Todos en la Argentina! Patagonia: Parte Dos

(See December 2010 for Parte Uno). After a short 4x4 ride high into the mountains, nothing could have prepared us for the view--- deep turquoise blue waters surrounded by mountains, and edging into those stunning waters was one of Argentina’s largest glaciers, Upsala. The scene immediately conjured up in my mind the gorgeous blue waters of Afghanistan’s Band-i-Amir lakes. I honestly have not an inkling as to how to even begin to articulate the splendor of this tongue of ice and the milky blue waters at its terminus. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

From here, we began the 14 kilometer trek back to the Estancia via the Canyon of the Fossils, unexpectedly one of the major highlights of this trip. One can see where the tectonic plates collided, forming layers upon layers of sedimentary and volcanic rock. The sharp yet juxtaposing colors of the rock, mountains, and the river flowing through these complement the extraordinary texture of the terrain. Our guide pointed out fossils, primarily of squid, mussels, and coral, dating back to 60 to 120 million years embedded in these layers. It was truly magnificent and felt not of this world in every sense!

We concluded our time in this part of Patagonia in El Chalten, Argentina’s trekking capital. We only had time for a full day’s trek to view Mount Fitz Roy, the main attraction in this part of the Andes. It’s actually a rare sighting, given the unpredictable weather, and while we were able to catch the view on the drive to El Chalten, by the time we began our trek, the clouds had swept in and obscured a more up close view of the majestic peaks.

Argentina really does have it all, and each region we visited had spectacular, yet very different things to offer in every aspect, but Patagonia stole my heart! I can’t wait to get back to this winter wonderland!