Laguna del Carbón: Tick!!!!

Yes!!!! We made it to the lowest point in South America!!!

We set out early (enough) from El Calafate and started off on Ruta 9, a good gravel road. We really did feel like being away from it all; in the 3,5 hours it took to drive it we saw 2 cars and a truck. We did see hundreds of guanacos (of the lama family) and ostriches. Every now and then we caught a glimpse of one of the Estancias (ranches) but most were too far from the road to see.

We got to Ruta 3, a proper road again, and continued on to Cmte. Luis Piedra Buena for lunch.

And then we set out from there to try and 'descend' to Laguna del Carbón. We had printed out maps with what we thought looked like possible tracks to the Laguna, and at which points to get off the main road. Turned out the one leading towards the gas plant was the one.

Naturally we found 2 locked gates.
I wasn´t going to let that stop me, and lo and behold someone at the plant opened the first gate for me. The extremely nice man listed to my explanation (in pretty poor Spanish) and not only did he understand where we wanted to go, he picked up the phone, called the owners of the land the Laguna is on, got us permission to proceed and opened the second gate for us!!!!
We couldn´t believe it!! (We had always suspected there would be a gate there). We were actually going to make it!!

And we did: it took a bit of skilled driving on Stephen´s part, but nothing hair raising. Our maps were just about spot on.
After about 45 minutes on dirt tracks later, we made it to Laguna del Carbón, at a delevation of -105m / -344ft, the lowest point in South America.

Oh, we did have one 'little moment of concern' when after we drove on the Laguna (it is a dry-ish lake) for a bit we noticed the tyres getting deeper into the salty mud... and for the briefest of moments the tyres spun as we tried to get out... but Stephen engaged the 4x4 and out we got. This was after all the number one reason we rented this Toyota hilux -:)

For me this means: 3 down, 4 to go!
So, naturally, I am very happy that it worked out, as for me this was probably the most important destination on this part of the trip!!!

Signing out from Puerto San Julián.

Perito Moreno Glacier

Wonderful day visiting Perito Moreno glacier. Fantastic! Imagine a 50m high, 5km wide glacier slowly crawling and calving its way into Lago Argentino. We walked around the various observation points in the late morning and took the obligatory boat ride to the glacier front in the afternoon. We shot the equivalent of 6 rolls of 36 exposure film on our digital cameras.

Tomorrow we head to Laguna del Carbòn in our first attempt at the South American low point. Wish us luck as we attempt this feat. Here are some photos.

Signing out of a very hot and not very windy El Calafate.

Arrived in El Calafate.

After 2,5 interesting (and hot and humid) days in Buenos Aires, we got up at 4 am this morning to catch our 6:40am flight to Rio Gallegos. Got to the regional airport without hassles, got checked-in (and paid our reasonable excess luggage fee) in record time, had breakfast, boarded our plane, and landed in Rio Gallegos after a 3 hour flight.
We were met by Adrian from Riestra Rental Cars, got our mean looking Toyota Hilux, checked out our hotel reservation for the 31st and were on the road towards El Calafate by 11:30.
The drive was good and the views got more interesting the closer we got to El Calafate. We caught our first glimpse of beautiful Lago Argentino just before 3pm and got to our hotel around 3:30pm. Checked in and went for a walk around town. Totally set up for tourism, what with everyone here wanting only one thing and that is to visit the Glaciers, with the Perito Moreno Glacier spanning the crown. And that's what we're doing tomorrow.

Greetings from El Calafate, Argentina.

Enjoying Buenos Aires

Had a lovely day yesterday walking about the city.  The streets were quiet and hot.  We found the high-end shopping district, fortunately (or unfortunately) they were all closed, being Christmas day.  Today we visit the Recoleta Cemetery, San Telmo and La Boca.  Cameras are ready for the sights.

Signing off in a very warm Buenos Aires

And here are some photos

Arrived in Argentina

After a long but uneventful flight we arrived in Argentina.  Today we are just relaxing and enjoying the warm weather.  Maybe it is a little too warm here.  Caroline conspired to leave the only key to the locks of our luggage back in San Francisco, which provided a moment concern for us.  Which was soon remedied with some expert lock picking on my part.  I have never picked a lock before, but 1 paper-clip and a little less than 5 minutes and access to our luggage was restored.  Tonight we restaurant, open christmas presents and sleep off the jetlag.

Getting Ready to Leave

Caroline is in the middle of packing everything for our trip South.  I am helping with lots of good advice and keeping out of her hair.  Tomorrow we board the flight to Houston where we connect for the long flight to Buenos Aires.  And then the vacation starts in earnest.  We spend 3 days in Buenos Aires and 4 days in Patagonia.  After the blitz tour of Argentina we board the ship to Antarctica.

The plan will be to post an update every few days or so.