Ed the Gaucho

Yesterday we had another brilliant day out this time pretending to be Gauchos thanks to Wedding Gift Number 17 and the lovely Auntie Jean.

We were picked up by Luciano a local who owns an estancia here in southern Patagonia. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side. We arrived to have traditional Mate tea, which I felt tastes like a really really strong green tea, I loved it. It also has a special type of Caffeine that really gives you a kick. Argentines drink Mate all the time, maybe that’s how they can go out for dinner at 11pm and manage to get up for work the next day? Traditionally it is served in a small bowl like cup and drank through a straw as inside is a load of mate leaves and a small amount of water.

Enjoying my Mate

After this we saddled up the horses, I asked for the calmest one, Pluma (Feather) as I am by no means confident on or near horses and away we went with Ed on Rubio (Ruby). I had five layers of clothes on but it was freezing and then the rain came. It was bitter cold and it was a shame that the view wasn’t very visible due to the rain and mist but in the distance you could just about make out the snow capped mountains. We had a giggle, the horses were amazing and views that we could see were spectacular but the weather got the better of us and the walk was cut short, which just allowed more time to eat steak in Luciano’s small horse shed. It was absolutely delicious and a good way to get warm again!

Getting soaked but happy!

It’s Easter Sunday today and we are having a lazy catch up day-hence the writing. Off out for a walk and hopefully some nice food then tomorrow we head off on a very long day trip back to Chile to viist Torres Del Paine National Park. We have everything crossed it will be good enough weather to get some good views.....

Happy Easter from Mr and Mrs Ross x

Cold and Colder

Another long over night bus journey took us to our most southern (and coldest) destination of El Calafate. After a fairly lazy week or so we packed up our week here with tours.
So on Easter Friday when you were all enjoying balmy weather and munching on Easter Eggs Ed and I went off to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. After loving Franz Josef in New Zealand we were both really excited to see this glacier. We decided to save our money and just view the glacier this time rather than climb on it (which having spoken to unhappy others that have paid the extortionate fee to walk on the ice was the right thing to do). So a massive thank you to Moochie for wedding gift number 16!
We took a bus to the entrance to the national park and then jumped on a boat, the weather was freezing, not helped with the rain and drizzle but the view was spectactular. The boat got up really close to the glacier and we stayed out for as long as our frozen bodies would let us. After the boat trip we took a walk around the ‘balconies’ which give amazing viewpoints out to different sides of the glacier. It’s such a wonderful time to be travelling in Argentina as it is Autumn here and the trees are turning their beautiful shades of yellow and reds, it looked so special against the icy blues of the glacier. It really was spectacular, Perito Moreno moves at 2 metres a day so as the afternoon comes round and the sun warms the ice pieces break off, we were lucky enough to catch a couple of chunks fall off and the noises from the breaking and cracking is superb. It really was a wonderful day. The weather literally changed every fifteen minutes, from cloudy and sleety, to beautiful bright blue skies, to mist and fog but it all added to the mystery and awe of the place.

Mr and Mrs on the top of the boat, glacier behind us

Amazing sight and sounds