Argentina-Patagonia- El Calafate
We arrived to Argentina after a 12 hour overnight direct flight from Madrid in early February. I remember gearing myself up for a LONG night of restless kiddos. But in the end, they did really well with the redeye. Granted we did prep for the long haul flight with outdoor play during the day, strategic use of videos, and very low doses of children's Benadryl to help them feel sleepy when they were so amped to be travelling! It also helps that most people on the flight were trying to sleep and they turn out the main cabin lights after the inflight meal. Both girls slept the majority of the 12 hours, and otherwise were entranced by the in-flight entertainment system.
We spent just one full day and night in Buenos Aires to have a bed to sleep in and begin to adjust to our new time zone, 4 hours earlier. Technically we were not in BA proper, but in the suburbs near the airport at a lovely inn with a large yard and even a pool- which the girls enjoyed with the stark change in weather to hot and humid (high 80s with high humidity). We explored a nearby playground and tried to start to get our bearings on the exchange rate and how best to pay for things (cash vs credit card- more on this later). Later that evening, despite severe jet lag, we dragged ourselves out to go the main square. This was full of lively activity and among other things another playground! We also had our first encounter with what we later learned is a common pastime in Argentina- little easels set up for kids to paint for a small fee- what a cool idea!
Part of the rationale of the layover in Buenos Aires (BA) was to get some rest before heading further south the following day, and to have a place to stash some of our luggage for this side adventure to Patagonia we'd planned, before heading to Mendoza. Unfortunately, we didn't end up with much rest as Mae woke up with significant vomiting all over the bed and floors of our room, down to the bathroom- poor thing! And yuck... cleaning up vomit in a strange room with limited supplies (we had our bath towels) and trying to wash and hang things to dry in the middle of the night before flying out the next day was no fun. All this while also trying stay quiet enough to keep Nell asleep. This was one of the few times we had rented a hotel room, rather than an apartment (with all the space and supplies that come with that). We were at least so glad that she hadn't been sick like that on the plane!
Travelling abroad often comes with GI illness as your body adjusts to the new microbiology of your environment. However, it does seem like this process is intensified by travelling with young kids who still touch everything and putting their fingers in their mouths. We try our best with hand sanitizer and wipes and regular reminders about hygiene, but you can only do so much...
The flip side is, kids sure seem to recover and bounce back quickly from illness. So we were relieved that by the next morning Mae was back to her normal self for our next flight to El Calafate - our first landing spot in Patagonia- the southern most region of Argentina.
El Calafate is largely a landing spot for tourism throughout the region without a whole lot going on in the town itself. One stunning aspect of the town is that it is situated on the southern edge of Lago Argentino- the largest fresh water lake in the country. Nevertheless, from this town the landscape is mostly stark: a dry, flat rain shadow of the majestic Andes that can be seen distantly to the West. Fortunately, we realized this pretty quickly that we didn't want to extend our stay there, and were able to adjust our travel dates to spend more time in El Chalten- a beautiful village nestled in the river valley below the famous Mount Fitz Roy and many hiking trails of Argentina's Glacier National Park.
There is no airport to El Chalten, so El Calafate is a common stop along the way. On our stopover to El Calafate on the way back from El Chalten, however, we did enjoy spending a day visiting the El Perito Moreno Glacier about a hour and half from town on a hired-taxi tour. Seeing a glacier the size of the entire city of Buenos Aires close up via elevated walkways was INCREDIBLE. The blue color of glacial ice is majestic and hard to really describe, our photos can't do it justice. It's so cool how this blue color is a result of snow and ice that has been so compressed over millennia that it has expelled nearly all the air and created dense crystals that only reflect the blue spectrum. Apparently this is one of the most easily accessible large glaciers in the world- where you can even have pretty descent views from the road, and excellent views from a large series of accessible walkways. We would definitely recommend a visit it you are in the area. Nell and Mae even were able to hold some glacial ice that had floated ashore- I loved hearing Nell ponder how old it was!
