Argentina -Patagonia and recollections 8 years on

On finally leaving Punta Arenas and Chile, I headed for El Calafate, El Chalten and El Bolson in Patagonia- Argentina.  These were all small towns along Route 40 on the eastern side of the Andes and so literally just a hop and there were places visited in Chile a few weeks previously!  It was interesting to see over the next 2 weeks, how quickly these once very small, remote villages were becoming tourist boom towns with hotels, casinos, internet cafes, Flower Power massage and incense services popping up crazily almost every hour!  I believe El Chalten did not exist until 1985 when the Government gave money to settlers as a way of claiming land due to (on-going) disputes with Chile .   Unlike say 10 years ago when Spanish would have been essential, I realised one can now ´do´Route 40 with just a few words and expect to find the tourism industry speaking English and serving pizzas anywhere, anytime!

From fun and wide-ranging chats with educated Argentinians (mainly from BA who moved South and have good english..a cardiologist, teacher, mountain guide leaders,  IT aircraft specialist ), it seems the Government policy is to develop tourism as an economic and social winner.  There is a large, poor urban underclass and in rural areas farming is in decline.  So, it was boom time for construction but my impression was that the essential associated services infrastructure was limited or unable to keep the same pace. I was part of the out -of step -sustainability ‘triangle’ – bringing in jobs / services but adding pressures to infrastructure such as sewage disposal and sensitive habitats and wildlife in the famous National Parks.

The gravel roads such as Route 40  immortalised in Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia from the late 1960s´were being paved like fury, especially it seemed in the Province that the President came from!  The culture he wrote about of the ´wilderness´, farming settlers and gauchos on the Estancias , Indians etc was also fading fast.  So, I am pleased I took the opportunity to get off the beaten track and experience something of this essence.

At El Calafate, I did the hugely popular total immersion tourist tour to see the Perito Moreno Glacier of the South Continental Icefield.  I recall it did seem strange in some ways being around people who were far more smartly dressed and staying in proper hotels on ordered itineraries. My attire was the worn look!  It was crammed packed on the bus and boat and boardwalks but I agreed with the policy of keeping people only in a small portion of the National Park.  So, as the Guide Book said, one saw a wonder of nature as huge blocks of blue glacial ice crashed into the lake with 300 other people under my armpit.  Anyway, it was impressive rising 60m above the lake and a 5km wide front and is the only advancing glacier. Apparently all the others are retreating very fast. The  weather improved to allow stunning views of mountain, forest, lakes and glacier scenery.  The glacier ´blocked´two arms of Lago Argentina with just a small connecting channel, where the lake water rises with the advances of the glacier and one could see a strip of bare rock between the lake and trees where all vegetation had been stripped away.  Every now and again, one end of the Lake ´wall´collapses from the weight – height of water and the whole lot goes whooshing down!

I stayed in a nice, busily humming hostel and chatted with great couple of lads from Milton Keynes and a lovely Oz couple. Ate out and in one laid back resturant -cafe, a middle aged bloke was singing well to a guitar.

Headed North to El Chalten and Los Glaciers North National Park and as all online hostels were booked solid, got there mid day and started walking around and found probably the cheapest, small hostel which had beds at 40 pesos !  Good for the price, although as in many hostels, many people land at about midnight off the buses and had chats with some Israelis one of whom had a guitar.  I experienced the amazing constant wind which was unusual this summer in its intensity at about 40-60km. My guide said she had to hide a group in a crevasse as one day it was 200kmph? The wind strength made walking just up the main street an expedition, let alone higher on the trails.  It was a beautiful day on arrival and I saw the famous Fitz Roy mountain from the excellent National Park offices who give a compulsory talk to all visitors about trying to protect the environment where camp site loos can be overflowing and rivers are already being contaminated.  I was very fortunate in finding by pure luck an ecologist guide who had co-authored publications on the flora and fauna, spoke very good english and was very bubbly.

On the last day in better weather, we headed out from 0630 to 1930 for a full day of looking at birds, native flora and lots of chat!  I recall a superb day and my good luck in finding such an excellent and friendly guide. The vegetation changed very quickly over just 10km from very wet sub antarctic beech woodland, ecotone of woodland and scrub grassland to very arid steppe due to the impressive rain shadow effect of the Andes.  The hardy grasses are locally called coiron and gave a gold colour to the Steppe.  Much of the native flora has changed due to farming and the import through seed etc of plants such as white clover, dandelion and grasses or burning of the woodland which apparently, does not recover or if so, very, very slowly in such a harsh climate.  It was interesting to learn about the óther side´of the beef steak and gaucho ´romantic´image such as the Government subsidy to Estancias of 300 pesos for every Puma killed.  For example, just 1 Estancia nearby killed 37 pumas and 200 red foxes in 2009.  As in other countries including the UK, it seems there are changes such as some landowners realising there is an economic tourist value to retaining some top predators as well as rearing sheep.

We chatted about geology and mountaineering including the height differential of the Andes chain north to south which arose due to the different times and angles the South American and Pacific Plates collided and subsided.  Fitz Roy is a volcanic outcrop which was pushed up by later tectonic action through the layers of sedimentary – metamorphic rock of the Andes. I did not know the first ascent of Fitz Roy was so contentious as it is still unknown if he made the top or not!

I saw a lot of birds which were mainly of two types, either small to huddle against the ground and low scrub or large such as falcons and condors.  Watching any bird fly into these winds or soar with just a few wingbeats was awe-inspiring. We watched various ducks, teal and widgeon on a small river with a juvenile black chested buzzard eagle hanging about, a crested caracara perched on a grassy hummock and a cinerous harrier quartering the ground low into the wind.  I recall feeling very lucky to experience something of the vastness and silence of the Steppe, as many of the main Park paths were crowded and noisy.  I was shown a very deep river gorge with a superb, volcanic dyke and an eagle´s nest they have monitored for 7 years and finished the day in beech forest watching an American kestrel perched with a vole hanging forlornly from the talons and having its head occasionally chewed and 4 woodpeckers bashing away and then preening themselves.

On the other 2 days, I had full day hikes to Fitz Roy viewpoint and Laguna Torre cutting back by two other glacial lakes. I took time to stop and look around in warm sunshine, driving hail and always the wind!  I did not realise until later, my good fortune to see a  shy Huemel or Andean Deer, one of the flagship National Species which was severely hunted and the Parks are trying to conserve populations.  I watched a pair of Torrent Ducks feeding on stonefly larvae in very fast, glacial waters and jump about 1m down from the top of a rock.  I do recall well, the last 1km up a steep hill to a viewpoint of Fitz Roy was so windy I had to waddle across on my bottom and wrap my arms around rocks and my woolly hat was whipped off my head and swept away.  I watched one woman lifted of her feet and blown for a couple of yards.  I headed back along a much quieter path through gorgeous lenga woodland by the Rio Blanco, with good views in fabulous weather of Fitz Roy, Piedras Blanca and Glacier Fitz Roy.  I took a chance I could hitch a lift along the one gravel road and a lovely french family working in BA gave me a lift along 14km of boring track!