From Merino to Moreno

Following our exploits yesterday with Merino sheep, today we visited the Glaciar Perito Moreno.  Someone had suggested it might be cold and so we donned all the cold weather clothing we had including thermal undies (actually made from merino wool)!  The Parque National was about an hour from El Calafate and our first view of the glaciar was from a boat: we waited for quite a while to see if any ice would fall off into the water, but were unlucky.  The weather was wet and we were glad of our wet weather jackets.  We then got closer to the glaciar via a series of balcony walks and the sun came out and the clothes came off.  
 

 As you will see the ice was stunning and had wonderful blue colours in it.  As the sun came out, the ice falls came thick and fast preceeded by a rumble and what sounded like a clap of thunder. The trick was to know where the ice was going to fall, so your camera could be pointed in the right direction. 



Hide and sheep from the horses!

RM trying to birdwatch with his faithful frend!

HJ has now mastered the art of the graceful dismount!

This is what Patagonia is all about

We are now at a sheep ranch (El Galpon de Glacier) in Patagonia which is just outside El Calafate and on the banks of Lago Argentino (the fourth largest lake in South America).  The views are absolutely stunning with varied blues in the lake, brown, tawny mountains and snow capped Andes.  There are horses and sheep all around.  As you can see from the photographs we have been riding again, and as HJ is now an experienced horse-woman, she is able to mount and dismount with elegance!  MJ our guide thinks I will now be stiff competition for Zara Phillips!  We have also been birdwatching and seen a variety of ducks and flamingos.  HJ got rather carried away with the photographs and has beaten RMs all time record for snapping flamingos in Kenya.  The evening started with coffee and cakes ovelooking the lake at 5pm.  We then watched a sheep dog handling demonstration with kelpie dogs (a cross between a Scottish breed and Australian dingos), gaucho games, sheep shearing demonstration, a lakeside walk and finally finished with a fantastic lamb barbeque and traditional Patagonian dancing which fortunatley we didn't have to participate in!  A trip to the glacier beckons today.

Photo Gallery



The key to our cellar!




RM inspecting the vines




The two amigos



A dog as big as our horse!

A whole new adventure for today, Friday.  The day started with promising weather and so we set off for a hike to a distant church connected to the winery.  We were accompanied by Nog the Dog a huge cross between an elephant and hippo!  He came into the church with us and visited the gents loo with RM.  Half way back he was picked up by one of the posada staff and he smiled at us as he was whisked away in the back of the pick up truck.  We arrived back after our two hour trek to find him fast asleep.

We took advantage of the sun for a pre-lunch tanning session and after a suitably fortifying one, we embarked on our horse ride.  When I say ride, I mean we sat on the horse, clung on for dear life and allowed it to do what it wanted!   HJ struggled on and off and although the mount and dismount wasn't elegant, it was accomplished with the aid of RMs back and hand!  Our gaucho guide looked on in amused disbelief!

Even though we didn't get back until 5pm the weather was at it's best and so we sat by the pool sipping a bottle of the winery's finest malbec.

Patagonia beckons tomorow.

Our room is called Sauvignon Blanc!

We have transferred again this time to the Posada Salentein, a one and a half hour drive from Mendoza.  We thought it would be a rustic, fairly basic ranch - how wrong could we be.  On arrival we were not asked for passports and credit cards as usual, but asked the following three questions:

Would you like to go to your room or have a glass of wine?

Do you have any dietary requirements?

Do you want red or white?

I suspect you will guess our answers. 

We are actually staying in a 12 roomed posada at a winery (hence the name of our room).  There are beautifully manicured gardens, an outdoor pool and vineyards with nearly ripened grapes all around us.   We enjoyed a lovely lunch yesterday at their very modern restaurant which is attached to the winery before enjoying a tour which told us how they make the wine and a tasting at the end.  The Dutch owner is very interested in art and there was also a small gallery with modern Argentine works displayed alongside, very traditional paintings of windmills. 

The restaurant in the Posada is also modern and last night we enjoyed a fabulous meal: the ubiquiutous empanadas to start with, a goat ragout which was absolutely delicious (HJ pretended it was beef), steaks with salad and potato wedges followed by creme caramel and coffee.  We sampled Pinot Noir, Malbec and a sparkling win with dessert.

Our room is large and spacious with a brilliant bathroom although it does have frustratingly slow wi-fi and so pictures may or may not get posted.

All in all, we think we are in heaven and wish we were staying longer than two nights, especially as te sun is threateninhg to warm us up.


 

Sun and hailstones

This will be a quick photo-less post today as we only have 30 minutes free internet access at our current hotel in Mendoza (the more expensive and bigger the hotel, the more they charge!).

Yesterday we flew from Igazu Falls to Mendoza (via Buenos Aires) and had a very smooth trip on LAN airlines. It´ s just a shame that all they serve is soft drinks, a small bag of savoury crackers and two incredibly sweet biscuits.  We managed to arrive in time for a lovely dinner at a tapas bar near our hotel.  It was obviously accompanied by a bottle of local wine.

Today we´ve been visiting the city centre, the five main plazas, a small museum of modern art and a huge park on the outskirts of town.  The day started off really sunny but just as we got back into town the heavens opened and it started hail stoning.  We´ve never seen anything like it - huge shards of ice raining down like mad.  This continued for about 10 minutes and then torrential rain followed.  Fortunately we were able to shelter under an awning.  The drains at the side of the roads, which are designed to cope with the melting snow from the Andes, were virtually full.  We move again tomorrow to an Estancia (ranch) for a spot of horse riding!

Argentina 4 - Brazil 2



A walkway on the Brazillian side

 When I said yesterday I wanted to wet your appetite, I didn't think it would be so literal.  We have spent the last two days at Iguazu falls soaked to the skin!  Sunday was spent at the Argentine side on three walks and a boat ride that took us right through the full spray of all the falls. We were able to get right up to the falls and we had a very exhilarating full day.  Today, Monday, we visited the Brazillian side.  It is meant to offer the best views of the falls but if we'd known the hassle of getting in and out of Brazil, we may have thought again.  We spent around two hours getting there (a 15 km journey with two immigration controls) and three hours getting back as two Spanish speaking ladies failed to turn up for the coach.  However, the views were spectacular and the walks just as wet.  So all in all, we think it is a win for the Argentines.


From the Argentinian Side



A rather wet HJ

 

The day ended on a high point when we found Hito Tres Fronteras: the point where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet across two rivers.  There was a restaurant with lovely views across and so we thought we'd splash out on a good late lunch.  The wine was rather expensive and so we chose what we thought was a reasonably cheap rosada: we ended up with half a bottle of sweet dessert wine!!  It needed all our aqua con gas to make it like an asti spumante!  However the food and views were excellent.  To finally round off our day, we have just spent an hour by the pool, getting wet yet again!  Must now go for showers before dinner!