AKA Just another couple of days kicking about in Argentina
I went to El Calafate. It has a huge glacier - in the same way Niagara
Falls has a huge waterfall - and hence is a bit of a tourist trap. This means,
of course, that there are lots of good restaurants, lots of good shops, and
lots of options for visiting. It’s not all bad. You can take the
Maid-of-the-Mist equivalent boat and motor up close, or walk the viewing ramps,
or kayak by, or mountain bike alongside, or do mini-trekking on the ice. How to
choose? I asked a young man at my hostel what he’d done, and I loved his
answer. ‘I did the mini-trekking,’ he said, ‘but it doesn’t matter what you
choose. The glacier is so awesome that any option is good. Whatever you do, you
won’t regret it.’ Yup. He was right. I
chose the viewing ramps, the most touristy of all options, and I loved it. The
glacier was awesome. Even the ramps were awesome. It was just an all-round awesome
day.
 |
| Note 100 seater "Maid of the Mist" boat |
 |
| It's hard to show the scope of the glacier... I recommend everyone just visit! |
The next day I went with a small group on a guided walk through the
badlands. A few years ago a rancher found petrified tree trunks on his property
and asked if there was a government paleontologist who would like to come and
check them out. There was one, and he did, and yes, there were petrified trees
lying about, but also dinosaur bones, just there, exposed, all over the place.
The paleontologist walked 3 km, made two major discoveries, wrote a couple of
articles for National Geographic, and never came back. We had a wonderful walk
through the bizarre landscape and saw lots of both petrified tree trunks and
dinosaur bones lying on the ground. It was all very natural, they were being exposed
as the wind and water eroded the softer sandstone away, but then not being
collected or preserved in any way, and, eventually, being washed down streams
and carried off. The guides find new dinosaur bones all the time but don’t know
enough to identify them and can’t interest the government, or any universities
or museums, into funding excavations. It was a fascinating walk. We also saw
condors, and llamas, and, of course, really cool rock formations.
 |
| OK, this is a petrified tree, now where are those dinosaur bones? |
 |
| Forget the other stuff, I loved the rocks. |
Yup... just another couple of awesome days kicking about in Argentina!
