched "Operation Final" on Netflix the night before this tour and Diego enhanced much of what we learned in that film. We were honestly very pleased with this experience.

Diego was a fantastic guide and taught us so much about the German presence in Bariloche.

While in Bariloche we also had to try some chocolate! It's the chocolate capital of Argentina and honestly I would die if we tried every chocolate shop, but we hit Patagónico, Del Turista, Rapa Nui, Mamuschka, Frantom, and the Museo de Chocolate Havanna. The museum tour was actually pretty cool--all done in Spanish (but we understood most of it!), they served an amazing hot chocolate, and at the end they have an exhibit of local animals carved from chocolate. We picked up some alfajores from the museum (think cookie sandwich of dulce de leche dipped in chocolate or meringue), and while they are popular in Argentina, they aren't really our favorite. But they were good. Since it's so hot here we actually hit up the ice cream stands at the chocolate places more than the chocolate!

CHOCOLATE!

Hiking is also pretty big around here. We didn't do nearly as much of that as I would have liked just because of family preference and the desire to focus on school, but the boys and I did do a nice hike that combined the Sendero de los Arrayanes with the Lago Escondido Trail. A few hours on the trail and lunch on a lakeshore was just what I needed!

Loved this day on the trail with my guys.

Top marks for fun went to Cerro Viejo, a small, cheap, old teleférico close to our place that gives you stunning views of Lago Nahuel Huapi. You ride an old ski lift to the top the hill, then you have the option of walking down or riding the giant toboggan slide, and of course we chose the slide. It was such a good, old-fashioned fun time! There was also a little forest of arrayanes (myrtle) trees on the hillside and it was beautiful! We actually went back for another visit on our final day to determine the toboggan champion. Frank won, but only after Trent wiped out in the final corner, skinning every joint and tearing his shirt!

So much simple fun, but dang, Trent!

We also headed out to Colonia Suiza (the Swiss Colony) one day as it was rumored to have great Swiss architecture and was famous for its curanto, a local meal of meats and vegetables that is cooked in the ground. We ended up really enjoying the meal experience at Colonia Suiza Resto-Bar. You book a table for the curanto and they explain the whole thing--how Polynesian influence came to Chile which then came over to this little town, how they layer the meats and veggies, how it is covered with dirt and burlap, and then they uncovered the glorious spread of food! We went to our table and they came around with platters of food...three times! We gals had the vegetarian version which was honestly awesome with potatoes, yams, apples, onions, corn, carrots, and squash. The guys had all of that veg plus, chicken, pork, stuffed pork belly, lamb, lamb ribs, and chorizo! It was a crazy amount of food! The rest of Colonia Suiza? Uh, not really our thing. We walked all around and I can't say we saw a ton of interesting architecture. All we found were a ton of food vendors, a few small craft stands, restaurants, and a crazy crowded beach. It also took us a ton of time to get there and return via bus as the busses were full and infrequent. Add in that we had to wait for them in the blazing sun and I'm not sure we would do this again, at least not at this time of year. But the curanto was good.

Meat is a big deal in Argentina and curanto is the way to eat it in Colonia Suiza!

Our house is about a three-to-four minute walk to the lake. It's beautiful. The water is honestly a bit cold for me to head out and go for a swim (I saw one guy swimming in a wetsuit!) and the shores are rocky, but it's lovely. We are right by a marina so we get to stare dreamily at boats every day, too. And we can walk all the way to town on the road that runs along the lake. It's not bad! We spent a few afternoons walking around town and seeing all the touristy things there.

Beach days at the frigid lake. Frank made it in the furthest!

Around Bariloche...the Civic Center, the Cathedral, the lakefront, and the most awesome waterfront skate/bike park I've ever seen!

Restaurants here are supposed to be good, too, but honestly we only went out once for burgers after a tour! Why? Well, Argentinians complain that the food it expensive in this town, but it's honestly because we have a really awesome place! Every time we think of going out for a drink at one of the bars down on the lake, we realize that we can get drinks cheaper at the grocery store and enjoy them in the peaceful comfort of our own home with fabulous views of the lake. And I like to cook and this kitchen is good so yeah, we were homebodies. I think we will dine out a bit more in our next place...

Our little house was just perfect for us!

There is really so much more to do in this area and if we did it again, I would come during shoulder season and have a car to reach further and explore the many trails in the area without relying on tours on the public transit. 

A word about the bus. Argentina public transportation requires the use of a SUBE card--they don't take cash--and it's not like in D.C. where you just get a card from a kiosk. Here, you have to get your card from an official distributor with your passport in hand, then go somewhere else to charge it usually. I've read there are some automated top-up places in Buenos Aires, but mostly you have to go to kioskos (think convenience store) to top-up your card. The good news is that as long as you have money on the card, multiple people can use it. Frank and I set off on a SUBE card expedition only to have the official place be out of them, then about 10 kioskos that were supposed to have them also be out of them. The last place we tried said they didn't have them, but the guy next door did. Here's where big warning flags should have gone off--no "SUBE" sign in that guy's store window, but he had them and was selling them at only twice what they should cost. We paid $3 for the card, then went back next door to charge them with $3 each, and we were off! We boarded a bus, tapped our cards, and all was good. A few days later, we walked to town with the kids, but opted to take the bus back and...whammo--cards wouldn't work. We kind of knew they were used cards, but a trip to the "official" place the next day confirmed they were registered in someone else's name and had been blocked, the balance transferred away. Ok, so we got duped to the tune of $10. But you know what's awesome? The official place had cards again so we got two real cards and haven't had any problems since! But seriously, this "register with your ID" method and short card inventory makes it pretty hard for tourists to use the public transit system. Makes me miss the ease of use in DC, NYC, and Athens.

One of the more empty buses we rode on.

This also marks the end of our two months in Patagonia as Bariloche is the northern end of the region. It was wild, wonderful, and there is so much more to explore. Next stop--Mendoza!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

El Chaltén, Argentina

From El Calafate it was a pretty quick 3.5 hour bus ride up to El Chaltén, the village that marks the north end of Los Glaciares National Park and is known as the National Capital of Trekking in Argentina. Why? Well, walk in just about any direction from town and you are on the free trails to amazing views of the Andes, glaciers, rivers, lakes, and so much more. It's definitely the "high season" in Patagonia and even though we booked a long time ago, we were only able to get four nights in a place that met our needs/budget. No worries--we skipped school and made this a hiking/birthday celebration vacation! Given our bus timetables, we were actually able to work in five solid days of hiking along with ample rest. Our home base at El Chaltén Aparts was perfect--space for everyone, very comfy beds, fabulous shower for post-hike recovery, a small yet functional kitchen, a short walk to groceries, and the most amazing daily breakfast that was so big, it also provided our daily trail snacks! So how did we spend our time?

The area we focused on for hikes around El Chaltén.

Day 1: Check in, check out the grocery situation, hike! We opted for a short hike (6km round-trip) to Chorillo del Salto, a nearby waterfall. We were going to go to the "Condor View" hill, but we saw condors right from town so opted not to! The walk was hot and dusty as part of it was along the gravel road, but the waterfall was spectacular. It was also super crowded! This is definitely one of the stops for the day-tour buses so the crowd ebbs and flows if you just hang out. It was also a beautiful Sunday afternoon and many locals were there enjoying yerba mate. But the best part?  On the way back to town we saw a flock of Austral Conures (parakeets)! Frank has been wanting to see them in the wild and we finally did!

Just a nice afternoon at a waterfall, with a bonus bird sighting!

Day 2: Loma del Pliegue Tumbado. On the recommendation of our apartment host (who is also a mountain guide), we set out on the Loma del Pliegue Tumbado trail. The draw? Rather than being at the edge of Laguna Torre, this trail leads you to a viewpoint over the laguna more at the level of the mountains. It was labeled as a "hard" trail, 24km round-trip, and should take us 7-8 hours. It ended up being a hot, hard hike! There were a few nice, wooded sections, but most of the climb was done out in the open under the full sun. Add in tons of horse flies and uneven, rocky terrain, and it was definitely a tough one. Unfortunately, Cerro Torre remained covered in clouds the whole day, but Fitz Roy made some nice appearances! The best part of the trail was getting to see down into Laguna and Glacier Torre, with a clear view of where Frank and I hiked and did ice climbing on the glacier 16 years ago. The glacier is definitely smaller now, and it doesn't seem that they are doing the climbing there anymore, but it was still fun to show the kids how we made it through the valley from the viewpoint above. But oh, the heat and the flies! 

Not so easy on a hot day and Cerro Torre remained shrouded in that cloud to the left.

Day 3: Recovery/Birthday at Laguna Capri! After those first two hikes we laid out a plan for our remaining time and decided that we would sleep in, do a "moderate" hike, relax, and celebrate Frank! Our chosen hike was Laguna Capri, a beautiful lake that has great views of Fitz Roy when the weather cooperates, and we had a FABULOUS weather day! It was hot again, but the climb out of town on this trail is shaded in the woods so that helped. We opted for the full loop of Laguna Capri, putting us around 9km on the trail for the day, and also putting us face-to-face with another of Frank's target bird species, the Magellanic Woodpecker! We had such a great view of two stunning, red-headed males and a female and lingered for several minutes. It was a perfect birthday present for our guy! We found a peaceful spot on the shore of the lagoon to enjoy our lunch and then found a geocache in honor of Frank's mom on his birthday--she is a serious geocacher! We left the lagoon just as a large group showed up (this is also a usual day-tour trail) and enjoyed a fairly peaceful hike down. Then Frank and I enjoyed a beer at La Cervecería Chaltén which we are 99% certain is where we first connected with our guide, Pedro Fina, 16 years ago! (We happily learned from our host that Pedro is still in the area with his family!)

I really enjoyed this hike and celebrating Frank!

Day 4: The long loop--Río Eléctrico - Piedras Blancas - Fitz Roy view - Laguna Madre y Hija - Cerro Torre view. It took some time on the trails, some wine, and a trail map to figure out what Frank and I had done the last time we were here. We are pretty sure this is the path we followed, staying at Camps Poincenot and D'Agostini, but also doing the full treks to Laguna de los Tres and Laguna Torre. We opted to do the loop without those treks to the lagoons and ended up having a wonderful day with spectacular views and lots of good memories! We started out by getting a ride up to the Río Eléctrico bridge, 15km outside of town. We definitely remembered that bridge! The hike began along the Río Blanco valley, passing Laguna and Glaciar Piedras Blancas with great views of Cerro Fitz Roy. The second third of the hike took us south for a lunch with stunning views of Fitz Roy and then along the shores of Lagunas Madre y Hija. It was fun to visit this area with my hija! We chatted with a couple from Maryland along the way and saw more Magellanic Woodpeckers. As we approached the junction that would take us on the final third of the trail and back to town, we instead opted to head up toward Cerro Torre for a bit. The views continued to amaze us, but after getting distracted by a low-flying condor for a solid 10 minutes, we opted to take our tiring feet back down the trail and toward town. Besides, it was one of only two days a week that the Mexican restaurant is open and we needed our Mex fix! The trail back to town was rockier and harder than I expected, but it was probably just because we were tiring. 2/3 of the day's trails had been advertised as "moderate" and as we went over the 20km point I think we were all feeling it. 

Río Eléctrico to Laguna y Glaciar Piedras Blancas. 

Great views of Cerro Fitz Roy all morning led us to a nice lunch spot near the junction of the trails.

Madre y Hija!

Madre y Hija connector trail between Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre (and our first great view of Cerro Torre!).

Cerro Torre was simply stunning that day!

Day 5: Check out, hike, depart! We slept in, packed up, and slowly made our way back to Chorrillo del Salto for a lazy afternoon at the waterfall. We spent about two hours there having lunch, chilling our feet in the water, and watching the hordes of people come and go. It was super hot that day so we made our way back to town for ice cream, a little shopping, and finally settled in to La Vineria for drinks, dinner, and games before getting cleaned up and boarding our overnight, 24-hour bus.

One last trip to the waterfall!

Snacks, games, and our final look at Southern Patagonia from the bus.

This stop was almost all that the parents dreamed of, and was enjoyed by at least one kid! We definitely adjusted our plans as we went to account for the health and happiness of the crews. Did I want to hike the lagoons? Yes. Did I want a happy daughter? Also, yes!

At the risk of making this a ridiculously long post, the following are Katreina's reviews of the hikes we did. We showed her the funny U.S. National Parks reviews and sometimes would make them up for the trails we were on to try to lighten the mood. I am pleased to offer her contribution to the blog and really hope you enjoy it!

These hikes have been rated as if they are out of five stars--keep in mind I am not a huge fan of hikes. ~Katreina 

Chorrillo del Salto, 4/5: This hike was definitely not bad, very flat and a short hike (one hour). Once you find a good rock, it's very easy to spend hours looking at the waterfall. However, it's often busy with tour buses coming in and out, several people running around for photo ops and often times you end up staring at someone's arse instead of the waterfall. Not to mention for about 0.5km you are walking on the dusty road, which is very unpleasant with cars speeding by. This can all be looked over though once you have some quiet time with few people at the waterfall.

Loma del Pliegue Tumbado, 1/5: This hike is 12km going up for 4hrs to a lookout of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy. The entire hike is a gradual uphill, which got tiring after the first hour. Upon reaching the 3hr mark, we were able to see Fitz Roy from where we were, which was good enough for me (it was very pretty at this point).

BUT my loving family decided that we would keep going, there was a lake that we would see at the lookout, creating the perfect scene. Thus we moved up into fly hell. Horseflies were on us as if we WERE horses, I had had it. I was screaming every five seconds as one entered between by eyes and glasses. My parents asked if I want to go back, I said "I mean we've already seen it, I'm good." But we continued. There was a steep increase, my legs were dead and walking along a bunch of tiny rocks was horrible. We got to the viewpoint, seeing the lagoon, which I had hoped would look better considering the difficulty to get there. Overall, it was a nice view but it did to outweigh the flies, steepness, and rough terrain (near the end). 

Laguna Capri, 2/5: The hike wasn't bad, but there was a lot of uphill at the beginning. It's also one of the busiest trails, making it hard to maneuver around other people. The lake was very pretty, and we saw interesting birds along the way. However, what was really horrible about this trail was the amount of poop you find on the trail--human poop. When we got to the lake we found a nice little spot to have lunch, but the mood was ruined when right behind us we saw a large turd with toilet paper right next to it on a rock--needless to say, we moved. The amount of poop just ruined the vibe and even at lookouts it was hard to enjoy because right next to us we would find poo. The lake is beautiful, but it's ruined by those who pass by. 

Cerro Fitz Roy (Piedras Blancas to Torre trail), 3/5: This hike also wasn't too bad in terms of steepness, it was just long. We got to see Cerro Torre, which was pretty, along with Fitz Roy. However, the viewpoints I really likes (Mirador Piedras Blancas and just on the Cerro Torre trail) were either near the beginning or end of our hike. It's easy for a long hike, but it seems like I could've seen the same views in less than ~7hrs. That being said, there were less horseflies and poop (great success!).

We love you, kiddo, even if you don't love all the activities we do!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma (and apparently over-hiker to good views 😁)

El Calafate, Argentina

The next stop for us along our Patagonia adventure was El Calafate, a town (or at least an airport) we remembered from our previous travels yet almost immediately didn't recognize. Having arrived by bus, we opted for a taxi to our AirBnB since it was over a 20-minute walk away and learned from our driver that the town was four times bigger now than it was when we had previously visited! Seems that airport, which had been new when we were here last, really opened the area up to more tourism.

Our plan for El Calafate was simple--do school and see ICE! El Calafate is known as the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park and specifically, access to Perito Moreno, Spegazzini, and Upsala glaciers. There are other things to do in the area (estancias, a petrified forest, day trips to El Chaltén), but the glaciers are the main draw and you can see them from boats, catwalks, or treks onto the ice. And having fond memories of our previous trek on Perito Moreno, we booked the Mini-Trekking expedition for our family (there is another trek, Big Ice, but the kids were just shy of the age minimum for it)! The expedition began with a walk along the (very crowded) catwalks. This is a great feature of Perito Moreno, really letting people get up close to the face of glacier without a ton of physical effort. Our guide provided information about the lifecycle of the glacier and led us to the catwalks with views of the north face--the most active area of the glacier--where we saw several calving events! We ate lunch watching this spectacle and just listening to the creaking and cracking of the this massive, active, glacier. 

Perito Moreno Glacier, as viewed from the catwalks. Stunning!

From there, we headed to the port, boarded a catamaran, and sailed along the south face of the glacier on our way to the trekking portion. We hiked through the woods and along the beach for about an hour before arriving to the outfitting area where we were fitted with crampons and helmets. And then, we were off! Our guides led us over the glacier, around forming crevasses, through old crevasses, and up to a "peak" to get a good view. The kids loved it! And then we wound our way back down to happy hour! THIS is a part of the experience I definitely remember--whiskey on glacier rocks! The guides chipped away fresh ice and served up drinks and bon-a-bons (and I realized that THIS is where I first had one of those tasty little treats--love them!). While water was available, our entire crew had whiskey because, well, why not? How often in life will the kids really get the chance to sip whiskey over glacier ice? We wrapped up the experience with another hike through the woods, a return boat and bus trip, and our first night dining out in a while--pizza! What an amazing day. I'm just so thrilled that we could do this with our kids and even more thrilled that they really enjoyed it!

Trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier with the whole family was EPIC!

As for the rest of our time in El Calafate, it was mostly low-key. We walked around town, shopped various local grocery stores, watched lots of fútbol, went bird-watching along the lakefront (flamingos!), completed a puzzle at our AirBnB, and worked on school. But we also had an awesome surprise--we got to hang out with some of my former coworkers (fellow retired Navy METOC's and super world travelers!). Thanks to the joys of social media, my friend Amy and I realized they would be passing through town on their way to Antarctica while we were there so we made plans to meet up. Amy, her husband John, and our family passed a lovely evening at a local cerveceria catching up and swapping travel stories. It was great to meet up with familiar, like-minded people and the evening really filled my "happy" cup!

Hanging out around El Calafate was pretty fun! And we made a cute friend while bird-watching!

So happy that we got to spend time with Amy & John!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma