Well ladies and gentleman this is part two of the incredible journey. The next morning after a good sleep a taxi was call to take me to the bus station, after getting settled on the coach the trip started. I was told that it was going to take a good eight hours driving time, and then there were the breaks. After leaving Puerto Natales the next stop was the Chilean border crossing where the passports were checked that must of took forty-five minutes, then it was to the Argentine side again that was a good hour.
The coach was now on its way to La Calafate the countryside was so beautiful it was breath taking; we arrived around midday at the bus station this is where I had to change bus. The next coach wasn’t until the evening; I was allowed to leave my baggage in the travel agents office.
The agent, her advice that the best place to for something to eat was a restaurant that was a ten minutes walk away she it was good and cheaper than to eat on the main street. The problem now was to find a bank which would change my traveller’s cheques to get the money to take to La Chalten, there isn’t any there so you would have a slight problem.
The restaurant which I found was very good, it was over looking Lago Argentina with it being a wonderful weather it was a pleasure to sit out on the patio for lunch. After lunch there were still a number of hours to pass, so it was a walk down the main street window shopping to pass the time away with a number of coffees thrown in.
Back at the bus station I retrieved my luggage from the office; there were a larger number of passengers to go to La Chalten so the coach driver had his work cut out with loading the baggage on. He also had to issue tickets for our luggage.
On the road to La Chalten as the evening was drawing in the light was great as we were going along the side of Lago Viedma with its snow capped mountains on the far shore, the bus must have travelled for ninety minutes and it was still there; the only problem was that there was no way the bus driver would of stopped for some photographs. We got to our destination around ten thirty were again there was a taxi to take me the short distance to my hostel.
In the morning I was having breakfast when the guide for the day turned up, he explained what the plan was I took all my equipment which I should have just took what I need; it was a hard day trekking. I did take good shots there was more cloud so it made taking photographs easier not so bright.
The one good thing I did learn over the trekking was the best way to pace myself with the breathing,
I was always trying too hard to get on; I was told to slow down it isn’t a race by the guide I found that it got a lot easier walking expertly when I had to the go up the inclines which were quite steep.
Walking in the wooded areas the birds where quite plentiful they had good cover, I saw a pair of Woodpeckers quite close up with their black plumage with red head, trying to peck their way into trees. I did try to get some shots I did manage though they weren’t that good, after seeing them I thought that I was near enough to the subject. They did move rather quickly so you had to be alert.
The day I was to leave Le Chalten the transport wasn’t until the evening so I had to arrange my day; I pack my baggage and left it in the hostel for safe keeping which was permitted. After breakfast I made my way to the bakers get something to eat and drink for lunch as I was going to look for a waterfalls which I was told was beautiful. The weather had stayed wonderful so I had to find it, the only problem was that I didn’t get early so the light was in my favour.
Once I got going “walking that is” I left Chalten proceeding along the road adjacent to the river, I took a number of shots of the water and mountains, the size of it all was breath taking. I carried on until I got to a picnic area where I noticed a couple having lunch, I made my way to the next table; it wasn’t long before we were chatting about photography and they were very nice they point me in the right direction, as they had just been to the waterfalls.
I took the directions which meant that I had to take another path towards the back drop of the mountains there was open areas and the grass had plenty of wild flowers which made it quite pleasant to walk. Once I had crossed a brook it wasn’t long before I saw the waterfalls in the distance, the falls must have been eighty feet at an estimate.
Once I had got there I had a drink it was hot, I got my tripod and set up to take some shots, I was thinking of what I was told the week before by Bruce when using a ND filter. Now I had to put into practise, I used a wide angle setting on the lens to get the frame full of the splendid scenery. The camera was on manual so I put the focus to f5.6 and the shutter speed to 45 of a second. I was trying to make the waterfall look milky which it did. I was quite pleased with the results of a number of the shots; the film used was Velvia 50. After an hour I just slowly made my way back stopping to take a number of shot of interest.
Once back in Le Chalten I had to get my dinner so I wasn’t going to get hungry on the bus, I went to the cafe and order a bowl of their soup come stew. It was quite filling with a couple of beers. Now I had dine I made my way back to the hostel and wait for the transport to Le Calafate, when the bus turned up I was surprised because it was only a mini bus, that meant that every bump will be felt, it was only two couples one with a child and myself to return to Le Calafate. On the way back we saw a number of the wildlife, an Armadillo was of most interest.
Le Calafate was in darkness when we arrived, the driver pulled up outside of the hostel where I was to stay for the next episode of the journey. After I got sorted out I did have a wander up the main street where I had drink, I couldn’t stay out too late I was to go on a tour of the Moreno glazier in the morning.
The coach was again on time I was greeted by the tour guide who made me very welcome. The drive to the Moreno glazier was quite long; the weather today was overcast though there some breaks in the cloud on some occasions.
The guide when we arrived is that there was a boat trip that you could go on; the cost was £5 which was reasonable. The boat must have been touring for a good ninety minutes; the glazier was a lot different to the Grey glazier I visited the week earlier. The closer you got to it you realised the scale was out of this world, the shots I took from the boat when going round icebergs they were segments that had fallen from the glazier you saw the enormity of the whole thing.
Now I’m on dry land and making my way to the restaurant area I got a drink and a sandwich to fill the gap. I took the rest of the time on the gantry which ran down the side of the hill overlooking the glazier, from this point you could see the how small the tour boats was against the mass of ice.
There was a funny side to this as well, while I was taking some shots I heard a noise looking round I noticed that there was a number of Chinese visitors. The noise was that they were sing I think they were trying to make the ice fall into the water below. I must have listen for ten minutes with no effect the crowd did applaud for their effort.
The next morning again I sorted the luggage out put it into the holding room, the bus for the airport for the flight to Trelew wasn’t until late afternoon I was going to the coast, Puerto Madryn was going to be were the hostel was located. The rest of the day was looking around the shops I did buy a couple of things it was cheaper than back home.
When I landed at Trelew the skies were very dark there was an electric storm in progress it was magical, so making our way to Puerto Madryn was quite eventful with the lightning strikes. I didn’t get to the hostel until midnight; I had a cup of tea then hit the sack.
I was up early I was going whale watching on the Peninsula Valdes; again the weather was good after last night’s storm. The coach trip was a long drive; Puerto Piramides is where we where to broad the boat. The tour guide was keen to get there as quick as possible so we could get on the first sailing, she said that would make day run easier.
On the boat I got the sea legs quickly, it took awhile to see a whale it is amazing sight which I have never seen. I used ISO 400 which I thought turned out well as there was a lot of movement. After lunch we made our way to Punta Norte was we were to walk along the beach. The elephant seal colonies are located here. This is where I used a 300mm lens because you weren’t allowed to go beyond the fence which meant that you couldn’t get a lower position for a better composition.
I did get a number of shots with some action in were the seals where either getting out of the sea or looking vicious at one another, there was a lot of that. After getting the film back you could see were the positioning would have been better if it was possible to a lower position, you would have been able to get the sea in the frame, using the 300mm lens meant that you got closer though the back ground was limited.
Well the next day I was up early this time I was booked to go to Punto Tombo this was a nature reserve. Here is where a great penguin colony was located it was a three hour drive; we did stop a couple of times for refreshments it was a hot day again. On the beach it was very hot I had to wear a hat and the suntan cream was a must.
Walking along the beach the penguins had their nest borrows scattered all around I was surprised to see how far they had to walk to the sea. The party was with the guide all the time, I was making my way to see if I could get a good position to take some shots when I was meet by a solitary penguin, I thought it would move out of the way, it had other thoughts it started to peck at my left shin, the guide saw what was happening so he waved me towards him out of harm’s way. I should of know that the penguins had young so would be a bit protective.
Eventually I did take shots of penguins they were massed on the water’s edge having their fun time, I did get fairly close again I used the 300mm lens for some close ups. The landscape was the usual pebble beach to the rear was some vegetation, Guanacos where feeding. For me this part of Patagonia was a far cry from my first week in Chile, though interesting I felt the landscape was far less colourful here. To me I ‘am afraid that the first week was for me was the most beautiful, the scenery was outstanding.
Now photography wise the rest of the day wasn’t that great we spent most of the time inside, we made our way to Trelew to have tea - cakes which was quite delightful. Trelew is where the Welsh setup after immigrating to Argentina, the tea room had been visited by the late Princess Diana. There were a lot of photographs of the princess on the walls which were of good taste I thought.
We went to the museum after which housed dinosaurs and fossils gave the story of the ages in which Patagonia had formed, it was a new building and the lay out was impressive so it made the whole experience most enjoyable, it had great lighting to get the best results of its exhibits.
Well after the day’s tour was tired I was dropped at my hostel, now I had to think about getting the luggage packed for the last time, in the morning it was the start of the long journey home.
Roger Plummeridge.
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