This weekend we had our first “vacation” of our adventure.  We travelled to El Calafate a town in the southern Patagonia region of the country and it was, SPECTACULAR.

Official Trip Photo!

We knew the place was special when we landed.

The view from the airport

We then went off to Estancia Nibepo Aike, which is in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, a working sheep and cattle farm.  The lodgings were rustic (Michele’s version of camping). but the views were amazing.  The kids spent their time chasing sheep 

Michele and the kids try to wrangle up some sheep

 

 

This is how the experts do it

riding horses

and skipping stones in the lake.

The views were simply spectacular.

The next day we took a tour of the Perito Moreno Glacier which was the highlight of the trip thus far.  The Glacier is roughly 100 square miles of ice.  At the face of the glacier it is 270 feet from top to bottom.  We first toured in a boat.

Even Flat Stanley got into the act

After the boat tour, we took a break for lunch, the best picnic spot ever on the opposite side of the glacier (south face).

After lunch walk

After lunch we took a hike to see the Glacier from yet a third side which was equally spectacular.  Particular amazing was when a piece of the glacier would calve (break off).  First there is a sound of the ice breaking off followed by a pause while the chunk of ice plummets to the water followed by a loud BOOM when it splashes into the water.  We saw a number of these events and it was truly magical.

This was a remarkable experience, not to be missed.  We then headed off to the town of El Calafate, which is a quaint tourist town that serves as a jumping off point for many local expeditions.  We stayed at Los Sauces, which we understand is owned by the President of Argentina.  It was a perfectly lovely place and the staff was very helpful and courteous. We had icecream at the famed Las Ovejitas (delicious, try the Calafate flavor) and then dinner at La Lechuna Pizza, both of which were great and, importantly we are continuing our healthy eating habits while abroad.

The next day we went on a fishing expedition with Calafate Fishing.  It was a true test of our spanish language skills!  Our guides Maxi and Frederico were great.  The setting was simply spectacular.

The fish weren’t the giants that Ted was hoping for, but someone was pretty happy with the results.

That night we had a proper dinner at La Tablita, a well run little parilla just outside of the main part of town.  The kids were exhausted from a couple of long days, but were magically rejuvenated when ice cream came into the picture at the meal’s end.  After a good night’s rest, we went to visit the Glacarium, a little museum about glaciers (duh) on the outskirts of town.

Even the museums have a great views!

 We followed that up with another healthy lunch of pizza and empanadas at Casablanca and then flew back home.  A wonderful trip and great energizer for the whole family.