El Chalten & Buenos Aires, Argentina (April 2026)

 El Calafate and Perito Moreno Glacier –

The next day, we checked out and got onto a bus ride to El Calafate on the Argentina side. The bus ride was quite peaceful going through the border and immigration. The landscape of the arid regions of Patagonia would question what living beings can sustain in these places. Of course, Guanacos galore! As we approached El Calafate, we started seeing the mountains and the Lago Argentina in the foreground from a quite a distance away. After checking into the hotel, El Calafate Parque Hotel, we took a stroll around that neat little town and took a quick bite as late lunch. As it is a touristy town, there were quite many eateries and souvenir stores but finding a proper vegetarian place was a challenge.

Next day, we rented a car and drove to Perito Moreno Glacier which is about couple of hours from the hotel. This glacier is located inside Los Glaciares National Park and a fee of 45000 Pesos had to be paid at the entrance. From the entrance, it took another ~45 minutes to get to the glacier boardwalk. Most of the drive from the entrance is along the lakeshore and the glacier view started showing up from a few kilometers away. It is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice field which is the 3^rd largest ice field on the planet, after Antarctica and Greenland. Perito Moreno Glacier is a bit larger than the city of Buenos Aires and visible front face alone is 5km wide feeding the Lago Argentina. 

The boardwalk on the opposite shore to view the glacier also extends around 5km. Until recently, it is one of the rare glaciers that was not retreating and sometimes damming the lake with its advancement. But when we went, it had retreated quite a bit and was only visible at a distance. The massiveness of the front face is visible evidence to show the enormous-ness of the ice field. The impressively built boardwalk is an easy walk to show the entire frontal face of the glacier with autumn colors around in its peak. It is always a pleasant feeling to see the combination of colorful foliage in the base slowly transitioning to barren and snow/ice covered peaks. On the other hand, it was so disturbing to see the calving of the glaciers happen right in front of our eyes and a few arches that would eventually lead to calving is also something bothering to see.

El Chaltén and Fitz Roy…

Next day, we headed to El Chaltén which is about ~3hr drive. The drive along the famous Ruta 40 took along the eastern shore of Lake Argentina and then continued north to Lake Viedma’s shores and on to Ruta 41 all the way to El Chaltén, along the Lake shore. All along the way, we saw many wild-life, primarily Guanacos. We also saw a few Ostriches, massive Andean Condors and also many Caracaras.

As we approached El Chaltén, cloud cover completely covered the views of Cerro Torres and Fitz Roy. We were hoping to see the mountain range that inspired the logo for the apparel store Patagonia but it was not in the offering for the day, a bummer. And, the forecast was not so good either for the coming days. After we checked into the lovely Los Cerros del Chaltén Boutique Hotel, the cloud cast didn’t give much of a choice other than just roam around the town a bit to grab dinner and call it a day.

The next morning, we had decided to go to the nearby viewpoint a bit uphill to take in the views of the Fitz Roy during sunrise. Clear skies were in total contrast to the view we had the day before and we saw what inspired the Patagonia logo in its full glory. Young Sun’s rays gave us the glimpse of the colorful reflections from Fitz Roy and Cerro Torres.

Then we had about 4-6 hours before heavy rains are supposed to hit the area. So, instead of venturing to the Laguna de los Tres for the views of Fitz Roy, trail to Cerro Torre sounded better. It is supposed to be a relatively easier hike and started right from across the hotel we stayed. It turned out to be a wonderful 4hr hike a little past the mid-point and back. The Lenga Forest in its Autumn peak was the highlight. The twisted trunks of many of the trees in the area are supposed to have been rendered so by the high winds. Some waterfalls falling into the stream running in the valley, surrounded by colored foliage with the snow-covered peaks overlooking them provided for a treat to the eyes and energy to keep going further. But considering the expected weather later in the day, had to come back. Right after that, the rain started mildly and started building to a massive downpour that last lasted till next day morning.

As it was still drizzling, we didn’t want to go for any hikes yet, but asked the hotel to check if the shuttle to Huemul Glacier operated and if they had any room for us. Luckily, they had room and we took that one. As the shuttle left the paved roads of El Chaltén it entered the gravel roads into the Ruta 41 along the shores of Las Vueltas River. What was supposed to be a road along the river soon started to be a blur between river and road in some spots. As the shuttle driver kept going, we could see the river overflowing fully onto the roads and the driver was literally wading through the river for increasing lengths of distances. As we reached the trailhead at Rio Electrico, one of the passengers alighted to go on the trail though the ambiance was a little spooky because of the light rain, cloud cover and the river brimming with water waiting to break barriers. As the shuttle was moving further, the views got better and better, but the river was breaking the barriers more and more. Thanks to the roaming Starlink system that the shuttle driver got a call from his company to cut short the trip and return back due to dangerous roads ahead! We finally stopped at a point where we could also see another photo tour bus stopped to return as well. But the views around that area was breathtaking. While we have seen the autumn colors of Northeast in its glory, the deciduous trees of the Lenga offered quite a different view. Coming to learn about it, the differences seem to lie a lot on bio-diversity. The number of species of trees in NE USA is quite high (~125 species of maples, oaks, birches) compared to primarily 2 varieties of Lenga and Nire beech trees that can withstand the wild high-altitude winds of Patagonia. The beauty around captivated us to spend some time in spite of the potential for the rain and overflowing rivers to get worse. We also stopped in couple other locations including a gorgeous waterfall that was gushing with water from the fresh rains.

As we approached the Chorillo del Salto waterfalls, we requested the driver to drop us off here and we could walk back to the town which was about 4-5km distance. That turned out to be an awesome decision as the scenic location with the autumn colors in peak was something of an eye candy! Little did we know that the entire tourist crowd in El Chaltén would be there!! Given the rains and cloudy atmosphere, hiking was not a preferred choice and people would have chosen this spot. We munched our packed sandwiches swallowing the gorgeous views of the falls and surrounding mountains.

After reaching our hotel, we rested for some time, taking in the views from our window before grabbing dinner and calling it a day.

Onto to El Calafate and to Buenos Aires..

Next day, we checked out and headed to El Calafate to return the car and catch our evening flight to Buenos Aires. On the way, the skies had opened up and we got great views of Fitz Roy and Cerros Torre all along way, albeit in our rear-view mirrors. This compensated somewhat for the cloudy skies that obscured the views driving into El Chaltén 3 days ago. We took some time out in few different spots where there were already parties of touring groups including a photo tour bus. We drove and forth a couple times to get a feel for what it would have been to get such a view on the drive in. For ones who were lucky, the views of the mountains on the drive in would have started almost an hour before reaching the town!

As we continued our drive, we got to see a few Andan Condors on the road side hills up close. Of course, Guanacos were plenty with some finding ways to cross over the fence and crossing the roads. This is something to be careful when driving on these highways, though Guanacos seem to be more cautious than Deers in US. One thing that should be mentioned is how meticulously fences were built almost in all of the road-sides that we had seen till now to minimize Guanaco kills.

After returning the car, we still had a few hours before the flight. The rental car people were kind enough to hold our luggage for a few hours which gave us some time to roam the town again and grab some lunch. We took a taxi to the quaint airport of El Calafate with some great views and took the Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Buenos Aires’s AEP airport. As we approached the city, night lights showed the enormous span of the city. The Uber ride from the airport to the hotel gave a brief glimpse of that vibrant city. The Cassa Lepage Art Hotel is located apparently in the heart of the city that we didn’t fully realize until we reached there. Little did we know that the hotel was built on an excavation site that was still in full display through glass floors and exhibits of artefacts in the basement. Before it became a hotel, it used to be an apartment building, we were told.

Next day, had our hotel-served breakfast and headed out to explore the city. That’s when we realized how closed the hotel is to all the attractions within walking distance. The Obelisk, Metropolitan Cathedral, Presidential Office (Casa Rosada) nearby and the San Telmo area are the few places we walked around. The Cathedral has a very broad façade with many Corinthian columns which confused us initially whether it was a Church or some government building. The San Telmo market is a bustling place filled with eateries and stores frequented by many tourists and locals alike. There, we tried the yerba mate in their traditional cup and straw with some pastries called Alfajores. Most of the eateries there had meat and so we found an Asian restaurant that served some veggie rice. Then, we walked back to the hotel and relaxed a bit, strolling through their museum area with artefacts dating back to 16^th century. The uber ride to the other airport (EZE) to catch our flight back home was quite a long ride going through peak hour traffic, thanks to the hospitable hotel hosts who warned us to give ourselves extra time for the ride.

The hospitality and friendly nature of the people from most of the people we came across both Chile and Argentina is something that is very welcoming. Even though the language was a big problem, it was very interesting to see how English has not infiltrated even a little for some people. Thanks to google translate and live translation that helped us quite a bit. Another interesting and common occurrence on both Chile (Puerto Natales) and Argentina (El Calafate) side are the freely-roaming dogs. While it was scary in the beginning, they didn’t seem aggressive at all and roamed about by themselves without much botheration. Overall, it was an exciting trip with unexpected adrenaline rush in some places, eye-catching views and interesting interactions.