Argentinian Patagonia

I always expected to see Patagonia from the Chilean side. Reading about Torres del Paine made it sound like the quintessential Patagonia experience, but when my friends and I started planning a trip to Argentina, I decided on heading down to El Chalten for a few days of hiking there. And honestly, it was so much of what I expected from Patagonia that while I'd still be happy to see Chile, I also feel like I already got the experience I wanted.

Meanwhile, my friend Jackie is a huge fan of water activities, especially if sea life is involved, so when she saw that there was a town called Puerto Madryn that had sea lion swims, she made that her add-on of choice.

Between the two, we spent almost a week in Patagonia - half up north on the coast, and half down south in the mountains.

Day 1

Arrival

Our first week in Argentina had been spent between Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls. Originally, we were supposed to catch an early morning flight to Puerto Madryn after an overnight stop in EZE, but FlyBondi had other ideas for us, so we didn't arrive until night, twelve hours after we were originally scheduled. Although I was upset about this at the time, knowing what I know now about entertainment options in Puerto Madryn, it wasn't the worst thing.

We caught a cab from the tiny Puerto Madryn airport to our hostel, La Tosca. This was the cheapest place we stayed on our whole trip and was nice enough for the cost. Our room was a small private with one double bed and one bunk bed, and although we were supposed to have a shared bathroom, nobody ever checked into the adjacent room, so we had it all to ourselves.

The hostel had a security gate, a really cute courtyard with hammocks and loungers, a friendly white cat, and free breakfast. While it wasn't the most impressive spread, it was more than I usually expect from hostels and included some pastries, fruit, and eggs to cook along with the basics.

Day 2

Puerto Madryn Sea Lion Swim

We had to be at the Madryn Buceo dive shop at 8 AM for our sea lion swim, so we were up early to eat before ordering an uber. The dive shop was right beside the beach, so we took a little wander first, and let me tell you, at this point I was dreading our swim. I was too cold to even make it halfway to the water with the wind that day. The high was supposed to only hit 62, so I assume it was in the 50s that early, and the sea was going to be frigid.

However, once they gave us our wetsuits, which included a thick jacket and a hood, I was already warmer than in my own clothes. We had to actually walk through the ocean to get to the boat, and I was amazed at how little I could feel the cold through the suit.

It was a 10-15 minute ride out to the beach where the sea lions hang out, and they gave us flippers and snorkel masks before having us jump in.

Water is not my element, and I'm a poor swimmer - even moreso in flippers - so although they told me that we would float with our wetsuits on, Jackie suggested I grab onto the inner tube that our guide was pulling around. I did that and never let go of it, finding it easier to just float wherever he pulled me, but admittedly that may have inhibited me from seeing some of the sea lions underwater. It's also possible that being a general mess in the water and having the observational skills of a blind sloth would have made me miss them anyway.

For the first half of our swim, most of the sea lions were just hanging out on shore, although three were play-fighting out on a rock closer to us which was very cute to watch.

Nearer to the end, some of them came and started swimming around us. I mostly saw them surfacing, but there were a couple of times I put my face in the water and saw one swim by right in front of me! The second time I accidentally hit it with my flipper when it passed.

Otherwise, I kept just seeing seaweed and the murky ocean floor when I'd look under, so I was shocked to see Jackie's underwater pics and the ones our guide took that showed way more activity.

The ride back to shore was much bumpier, but they passed around mate to warm us up both there and back at the dive shop (where they also gave me a blanket poncho that I was very grateful for). Mate was so wildly prevalent throughout Argentina. You'd see people with their metal cups and thermoses everywhere, outside and at airports, mate shops all over, and even special trash cans just for yerba mate. I'd tried it once in Croatia (an Argentinian guy had some on our boat trip) and didn't care for it, but it was much better on the second try, like a strong green tea.

We headed back to the hostel after to shower and change, dropped off some laundry at a cool laundromat called Laundrycat (well, the logo and name were cool), then had lunch on the patio of a spot called Nautica beside the beach.

Exploring Puerto Madryn after was... underwhelming. It's like a large town, mostly quiet and easy to walk around, but on a Monday, most of the shops were either closed or didn't reopen again until evening. We went into some kind of mall with an arcade on the top floor and into some cheap dollar store type places, but it was nothing exciting. I would have been down for a beach day (which for me would just be laying on my towel and reading), but it was kind of chilly for that too.

We ended up just going back to the hostel for a late afternoon break and then went out again when the restaurant where we wanted to have dinner opened. A guy on our flight had recommended Rustica's tres cebolla (three onion) sandwich, so that's what we all ordered, and wow. This was probably the best meal of the trip. Even the fries were delicious, but that sandwich was incredible. We stopped for a quick beer in a cerveceria on the way back before calling it a night.

Day 3

Penguins in Punta Tombo

The next day, our plan was to go see penguins, although none of us had realized how far away from Puerto Madryn they actually were. There were two options - either Peninsula Valdes over two hours north, or Punta Tombo even further south.

Originally, we had a bus booked to take us to Trelew in the evening so we could catch our early flight out the day after, but it seemed like our best option would be to skip the bus and rent a car for the day to both see the penguins and get us to our new hotel. We ended up choosing Punta Tombo for a few reasons: One, we had to go south anyway to get to Trelew. Two, while Peninsula Valdes is the bigger wildlife hub, they don't have the same kind of concentrated penguin population. Whales are a big draw there, but in December, we weren't in whale season. And three, Punta Tombo has the largest penguin colony in Argentinian Patagonia and the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world.

We walked across town to the Hertz in the morning to pick up our car. Since I was going to drive in southern Patagonia, Chelsey took this rental, and I was so glad because driving in Puerto Madryn was chaos. Most of the intersections don't have lights or signs, so it's just kind of a free-for-all of deciding who has the right of way. The brakes on our rental squealed every time you'd touch them, and I only have to assume it's because of everyone slamming on them when an incoming car doesn't stop.

It was much calmer once we were out of town, and we headed straight to Trelew first to check into our hotel there for the night. We'd booked Casa de Paula Hosteria Artesenal, and I loved this place! I wish we'd been able to stay longer. Paula herself was super cool, and all her art was on the walls for sale. It was a large, pretty house with a gated yard and quirky decor. They also sounded very disappointed when we said we'd have to miss breakfast to catch our flight, so I can only assume that's also awesome.

Once we'd left our luggage, we went to a kiosco around the block for some snacks, then headed down to Punta Tombo. It became apparent why the drive was over two hours once we got over halfway there and had to pull onto an access road. It was all gravel, and the fact that we had to crawl along in our car made that particular section take like 45 minutes.

Once we got there, we parked by the ticket booth, where there were also bathrooms and a small museum. After walking through that, we pulled the car a little further down the road to the lot by the walkways, where there was also a cafe.

The penguins were well worth the drive! The whole place was so remote, just fields of dry brush and the wooden walkways leading to the sea. We saw a penguin waddling over the top of a hill immediately, and as we kept going, there were just more and more.

They had burrows dug all through the area, and plenty were either waddling to their homes or already nesting inside them. Some just had their heads popping out of the ground like prairie dogs.

They were all gathered in the shade of the bridges too, and looking through the wooden slats just showed tons right under our feet.

The main clusters were all on the shore, and we stood up at the lookout point to watch them jumping into the sea for swims.

So cute! We were right beside them on the walkways, and one even waddled up out of his hole and over to us right before we got to the entrance like he was saying goodbye.

Not our departure penguin, but more cuties on the way out.

Another bonus: Guanacos out in the fields!

We were beyond happy with our penguin day, and we ended the evening with dinner at a restaurant called Sugar in Trelew that was really nice inside. It was also right across from a pretty town square, and the general area made us wish we'd had two nights in Trelew instead of the two in Puerto Madryn.

Day 4

Fly to El Calafate, Perito Moreno Glacier

There had been no direct flights from Puerto Madryn to El Calafate, which is why we flew out of the Trelew airport instead (and even Trelew's direct flights only run twice a week). It saved us doing an entire day of air travel connecting back through BA. We were up early to fly out of Trelew's tiny airport with one gate.

Seriously this looks like a budget chain hotel.

We had a much better experience with Aerolineas Argentina than with FlyBondi, and the plane views coming into El Calafate were cool. All brown landscape but with these cerulean blue lakes and rivers running through.

This airport was cozy too, and we picked up a Hertz car for the last few days. I'd read that you really don't need a car, especially in El Chalten, but since we were going to get one for the day anyway to see Perito Moreno, it was cheaper for us to just keep it for the three days than to each pay separate bus fare for a round trip between El Calafate and El Chalten.

It's only a ten minute drive from the airport into town, so we stopped first at our hotel for the night, Hosteria Rukahue. I loved the wooden cabin feel to the inside, and they had a nice breakfast included the next morning.

We stopped in at Cafe Brown for what was meant to be a quick lunch, but although the food was good, the service was super slow and we were there for like an hour. This meant we were late getting on the road for Perito Moreno, which is just over an hour's easy drive on mostly one road. We got there just after 2:30 PM, which was when the last boat from our lot had departed. I was kind of annoyed, but although they told us there were later boats from another area, I decided I'd rather just get on the walkways and see the glacier than drive around again.

I ended up not feeling like we missed out. The views from the walkway were great, and the boat was pretty expensive anyway (like $70 at least). But wow, this glacier! I'd done a heli-hike at the Franz Josef glacier in NZ which is why I wasn't too bothered that we didn't have time to do the Perito Moreno glacier tours, but that glacier was up on a mountain, not covering a lake like this one.

It was incredible how huge and blue it was. The temperature dropped just between the shuttle stop and the lower walkways. Every once in awhile, a chunk would fall off the glacier, and we could hear the boom echoing all through the sky. We walked around for about an hour just taking in the sight from different vantage points, and I can assure you it is totally worth the drive out to experience it.

We were very excited to find a Mexican restaurant (Mexico Street Food) back in El Calafate for dinner since we were all truly over Argentinian food. Each of us got a different combo platter, and they were great along with our cocktails.

The plan for the night was souvenir shopping, but we quickly realized the prices in El Calafate are exorbitant. There was one street of artisan stalls that might have been more affordable, but the shops themselves were outrageously priced. Definitely do your souvenir shopping elsewhere!

Day 5

Drive to El Chalten, hike Mirador Torre

After our cute breakfast at the hotel, we made the 2+ hour drive up to El Chalten. There are no gas stations between the two towns, so make sure to fuel up beforehand, but there is one cafe stop about halfway that has bathrooms.

Note: Hotel breakfast, not cafe stop.

I did not enjoy driving around El Calafate since it also had no lights or signs at most intersections, but once we were out on the open road, it was nice. My only complaint is that the speed limits are way too low, so nobody follows them, but even when I was going well over, people were passing me constantly, even on double yellows.

The scenery around El Calafate is gorgeous with their insanely blue lakes, but coming up to El Chalten brings all the huge mountains into view. The town itself is nestled beneath them and is very small and cute.

We stayed at Hostel del Lago, which has one main building with reception, the kitchen, and some pool tables, then additional buildings out back with the rooms. We had a private room in a cabin that had its own common area and kitchen as well, and our room was comfy.

Since it was afternoon, we wanted to do a half-day hike, so after a quick stop at a panaderia, we put on our hiking shoes and headed for the Laguna Torre trailhead.

Laguna Torre itself is a full day hike, but we were just going to the Mirador Torre viewpoint which is a 2-3 hour hike round trip. It's listed as easy, but there are some inclines including the initial scramble up the hill to start and then some rocks to climb over throughout.

It was a gorgeous day for hiking with blue skies and fairly warm weather (somewhere in the high 50s/low 60s). We didn't have any trouble reaching the viewpoint which gave a sweeping view of the mountains.

Back in town, Chelsey and I rented an extra set of hiking poles for the following day and stocked up on food at a grocer, then we all had a delicious dinner at Chica Ramen which had multiple veggie options (I recommend the mushroom).

Day 6

Laguna de los Tres

On the last day of our trip, I'd decided to do the big hike, Laguna de los Tres, and I was semi-dreading it. Chelsey was very reluctantly joining me, although we'd discussed what to do if she wanted to bail at any point, including mapping out the two camping sites where she could either turn back or wait for me to finish.

I might be slim, but I'm not very fit. I walk on a walking pad for a half hour a day on my lunch breaks at work, and that's the extent of my exercise. I've done some big hikes in the past with no prep, including the Tongariro Crossing twice (and I was woefully ill-dressed the first time) which is over 19k. Laguna de los Tres is just over 20k round trip, but I was reading that the last kilometer is killer.

For this one, I borrowed Jackie's backpack which had padded straps along with her hiking poles. It was going to be somewhat overcast but in the 50s, so I wore leggings, hiking boots, a thin long sleeve shirt, and a fleece jacket, plus brought a beanie, sunglasses, and fingerless gloves. For food and drinks, I brought four granola bars, a bag of Takis, a peach, three huge bottles of water, and a large Gatorade. I was definitely more worried about staying hydrated than about being hungry, which was the correct assumption, because I went through all of those bottles but still had two granola bars left over. You could also save the weight by buying purification tablets and filling up in the river along the way if you wanted.

We fueled up with the free hostel breakfast before the hike, and I was really impressed with it. They had tons of homemade items, including spinach tarts, focaccia bread, mint lemonade, cinnamon muffins, and chocolate chip pound cake (so freaking good), plus Chelsey cooked us some eggs.

Although breakfast was at 7:15, somehow it took us until 8:40 to get to the ticket booth at the trailhead, which was later than I wanted to start. It would have been an easy walk across town, but we did drive there since honestly adding fifteen minutes each way onto our already insane day of hiking seemed unnecessary.

Note: They wouldn't take card for entry when we went, but they let us buy our tickets on our phones while standing there and then show them the confirmation. They also let us through without showing our passports since we didn't have them.

The first two kilometers were a bit tough. There's an incline along the cliffside with gorgeous views to the right, but it is gradually uphill for that initial hour or so.

The next 7k are a dream. It's all flat and goes through so many changing landscapes, starting with a forest.

At the 4k point, you'll reach Laguna Capri, where the first of two campsites is and the first of only three latrine stops. There's a lake to your left, then you start coming to the mountain views.

Next up, there's a river to your right as you walk through a bush area, then you'll hit the wetlands.

This is like a marsh with wooden beams crossing the water and wide open fields around you.

You'll be back in the trees again afterwards (there's an area I called the dead woods with a bunch of bare trees, then a leafier section), and at 8k, you'll hit the second campsite with latrines, Camp Poincenot, in the middle of the forest.

I dubbed the area after this The Lost Lands because it was very confusing, and we did get off the trail for a minute. There's a ton of narrow winding paths through open brush, and they go off in a bunch of directions. Finally I saw a bridge crossing a creek that we'd missed, and we got back on the trail.

Not long after, we came up to a big sign telling us we were approaching the push to the summit and warning us to be prepared as there was a 400m elevation gain in just one kilometer and to make sure we had enough daylight left. At this point, we were making very consistent time, finishing 2k every hour, and it was only 1 PM. We were there on Dec 19, literally almost the longest day of the year, so we didn't have to worry with sunset being at 10 PM. This is also the last latrine stop.

As we passed the 9k marker, we felt motivated, thinking we only had an hour left, tops. The incline started and didn't seem so bad, just a wide rocky path, and it was gradual enough, although I pulled out my hiking poles for the first time.

As we got higher, we figured we must be close, so I asked a woman if we were almost at the top. She gave us a big smile and exaggerated yes, then shook her head and mouthed no, so that was not encouraging. Then we got to another sign telling us that NOW we were one hour from the top, and that really killed the whole vibe.

This last hour was brutal. Chels did walk at a slower pace, so we had to stop a lot for breaks going up, and it might have even taken closer to 90 minutes. We were basically scrambling up loose rock and boulders on a nearly vertical incline on the side of a mountain. It was exhausting to the point that you really had to mentally take it in sections, like - I'll reach that arrow up there, then find a new goalpost and decide to reach that.

People were giving us wildly varying answers as we passed them coming down, one guy telling us we were only 15 minutes away, then the next saying 30. Finally I thought we were close as I could see the top, and someone told us that was the false summit, and the real one would be after it.

Once we reached the not-summit, we came around a corner to the real one, where we had to crest one last hill on even looser, smaller rocks.

And then at the top of that, we were there! We got the blue lake view surrounded by snowy mountains.

Was it worth it? To be honest, I don't know. I think the hike itself was totally worth it up until the last kilometer, but that final ascent was so intense, and I'm not sure the payoff equaled the effort. Chelsey literally came over the top and went, "That's it?" Her verdict was that not many views would have justified the difficulty.

Still, we sat down to enjoy it. It was eerily quiet up there, like you could feel how far removed you were from civilization, and it started making me nervous about how much time we had to get back. It was about 3 or 3:30 PM, which was definitely later than I'd wanted to reach the peak. There were a handful of other hikers at the top reclining and recovering, but there was also a good chance they were staying at Camp Poincenot and had much more time.

We had lunch, and I climbed up a little higher than Chels for some wider views, then we began our descent. I was actually shocked how much energy I still had. The hike hadn't quite worn me out yet, but coming down that last steep kilometer was just as hard as going up, if not harder, and took just as much time. There was no way I would have managed without hiking poles. I was sliding around as it was, and some of the rocks had streams of water coming down them too. Both of us fell on our asses at least once.

We were also the only people coming down the mountain that we saw for that entire 90+ minutes, which made me a little anxious. It was beyond a relief when we finally hit the wider stretch and then the latrine again.

From there, we zoomed through the middle section. Now we were hitting one kilometer every 20 minutes or less, and I only pulled my camera out one time because I turned around to catch this view and it stopped me in my tracks.

It looks like some kind of solar rainbow!

Otherwise, the focus was on getting out. We again didn't see anyone else walking back, although we saw maybe 4-5 groups pass us the other way, probably to camp for the night. My energy absolutely died around the time we got to Laguna Capri. I just hit a wall. Like was the forest section really that endless on the way in? The last two kilometers especially were so bad that Chelsey was way ahead of me, and once we saw the car park, she even took my backpack. I felt like a fucking zombie. Every time I had to lift a leg it took all my effort.

Normally, this hike should tak 9-10 hours, including breaks. It took us twelve. We were back in our car at 8:48 PM, and I was dead. Chelsey's fitness app said that we walked 43,000 steps and climbed the equivalent of 161 flights of stairs.

We rushed back up to the hiking shop just as they were flipping the Cerrado sign to return Chelsey's poles, and even the walk up the small slope to our hostel cabin was a struggle. I felt so disgusting, I had to rinse off, but I would have skipped dinner altogether if it hadn't been our last night. As it was, I had my head in my arms on the restaurant table at Nomade and just managed to get down some soup and lemonade before dragging myself back to my bed to crash hard.

But, so proud of us for finishing this hike. It really was an accomplishment.

Day 7

Long Travel Home

How I would have loved a recovery day, but unfortunately, we were headed home the next morning. I was so sore that I could barely kneel to pack my bag. After breakfast, we got back in the car for the drive to El Calafate, caught our Aerolineas flight to AEP in Buenos Aires, had to get an uber across the city to EZE, and then were stuck for about two hours in the security and immigration lines because they were a mess before we could get on our late night international flights back to the States.

My overall travel time home from starting the car in El Chalten to walking through my door in Cleveland ended up being 34 hours. But, wow, we packed so much into this two week trip! I would advise building in some cushion for relaxation if you're able, because it was so hectic, but we saw an incredible amount of Argentina in such a short time.

Putting my hiking career on hiatus for now, but thanks for the views, Patagonia!