El Calafate is a city in the southern part of Argentina. It serves as the gateway to Perito Moreno Glacier and Los Glaciares National Park. The interesting thing is that I didn't know until shortly before my trip that I would actually get to set foot in Patagonia. I learned this when a friend asked me if Patagonia was part of my itinerary. I said that it wasn't but his question made me think about it so I did a quick search and I learned that El Calafate is indeed in Patagonia. Cool! Upon arriving at the airport on our first day, we were greeted by a fantastic sunrise. However, I only noticed the sunrise once we were in our transport but I was too sleepy to try and take a decent photo of it from inside the van so I thought that maybe I could just try to catch the sunrise the next day. Thankfully, I did. We were actually on our way to Perito Moreno Glacier when I saw this gorgeous sunrise from inside the bus. As I was trying to take a decent photo, our driver parked the bus on the side of the road and gave everyone several minutes to take photos. I have to say, this is quite possibly the best sunrise I've ever seen. It was magnificent!
El Calafate borders Lake Argentino, the biggest freshwater lake in Argentina. There is a great view of this lake from the airport.
This city is very idyllic and charming. My mom said that it reminded her of Scandinavia.
I love the low-rise wooden structures that can be found all over the city.
We stayed at Kosten Aike Hotel, which is a lovely hotel with excellent service. We got there at around 9AM and the lady at the reception told us we could already check in even if it was several hours before the normal check-in time of 2PM. She also told us that we could already have buffet breakfast for free and she would have our luggage brought up to our room while we ate. Talk about great service! (Read my full review of Kosten Aike on tripadvisor in this link.)
After getting settled in our room, we decided to walk over to the main road of El Calafate, which was only two blocks from our hotel. We spent that time shopping for souvenirs and enjoying the wonderful and serene atmosphere.
My mom rested after lunch because she didn't get any sleep the night before so I went out on my own in the afternoon. I had initially planned to walk to the Laguna Nimez Reserve which was not that far from the city center. Unfortunately, there was something going on along the road to the nature reserve and the path was cordoned off. I don't know if there was a person being arrested or if there was a VIP in the area or if there was some other reason. I decided to try and take an alternate route using google maps but it was telling me to pass through what seemed like private property. I decided to give up on my plans to visit Laguna Nimez and I just headed back to the main road of El Calafate where I had coffee and a waffle in Abuela Goye. I think I got a banana hazelnut waffle and it was very, very good! The coffee was good too. (Read my review of Abuela Goye on tripadvisor in this link.)
We were at the tail-end of an amazing but physically exhausting 17-day tour so we no longer headed out at night and we just had dinner at our hotel. The dinner menu is limited but we weren't too picky so it worked out well enough for us. The woman who took our orders and served our food was very friendly and pleasant.
There was only one tour left for us to take during our South America trip: a visit to Perito Moreno Glacier.
Next: Perito Moreno Glacier
Sunrise in Patagonia
El Calafate borders Lake Argentino, the biggest freshwater lake in Argentina. There is a great view of this lake from the airport.
Lake Argentino as seen from the airport
This city is very idyllic and charming. My mom said that it reminded her of Scandinavia.
I love the low-rise wooden structures that can be found all over the city.
We stayed at Kosten Aike Hotel, which is a lovely hotel with excellent service. We got there at around 9AM and the lady at the reception told us we could already check in even if it was several hours before the normal check-in time of 2PM. She also told us that we could already have buffet breakfast for free and she would have our luggage brought up to our room while we ate. Talk about great service! (Read my full review of Kosten Aike on tripadvisor in this link.)
Kosten Aike Hotel
After getting settled in our room, we decided to walk over to the main road of El Calafate, which was only two blocks from our hotel. We spent that time shopping for souvenirs and enjoying the wonderful and serene atmosphere.
My mom rested after lunch because she didn't get any sleep the night before so I went out on my own in the afternoon. I had initially planned to walk to the Laguna Nimez Reserve which was not that far from the city center. Unfortunately, there was something going on along the road to the nature reserve and the path was cordoned off. I don't know if there was a person being arrested or if there was a VIP in the area or if there was some other reason. I decided to try and take an alternate route using google maps but it was telling me to pass through what seemed like private property. I decided to give up on my plans to visit Laguna Nimez and I just headed back to the main road of El Calafate where I had coffee and a waffle in Abuela Goye. I think I got a banana hazelnut waffle and it was very, very good! The coffee was good too. (Read my review of Abuela Goye on tripadvisor in this link.)
Waffle and coffee at Abuela Goye
We were at the tail-end of an amazing but physically exhausting 17-day tour so we no longer headed out at night and we just had dinner at our hotel. The dinner menu is limited but we weren't too picky so it worked out well enough for us. The woman who took our orders and served our food was very friendly and pleasant.
Common area next to the lobby of Kosten Aike hotel where people can have dinner
There was only one tour left for us to take during our South America trip: a visit to Perito Moreno Glacier.
Next: Perito Moreno Glacier
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