Perito Moreno Glacier

We left El Chalten yesterday morning and drove through scattered rain showers to El Calafate for our final two nights.  Calafate actually has size to it, and we explored the town and wandered through the shops.  Our main reason for coming to Calafate has been to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. Perito Moreno is also a part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, but it is much larger than Grey Glacier that we saw in Torres del Paine.

Perito Moreno is located in the southern part of Glaciares National Park.  El Chalten, where we were yesterday, is at the northern end of the park. From Calafate, we had a beautiful drive west for a little more than an hour.  We passed through large swaths of rolling hills and ranches, with the deep blue hues of Lago Argentina visible for about half the drive.

One of the unique things about Perito Moreno, and arguably for the good of the world, is that it is not retreating.  It actually moves on average about two meters per day.  The park has constructed a series of stairs, walkways, and viewing platforms totaling almost two miles that allowed us excellent views of the face of the glacier. We experienced several calves, where a small piece of the glacier collapsed into the water.  This was such a cool experience!  We frequently heard the creaking and cracking sounds of the glacier, then the rumble of the ice as it tumbled down before a big splash.  We never knew when or if this would happen, and we were lucky enough to see five and capture a couple of them on video.  This blog site doesn't handle video well, so photos will have to do.

Today was another gorgeous weather day, and seeing the glacier was icing on the cake. Unfortunately, it's our last day of sightseeing.  We leave tomorrow to drive back to Chile to start our journey home. This trip has been incredible and an awesome way to bring 2024 to a close and welcome 2025. Happy New Year!

 

Final El Chalten Hike

For our final hike in El Chalten, we did the Chorrillo del Salto trail which translates to " Little Waterfall".  It's a short easy hike from the parking lot or you could hike from town about two miles.  We ate our picnic lunch next to the rushing water, enjoying the cool breeze and the squeals of children playing among the rocks.  It's our last day here, and we leave for our final destination, El Calafate, in the morning.   Time has passed by way too quickly! We are thankful for the time here and for the gorgeous weather.  It could not have been more perfect.

Lago del Desierto

Lago del Desierto

Today we ventured outside of El Chalten, driving about 22 miles along a gravel road until it ended at Lago del Desierto (Lago = Lake).  The road was actually the continuation of the main road into the town, but the pavement ends at the parking area for the Fitzroy trail.  The road generally follows the Rio de las Vueltas until we reached the lake.  We started out with Fitzroy in front of us, but with all the twists and turns, we ended up past Fitzroy until we were looking at the back of it.  It was cool to see it from so many different angles.

Lago Huemul in front of Glacier Huemul

Once we reached the lake, we decided to hike the Glacier Huemul trail,  It's  relatively short (less than 2 miles) and generally uphill from the trailhead,   The trail ends at Lago Huemul, a small lake in front of the glacier that feeds a large stream.  The stream runs the length of the trail with several beautiful cascades back into the Rio de las Vueltas.  Just like many of the lakes and streams in Patagonia, this one was a striking shade of blue.

1/2 marghereta 1/2 pepperoni

We drove back to town and ate at the local pizzeria recommended by our host. Argentina has excellent pizza, having been influenced by an influx of Italian immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  We discovered this in Buenos Aires during our Antarctica trip.  The restaurant is a small shop that serves a set number of pizzas each evening, and then they close.  We tried going last night, but they were too crowded with a line out the door.  Today we arrived a few minutes before they opened which worked out great.  A delicious end to another great day.

Patagonian Wildlife

We love seeing wildlife, especially ones we don't have at home.  Here are some of the animals we've been able to capture with photos:

Rhea

Carpentiera Negra

Guanaco

Upland Geese

Crested Caracara

Hiking Capital of Argentina

El Chalten has earned the moniker "Hiking Capital of Argentina" and it's easy to see why. The mountains here are gorgeous, and there are a number of trails of varying difficulties.  We see a constant stream of hikers with their packs and trekking poles walking through town and at the restaurants after having finished a hike.  I think this may be the most hikers I've seen concentrated in a single place.

Rio de las Vueltas

Our original plan was to hike to Laguna de los Tres (The Three Lakes) and see the base of Fitzroy.  It's a long hike with a very steep finish, much like the hike we did to the Towers in Torres del Paine.  However, given the phenomenal views of Fitzroy that we've already encountered, we decided to give our legs a break and do a shorter hike to Laguna Capri that still gave us fantastic views.  This was a beautiful hike through wooded areas with great views of the aptly named valley Rio de las Vueltas (River of Turns).

Laguna Capri did not disappoint.  We still had our clear blue skies that provided a beautiful backdrop to Fitzroy. We later learned from our AirBnB host that the gorgeous weather we're having is a bit of an anomaly.  We're very thankful for that and hope it continues the rest of our stay.

Now it's Argentina's turn

We've had a termendous three days in Torres del Paine, but it's time to visit the Argentinian portion of Patagonia.  Our hotel stay in Cerro Castillo, Chile was excellent, but the bonus to staying there was that we were practically next door to the border crossing. 

Crossing the border required parking at the Chilean border station and going inside to get passports stamped.  We also had paperwork that had to be stamped as well -- a cross-border permit -- that allowed us to take our rental car from Chile into Argentina. Once we completed that, we drove about 5 miles to the Argentinan station, actually crossing the border about halfway there.  It was the same process.  All told, we completed both stations in under 45 minutes which was great.

Guanaco

The road to the border in Chile was practically brand new with concrete lanes and a nice wide shoulder.  Once we crossed the border, it was a different story. Argentina's road to the border station was gravel and let's say not quite as smooth.  Given the remote nature of this region in both countries, it is very common to have gravel roads. We drove on many in Chile, and Argentina has a lot of catching up to do in terms of how well they are maintained.

Crested Caracara

Once we left the border station, we drove Ruta 40 (Route 40) which is the historic road that travels the length of Argentinian Patagonia at over 3,100 miles. Even better, it's paved 😀. There was a "shortcut" along the way that took us on a gravel road that cut the corner and shaved an hour off the trip according to Google maps.  Let's just say we would have been better driving the extra hour to remain on pavement.  Did I mention that Chile's gravel roads are much better maintained?  Argentina really needs to get some pointers.  The one silver lining was beautiful scenery, and we saw a Gaucho and his dogs as well as guanacos and Patagonian birds.

The best part of the drive was the arrival in El Chalten.  We were greeted with stunning views of snow-capped peaks and the famous outline of Mount Fitzroy.  The logo for clothing company Patagonia is based on Fitzroy.  While we had some clouds during our arrival, it was still an awesome site to see.  I went out early today and captured this photo with clear blue skies.  Awesome indeed.

Wait....wasn't this last year's trip?

Last year at Christmas we had the good fortune to take our ultimate bucket list trip to Antarctica.  That trip was phenonemal, and on Christmas Day we went kayaking inside a calderra surrounded by Antarctic beauty.  I guess we didn't get our fix of ice and glaciers because this year's Christmas Day adventure was taking a three-hour catamaran cruise across Grey Lake to see Grey Glacier up close and personal.

Grey Glacier is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, which is the second-largest ice field after Antarctica.  About 85% of this ice is in Chile and the remainder in Argentina. Unfortunately, like most of the other glaciers we have had the good fortune to see around the world, it has retreated significantly due to global warming.

After two long days of hiking, we knew we needed a break so no hiking today.  We did have a full day of adventure and gorgeous scenery driving from the east side of the park to the west side and back again.  Some of our Christmas Day adventures:

• Coming across a Chilean gaucho and three of his herding dogs trying to corral a lone sheep that had gotten outside the fence.  They were next to the road, and we had to stop the car to avoid hitting them.  The dogs then used our car to trap the sheep at the back as we heard a soft thud from the trunk. The sheep just laid down cowering as we drove away, and the gaucho scooped it up and put it on the other side of the fence.

• Giving a hiker from Switzerland a ride back to his car.  He did the "W" circuit with some friends and he drew the short straw to go back and get their car. He figured he would have lots of opportunity to hitch a ride, but soon realized there really weren't many people driving through the park.  We saved him at least 10 miles.

• Having a scavenger hunt photographing all of the unique "Deer Crossing" signs, except they weren't for deer.  They were for guanacos, armadillos, and my personal favorite -- the ostrich.  That's right,
  
  we saw signs along the road warning us to look out for giant running birds.  The South American ostrich is called a Rhea. We also saw a sign for pumas.  Mona's take -- since they're telling us to watch out for pumas, we should at least be able to see one.  We did not.  There was also a sign featuring a wind sock, which I guess is a universal sign for high winds and not that one might cross the road in front of you.

• Taking an unplanned detour to catch a waterfall with the Towers in the background.  Made us late for our lunch reservation, but totally worth it.

• Winning Mona a free cocktail on the boat for correctly answering a trivia question on the journey back from the glacier.  How deep is Grey Lake??  480 meters.

Probably the best stop of today's driving adventure was capturing this photo.  Awesome.

Torres del Paine National Park

Merry Christmas from Torres del Paine National Park!  This National Park is arguably the most well-known in Chile and is a very popular hiking destination.  We've been here two days now and have hiked over 25 miles.

Torres is the spanish word for Towers, and our first day we hiked to the Towers for which the park gets its name.  The last kilometer is very steep, and is referred to as a rock scramble in hiking parlance.  

We made it to the base of the Towers

As the name implies, it's very rocky -- but it also has its fair share of boulders and large rocks to climb over.  It's not uncommon to see people sit and slide down one of them on the way down due to the steepness.  One of us may have done this as well 😀.  Not including stops, this was about a 10.5 hour hike for us.

The trail to the Towers is part of a larger multi-day hike called the "W" circuit because it is in the shape of a W.  Most people who come here come with the intention of doing this circuit in about 5 days and camping along the way.  We didn't have enough time to do the entire circuit, plus we're not campers. You have to hike with all of the extra gear, and we'd rather spend the day hiking and then go back to a comfy bed and shower.  There's an even longer 10-day hike doing what's referred to as the "O" circuit because you're circling the entire section with the Towers.

Lake Pehoe -- yes it's really that blue!

Yesterday was our second day here, and we drove to a different section of the W circuit to hike in an area called the French Valley.  We had to catch a 30-minute catamaran across Lake Pehoe to an area called Paine Grande. Unfortunately, they overbooked the first ferry.  Even though we had already bought our tickets ahead of time, they wouldn't let about a dozen of us board.  We had to wait two hours for the next one.  Because we lost two hours, we didn't get as far into the French Valley as we were hoping. It was still nice hiking with beautiful views.  We've had several people tell us the French Valley is their favorite section.

We've had great weather so far, with lots of sunshine and no rain.  Hope that continues today.  It is very windy here which we knew ahead of time. While not a constant strong wind, when it gets going, it's hard to keep a hat on unless it's a stocking cap.

The landscape and the views are glorious.  Seeing places like this reaffirm my love of the mountains.

Our Christmas Patagonian Adventure

Because of Mona's work, we have to travel during school holidays.  With her being off for two full weeks this year, we've hit the road again....this time to Patagonia for a 10-day hiking and outdoor adventures in the southern Andean mountain range.  The Patagonia region spans both Chile and Argentina and we're visiting both on this trip.

We actually had this trip planned for Spring Break 2020, but then COVID happened and all travel ceased for the year.  It may have been a blessing in disguise as we're able to spend more time here than we would with just a week.  It took over 24 hours of planes, trains (at the airport 😆), and automobiles, to travel over 6,200 miles from Dulles Airport to our hotel in Cerro Castillo, Chile on the outskirts of Torres Del Paine National Park.  This included over 15 hours of actual flight time and 3.5 hours driving fron our arrival airport in Punta Arenas.

Given our limited amount of sleep, we are in bed early.  We had a delicious dinner at our hotel, and now with our full bellies, we hope to reset our internal clocks and adjust to the new time zone. We begin our hiking adventures bright and early tomorrow.  First up, the namesake Torres de Paine trail to see the Towers for which the park is named.

Farewell Greece. Until Next Time.

This has been a fantastic trip.  We have seen so much history and beauty during our travels.  The fitness tracker on my watch says we've walked over 92 miles the past two weeks, averaging a little more than 6.5 miles per day.  Wendy would probably argue that we actually went mountain climbing considering all the uphill we did visiting the various acropoli and the monasteries in Meteora.  We've had great weather, great food, and great travel connections with all of the flights, trains, and buses.

One thing I haven't mentioned in previous posts are the number of feral cats in Greece. It seemed like everywhere we went, there were cats hanging out or coming up to you to see if you had any treats to share.  The Greeks love their cats and leave food and water out for them even though they aren't really their pets.

I leave you with one final photo of a cat living its best life soaking up the sun amidst all the beauty around it.

Meteora

Roussanou

After leaving Delphi and another lovely drive through the mountains, we arrived mid-afternoon in Meteora.  Next to the towns of Kastraki and Kalabaka, Meteora is an area of large rock pinnacles that jut up from the surrounding valley.  It is on these pinnacles that a number of monasteries were built.  These locations provided the ultimate isolation for the monks to separate from the outside world and focus on their faith and work.  It also provides some of the most picturesque scenes to see and experience.

Varlaam

The majority of monasteries located here were founded in the 14th and 15th centuries. At one time there were 24 separate monasteries atop the various pinnacles, but only 6 remain today and all are still active.  They are Great Meteoron, Varlaam, Roussanou, St. Stephen, Holy Trinity, and St. Nikolaos.  All of the monasteries are open to visitors, although they are not all open every day.  A multi-day visit is needed in order to actually tour them all. 

With the exception of St. Stephen, each monastery requires an uphill walk and lots of stairs.

Holy Trinity

We visited Varlaam, St. Nikolaos, and St. Stephen during our time here, but saw and photographed all of them from the outside.  It is mind-boggling to see each of them perched high atop a pinnacle, knowing that when they were constructed, everything had to be carted up to the top.  No machinery or helicopters to make the job easier.  Each monastery has different architectural aesthetics, but one thing in common is that every square inch of the church and chapel areas is painted with various icons and religious scenes.  We noticed that as well in the other Greek Orthodox churches we visited.

We had a beautiful day in which to explore and absorb this majestic landscape.  The leaves here are now starting to change colors, adding another layer of beauty.  This has been a great way to finish up our trip before heading back to Athens and our flight home.

St. Nikolaos

St. Stephen

Great Meteroron

Delphi

In front of the Treasury of Athenians

After spending our Sunday enjoying Nafplio and Epidauros, we drove 3.5 hours to Delphi, through lots and lots of curves as we traversed one mountain to the next.  We arrived in time for dinner before crashing for the night.  After breakfast on Monday morning, we set off for the Museum and Archaeological Site.  I re-read what I wrote during our 2018 visit and don't think I can really add anything to the details of what we experienced --  (click here) to read more. 

Time has been flying by on this trip.  It's hard to believe that we have only one more day before we head home.   We're off to Meteora for our final adventures.

Nafplio and Epidauros

As I mentioned in my previous post, Nafplio is becoing one of my favorite towns to visit. Walking around the old center of town has such a nice and relaxed vibe and its setting on the water is very picturesque.  Even though this is my third visit here, I'm still discovering new things.  I thank Wendy and her research for that.

Lion of Bavaria

We visited the Lion of Bavaria, which is a monument carved into the exposed rock of Palamidi Hill in what is now a neighborhood near the Palamidi Fortress.  This is a memorial to the Bavarian soldiers who died in the 1833-34 typhoid outbreak in Nafplio.  Why were there Bavarian soldiers in Nafplio?  It was because the Bavarian Prince Otto was installed as the King of Greece after the Greeks won their independence from the

Lucerne Lion Monument

Ottoman Empire.  These soldiers served as royal guards.  Otto served as King from 1832 -1862. This monument is based upon a similar lion monument in Lucerne, Switzerland which honored the memory of Swiss Guards killed during the French Revolution.

Church of Agioi Pantes

Around the corner from the monument is the Church of Agioi Pantes.  This tiny church is also partially built into the rock of Palamidi Hill. Many of the Bavarian soldiers who dierd of typhoid were buried in the cemetery here until later being exhumed and moved to the crypt of the Catholic Church of Metamorphosis Tou Sotiris.  One of the unique things about this church is the use of old gravestones to build the stairway leading up to it.  In our prior trips, Mona and I drove by the street where both the church and monument are located, unaware of their existence.

After walking around and enjoying the town, we set off for a short drive to Epidauros. Here we visited the Sanctuary of Asklepios which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Asklepios was the Greek God of Medicine and many people came to worship him and seek healing for all sorts of afflictions.  We spent a lot of time touring the archaeological site which included temples, baths, athletic stadium, and even a dormitory.  The crown jewel of the site is the best preserved amphitheater of all Ancient Greece.  It is renowned for its acoustics and can seat up to 15,000.  Built in the 4th century BC, they still use it for performances during the summer months.

Ancient Amphitheater

I love that I discovered new things as well as revisited favorites.  That's why I enjoy traveling so much.

Crossing Bridges

It's Saturday, and after eight nights, we've left Athens for good until we go to the airport for our flight home.  We're traveling back to the Peloponnese past Corinth to the archaeolgical site of the ancient city of Mycenae.  The Mycenaean civilization was the last phase of the Bronze Age and lasted from roughtly 1750 BC to 1050 BC.  The Mycenaeans are considered the first distinctively Greek civilization.  Their syllabic script called Linear B are the first written records of the Greek language.

Lion Gate

As with other places we've visited, Mycenae was atop a hill.  The citadel covered about 7.5 acres and is surrounded by a wall with giant boulders.  Greek myth states these walls were built by the Cyclops because only they could move boulders so large, hence the term Cyclopean walls.  The main entrance is the Lion Gate which was erected in the 13th century BC.  It remains today as it was almost 3500 years ago, a testament to the skill of the Mycenaean builders.

The wind was howling during our visit, and it was especially strong at the top where there were no walls for protection.  We could easily lean forward and not fall as the wind was that strong.  As we made our way through, we saw both large grave circles that had been excavated.  Many of the treasures found in the two grave circles are on display at the National Archaeological Museum which we saw when in Athens.  We also visited the Treasury of Atreus, also referred to as the Tomb of Agamemnon.  It was built between 1350 BC and 1250 BC and is in the shape of a beehive.  It was built into a hillside so all you see is the opening for the entrance.  Again, the fact that this is still intact thousands of years later is quite the construction feat for the Mycenaeans.

Wendy crossing a 3500-year-old bridge

After we left Mycenae, we set off for the seaside town of Nafplio where we will spend the night.  But first, we searched for two different Mycenaean bridges that date back 3500 years and are still intact.  One was next to the road, but the other required a small bit of hiking to locate. These are located on the what was the main Mycenaean trail from Epidauros to Mycenae.

I've been very fortunate in my travels and this is my third trip to Greece.  This is also my third time visiting the seaside city of Nafplio in the Peloponnese.  It's quickly becoming one of my favorite places.  It's a lovely town with three different fortresses that were used to guard against invaders over the centuries.  Tomorrow, we'll get to it explore a little more.

Lesvos

Our final island day trip from Athens was to Lesvos.  Thank goodness it was our final day of waking up at zero-dark-thirty. Wendy was a geology major at William and Mary, so when she learned that there was a pertrified forest and large national park on Lesvos, that became our top destination. We arrived at 8am, collected our rental car, and drove an hour and a half to the western edge of the island to the petrified forest museum and the national park.

Still seeing the roots

In simplest terms, petrification is when organic matter is turned into stone.  In the case of Lesvos, this was the result of at least eight separate volcanic eruptions.  That is the number of layers they have discovered through excavation.  One of the more unique features of the forest is that many of the petrified trees are in situ, meaning they are still standing in their original position as they were when living.  In some instances, you could even see the root structures as well as the trunk of the tree.  I've visited pertrified forests in Mississippi and Arizona, and the tree trunks were lying on the ground and not standing.

The largest tree still standing here was a sequoia that was about 25 feet in height. The other remarkable thing is the sheer number of petrified trees.  At the other ones I visited, the petrified items were few and far between.  Here, you practically tripped over them as you walked.  Or as we say in the South, there were too many to shake a stick at.

As we were driving out to the petrified forest, we passed an area with a large number of birds.  Wendy checked online as we were driving and it turns out that there are flamingos in the wild on Lesvos and that was likely what we saw.  Since we were retracing our steps back east, we hoped that they would still be there.  Fortunately for us, they were.  Birdwatching in that area was so popular, they constructed bird blinds that we could climb and sit in to observe.  It made for a fabulous vantage point to take photos.

After spending time admiring the flamingos, we had an adventurous drive through a village with extremely narrow streets to find a Roman acqueduct that was still standing.  Even though I've seen these in other places, I'm still amazed at the ingenuity and longevity of these structures.  I was able to fly my drone and catch great pictures.

We stopped at a local taverna for dinner before heading back to the airport.  There was a group of locals who we assumed were celebrating something, or maybe just glad it was Friday and the weekend was here.  They were playing traditional Greek music and would occasionally start dancing.  It was as if we were watching a scene from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  

So I guess the movie was a fairly accurate depiction.