Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey takes us from the end of the W Trek in Torres Del Paine National Park through hilly savannah before crossing an obscure border crossing into Argentina. From there we head northward through cold savannah bypassing the rough mountains before turning inland to the shores of Argentina's largest lake and arriving at the touristy town of El Calafate. We settle in the town and explore it.
Today's Journey
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Red clouds bring on the cold sunrise as we pack up to leave the W Trek. |
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Driving out from the W Trek, Monte Almirante Nieto and the Torres loom high above Laguna Amarga as we head eastward. |
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After heading out quite some distance, we reach a viewpoint over Lago Sarmiento de Gamboa where we have our final view of the Torres and the mountains we have hiked through over the past four days. |
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Very quickly the mountainous terrain becomes prairie land on the lee side of the Andes. Shortly afterwards we stop at a small roadblock at Village Cerro Castillo to enter a small building to leave Chile. A bit further up the road we enter another small building in Cancha Carrera to enter Argentina. |
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Much of the morning's travel is on these low grassy rolling hills with the snowy peaks of the Andes just visible in the distance, now established as a big mountain range extending continuously up the length of South America. Here we get our first glimpse of Argentina's largest lake, Lago Argentina. |
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Approaching the lake, we suddenly reach civilisation. El Calafate is quite a large tourist town at the edge of Lago Argentina. |
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There are a lot of stray dogs in the city, but this seems to be common in all towns in Patagonia. |
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Exploring some of the markets along the busy main street. |
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I reach the outdoor museum Intendencia Parque Nacional Los Glaciares commemorating explorers and geologists. Apparently a lot of dinosaur fossils are found in this end of the Andes. |
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Returning to the market towards the end of the day when it quietens down a bit. This is quite a touristy area. |
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