27th – 29th January

Looking forward to our return trip to El Calafate, we bundled our clothes into one rucksack and left one to safe-keeping by Cyril. On arrival by taxi at the modern Bariloche airport it looked so deadly quiet we questioned if it was closed but two minutes later, we had checked in and already taken a turn around the airport. Following another sugar rush of coke and cakes on the 1.45hr flight, we took a collectivo to our hostel…the first to be dropped off on a dirt track in what looked like the back of beyond. Luckily, first impressions proved deceptive as we opened the door to family-run Rukehue and were warmly greeted by son Santiago who showed us to our clean, cosy room (though jase had to renege on his vow to always ask for a room with a view) and told us it was just a short walk into town.

Not long later we were walking down the rough track, across the little bridge and onto the single main road through the little tourist town, full of restaurants and souvenir shops. Straight away we hit Hielo y Aventura to book our glacier trip for the next day. No room on the Big Ice Trek, we settled for a Mini-trekking excursion before spending the next 15-20 mins looking for some sights. We found Casablanca resto-bar and settled in for a few hours, sampling the ‘healthiest sandwich in South America’ (turned out to be tomatoes and a tin of tuna on one side and hot spinach, mushrooms and onions on the other…surprisingly tasty…) plus some local Chopin beers (negro for Jase and rubia for Charlie). We then picked up our packed lunch for the next day and had an early (but very disappointing) Patagonian lamb dinner before a breezy walk back up the hill and a chilled out evening with our books and a glass of red in the lounge of the hostel.

Next day, we were picked up for our ice adventure having been stuffed to the brim by our host Ariana’s lovely homemade breakfast of toasts and jams, croissants and cake (yes, we’re fully aware this blog talks a lot about food but it’s very important while travelling!). The bus took us along the magnificent stretch of lake before we got our first sight of the world’s third largest ice field (Antarctica being first, Greenland second) called Perito Moreno in the Los Glaciares National Park. We had a couple of hours to freely roam the numerous balconies which overlooked one edge (not a bad spot for our empanada lunch), listen to the creaks and crashes of the glacier and take a million pictures of the picture postcard view before heading down to the boat where we were to get a lot closer.

Donning our crampons, our group of around 15, led by Gisele, set off on our mini trek on the glacier itself. For the next hour and a half we walked up, down and over crevices, learning all the while about how it was formed and moves (yet remains the most stable) and Charlie even became group leader for a while!

Tour leader

Whiskey Club

Shortly before the end, we were welcomed to the ‘ice bar’ where they popped glacier into glasses and gave us a shot of whiskey before sending us back to base…though perhaps a moment premature as no sooner had we set off, we heard a crack as the older guy in front of us stumbled and broke his ankle!! After a short stop (and a chat with a Danish guy who sounded so like Eddie Izzard) the injured man was loaded on the ferry on a stretcher and, after all the excitement, most of the group slept the bus ride back to town. Arriving back around 8.30, there was just time for a quick pizza (of course) before retreating back to our hostel.

After more of Ariana’s cakes on our final morning and with 4 hours until we were due to be picked up to go the airport, we set off into town and found ourselves a rather bizarre park amongst the shops which we had missed on our previous visit. Around each corner and hidden by trees were various scenes celebrating the life of a famous Argentine explorer Señor Moreno and one including Charles Darwin. At first it all seemed a bit naff but with nothing else to do we kept walking wondering what eccentric scene we would see next and finally enjoyed the park so much we just had to join in…

A new breed of rabbit is discovered on the HMS Beagle

Negotiations were tough as Jason discusses the sovereignty of the Falklands / Islas Malvinas with his period bearded counterparts