ARGENTINA: Patagonia & Buenos Aires

Index to this page: Buenos Aires , Patagonia trip map , Mount Fitz Roy , El Chalten hiking map , Moreno Glacier , Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego
See related pages: Chilean Patagonia ( Torres del Paine NP & map , Serrano Glacier ) ~ Antarctica ~ Patagonia itinerary

Photographs Copyright 2005 by Tom Dempsey. Page last updated December 12, 2008.
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How to plan your trip: Read my highly detailed Patagonia trip itinerary, 5 weeks including Antarctica. Our private group traveled from February 3 to March 11, 2005: from Seattle to Buenos Aires, Patagonia (Argentina & Chile), and Antarctica.

The Fitz Roy Mountain Range, Los Glaciares National Park

Above: Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy rise behind a silhouette of a lenga tree, in Los Glaciares National Park, ARGENTINA. This view is from the Loma del Pliegue Tumbada trail. (Panorama stitched from 2 images.) 

Left: Entrance to Los Glaciares National Park at the southern end of the little frontier village of El Chalten, which as of 2005 has all-gravel streets, but offers good accommodation, restaurants, a microbrewery, and three small grocery stores.

February 3 - March 11, 2005 Patagonia & Antarctica Trip Summary:
My wife and I left Seattle's winter and joined my father and two friends for a spectacular summer trip trekking in Chilean Patagonia and Argentina (shown on this page), plus cruising Antarctica. (See Patagonia trip maps below.) The astounding Patagonia scenery, and great trekking between comfortable mountain lodges, rival any I have experienced elsewhere in the world!
    We enjoyed several outstanding day hikes in the Mount Fitz Roy Range in Argentine Patagonia (see Chalten hikes & map below), from our base in a comfortable cabin with kitchen in the enjoyable frontier town of El Chalten. Another good option would be multi-night backpacking trips, with optional horse support, but high winds can make camping uncomfortable. As of 2005, reaching remote El Chalten took 5 hours via gravel road from El Calafate, but the road is currently being upgraded and paved, which should hasten the tourist influx to this world-class trekking and climbing area. Seeing the awesome (and deservedly popular) Moreno Glacier takes a half-day trip from El Calafate, which has a good airport with frequent flights from Buenos Aires.

• The best time to visit Patagonia may be from March to April, when tourists disappear, yet most services remain open, the wild windy weather calms somewhat, and the beech tree forests glow with nice fall colors. At the beginning of March, children go back to school, parents go home, and crowds disappear.
• Late February through March has less wind & rain than earlier in the summer.
  
• High tourist season in Patagonia runs from December to the end of February, during which you should book accommodation and other services in advance.
• Avoid overcrowded January to mid-February in Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina.
• Patagonia is very windy all year. November can be an okay month to visit, but the winds that scour Patagonia are at their most unremitting. September to January are also blasted with high winds (gravity-fed katabatic winds or williwaws) which frequently rush off the Patagonian icecap at 60 mph all day, sometimes up to 100 mph. Even in late February/early March, which have the lightest winds of the summer, we experienced steady 50 mph winds about every third day!
  
• The ozone hole over Earth's southern atmosphere is worst September to January (especially September to mid-October), so be sure to apply sunscreen even on cloudy days.
  

Left: Lago Sucia and Laguna de los Tres are lakes of two different colors of glacial till, lying in a spectacular glacial cirque beneath the Fitz Roy Range. (Panorama stitched from 2 images.) (See Chalten hikes and map below.)

Below right: Cerro Fitz Roy (3405 meters / 11,170 feet), Los Glaciares National Park. This view is from the Loma del Pliegue Tumbada trail.

Right: Our day hikes are shown as purple lines radiating from the frontier village of El Chalten, Argentina.

El Chalten Hiking Map, Los Glaciares National Park 

Hiking Recommendations for the Fitz Roy Range:

• Laguna de los Tres (15 miles, 3200 feet round trip) = one of our favorite hikes of the trip, and one of the most spectacular glacial cirques in the world. Be sure and ascend the 300-foot hill above Laguna de los Tres (Lake of the Three) for the best view, which then includes glacial-turquoise Lago Sucia (Dirty Lake) far below. Options: backpack or horsepack to the campground in this area for 2 or 3 nights so you get more time to explore and absorb the awesome beauty.
• Loma del Pliegue Tumbada (12 miles 3000 feet round trip, plus 3 miles further & 1000 feet higher if you go to the top of the third hill with the best view) = The views are so impressive that we hiked most of this trail twice to experience better weather. At several places along this trail, you can see both Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy in the same panorama. Start this spectacular hike at the Los Glaciares National Park Visitor Center, located as you enter the main road south end of town before crossing the river bridge. As we started the hike, I photographed striking sunrise views of the Fitz Roy Range on the main road just a few hundred yards east of the Visitor Center.
  
• Torre Lake (6 hours round trip) = I hiked halfway to this lake, which has an excellent close view of Cerro Torre. I had good views of standing-wave clouds over Fitz Roy, but Cerro Torre was obscured by clouds and the 50mph winds at the pass helped turn me back.
• Rio Electrico to Cerro Electrico = I have read that from here you can see spectacular views from the northern side of the Fitz Roy Range looking south. You can hire pack animals to support a tenting trip here, or possibly overnight at private Refugio Los Troncos. The day hike is very steep to Cerro Electrico, but you don't have to go all the way. We want to explore this area on a future trip.
• Recommended Map (excerpted on the right): "Patagonian South Icefield Trekking-Mountaineering: Monte Fitz Roy + Cerro Torre 1:50,000"  ISBN 1-879568-09-8 from: http://www.patagoniashop.net/

The following three panoramas, taken minutes apart on the same morning, are stitched from 3 images each:



Above: The Yamana natives called this mountain Chalten (which means "Peak of Fire" or "Smoky Peak"), probably because of the frequent smoke-like clouds which surround the mountain. Now we call it Cerro (or Monte) Fitz Roy (named after Captain Fitzroy of the ship Beagle, which carried Charles Darwin). The Mount Fitz Roy Range catches beautiful light at sunrise, most conveniently seen here from the southern end of El Chalten on the main road at the entrance to Los Glaciares National Park. Several hiking trails in the park offer stunning views from different angles.
 

Left: Late afternoon sunshine over Mount Fitz Roy, on the trail to Laguna de los Tres..

Left: A wild Ibis (bird) walks through the grass in the Fitz Roy Range of the Andes.

Left: Nothofagus (southern beech) trees beneath Mount Fitz Roy, on the trail to Laguna de los Tres..

Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park

 
Above: The Perito Moreno Glacier is in Los Glaciares National Park, in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. The terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 kilometers wide, with an average height of 60 meters above the surface of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 meters. (panorama stitched from 2 images.)

Right: Several hundred meters of easy boardwalks and stairways afford expansive views of the Perito Moreno Glacier, near El Calafate, Argentina.

The Perito Moreno Glacier is an impressive 200 foot high, 3 mile wide wall of ice which flows into Lake Argentina, in Los Glaciares National Park, in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. The deepest part of the glacier is about 2300 feet thick. The glacier originates in the much larger Hielo Sur (Southern Icefield). The Moreno Glacier advances at a speed of up to 2 meters per day (about 700 meters per year) and melts about the same rate, so the terminus has not advanced or receded in the past 90 years. However, the flowing ice periodically dams an arm of the lake. The lake arm rises for a few years then breaks across the nose of the glacier as a crashing river, the last times in March 2004 and 1991. When we visited in 2005, a narrow river flowed across the face of Moreno Glacier, destabilizing it and calving large chunks of ice into the water with a loud crash several times per day. This is one of the most awesome and popular sights in South America, well worth a visit.
     Getting around:

• We bused from Puerto Natales (Chile) to El Calafate (Argentina), where we rented a car for the half day trip to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. From Lago Argentino Airport (Code FTE; located 20 kilometers east of Calafate), we flew back to Buenos Aires.
• The best way to photograph the glacier is to rent a car in El Calafate, drive in early, 2 hours one way, and experience morning light from the boardwalks (sunset light may also be interesting). For two or more people driving together, this is cheaper and more flexible than bus tours.
  
• Most people take a bus tour round trip from El Calafate 8:30am to 5:00pm (about US$25 per person in 2005), which most hotels can book upon your arrival.
• From El Calafate, I highly recommend adding a week side trip (or 4 days minimum) in El Chalten hiking near the spectacular Mount Fitz Roy.

Left: The Argentine flag flies above the Perito Moreno Glacier, near El Calafate, Argentina.

Below: As you drive or bus into The Glaciers National Park from nearby El Calafate, you see the miles-wide Perito Moreno Glacier.

Below right: Spiky seracs (glacial ice columns) jut from the Moreno Glacier, near El Calafate, Argentina.

The bare blue ice face in the photo on the left is a fresh break where a large serac sheared off (or calved) into Lake Argentina with a sound like a freight train, creating the out flow of ice shown in the photo below right.
 
 

Buenos Aires

San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires

Left: Dancers work up a sweat doing the Chamame at a free public dance in Dorrego Square, in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires. Accordion-based Chamamé arose in the northeastern Argentina region of Corrientes, an area with many settlers from Poland, Austria and Germany, many of them Jews. Polkas, Mazurkas and Waltzes came with these immigrants, and soon mixed with the Spanish music already present in the area. The 20th century saw limited international popularity for Chamamé, though some artists, like Argentine superstar Raúl Barboza, became popular later in the century. In recent years, Chango Spasiuk, a young Argentine from Misiones province of Ukrainian descent, has once again brought chamamé to international attention.

Above: Men and women dance tango at a free public dance held on Sundays in Dorrego Square, in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Above right: A tango mural featuring a dancing couple decorates a wall in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Left: A tango mural featuring 2 dancing couples, two cupids and a bass violin decorates a wall next to a street lamp in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America. The double bass (also known as the contrabass, string bass, upright bass, bull fiddle, bass fiddle, bass violin, or simply bass) is the largest and lowest pitched bowed string instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra.

Above right: A tango mural featuring a dancing couple decorates a wall next to a street lamp in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America.

Left: Our rooftop lounge at a good Bed and Breakfast in San Telmo barrio, the heart of old Buenos Aires.

Below right: The President's "Pink House" in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Left: Cathedral in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires. (A panorama stitched from four images.)

Below right: Russian Orthodox Church, in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Left: Market in Lezama Park, in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires.

Below: Two boys prepare their accordions for playing in a street fair in San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 

La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires

Left: Colorful buildings in the tourist area of La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires.

Below right: People explore colorful buildings in the tourist area of La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Left: Colorful buildings in La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires.

Below right: brown and red doors in La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Left: An old building with ornate balconies supports a streetside cafe in La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Above: Two shuttered balconies of an old building in La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Puerto Madero barrio of Buenos Aires

 

Left : The Puerto Madero barrio lies in a central section of Buenos Aires.

Below right:  Port Madero is a barrio (neighborhood) in central Buenos Aires.
 

Recoleta in Buenos Aires

Ushuaia & Tierra Del Fuego National Park, Argentina

As the port closest to Antarctica (which is located 400 miles across the Drake Straight), Ushuaia hosts most of the cruise ships that visit the southernmost continent.

Above: The Martial Mountains and Martial Glacier are easily accessible on foot starting from the ski lift terminus above Ushuaia, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, South America.

Above: Tom and Mofay stand across from a small glacier in the Martial Mountains on the Canadon Negro trail, Tierra del Fuego National Park, a day hike starting from the ski lift above Ushuaia, Argentina.

Left: An alpine stream flowing from the Martial Mountains waters lush beds of moss.
   
Below right: Lupine flowers growing at the bottom of the Martial Mountains chairlift, Ushuaia.

Above: The ski lift above Ushuaia, Argentina, offers views of the Beagle Channel, Ushuaia Airport, and Navarino Island in Chile. Tierra del Fuego, South America.

Above: Lenga (Nothofagus, or Southern Beech)  leaves turn a beautiful color in late summer and fall, in Tierra del Fuego National Park, Ushuaia, Argentina.

Left: We explore the shore of Lago Roca in Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina.

Above: Sunrise at the port of Ushuaia, Argentina, beneath the Martial Mountains on the island of Tierra del Fuego.

Above: Dawn at the port of Ushuaia, Argentina, beneath the Martial Mountains on the island of Tierra del Fuego.

Above:  Sunrise hits the stern of a ship at Ushuaia.

Above: Ushuaia: clouds turn magenta at sunrise.

Above: A sailboat crosses the Beagle Channel at Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. In the background rise the Martial Mountains.

Above:  I photographed this replica of Shackleton's famous 23-foot lifeboat, the "James Caird", being loaded at the port of Ushuaia.  In the James Caird lifeboat, Ernest Shackleton crossed over 800 miles of one of the most treacherous seas in the world from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island, a remarkable feat.

Above: A garden of lupine flowers decorates the port of Ushuaia. On the left is a container ship from Maersk Sealand, and on the right is the good ship Explorer.

Patagonia Trip Maps

How to plan your trip: Read our detailed Patagonia trip itinerary, 5 weeks including Antarctica. We traveled from February 3 to March 11, 2005: from Seattle to Buenos Aires, Patagonia (Argentina & Chile), and Antarctica.
In the following three maps, flights are light-green, and ground transport is purple:

Left: As shown on this map, we flew from Seattle 7000 miles (through Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas) to Buenos Aires, taking 15 hours in the air. Argentina is +5 hours jet lag from Pacific Standard Time (on the West Coast, USA).

    Below: This map summarizes our trip:  1. Buenos Aires; 2. Ushuaia; 3. Vernadsky Base (run by Ukraine), Antarctica; 4. Torres del Paine NP, CHILE; and finally 5. Mount Fitz Roy, ARGENTINA.

Below right: We flew 1500 miles from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, Argentina, on Tierra del Fuego Island, where we cruised 12 days round trip through the Beagle Channel and across the rough 400-mile Drake Straight to explore the frozen Antarctic Peninsula. We then flew a short hop from Ushuaia to working-class Punta Arenas, Chile, and took vans and buses in Patagonia to visit the nice tourist town of Puerto Natales and the astounding scenery of Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Then we bused into Argentina to see the bustling tourist town of El Calafate, spectacular Moreno Glacier, fun frontier village of El Chalten, and awesome Mount Fitz Roy. To return, we flew from El Calafate to Buenos Aires, then to Seattle.


Left: Sunrise on Chalten, "Peak of Fire"