El Calafate

Today was supposed to be an easy day. Quick walk to the bus station, 5 hour bus ride to El Calafate, change buses and a 3hr bus ride to El Chalten. However, things did not go as planned. 2 hours into the trip we arrived at the Chilean border, had our passports stamped as we exited the country and then hopped back on the bus and drove 20 minutes down the road to the Argentinean border. Borders in Patagonia between Chile and Agrentina are kind of loosely defined and constantly changing. As we all piled out to get our passports stamped at the Argentina border, everyone ahead of us had no issue at all. However, when we got to the front of the line I learned I had made one big mistake. I was anticipating paying a reciprocity fee at the border of $72 USD, unfortunately, I had not read the country entry rules correctly. As a Canadian, the fee was supposed to be paid online and a printed receipt brought to the border. This meant we could not entry the country. To make things worse they had no internet connection so we could do nothing about it there. Getting other passengers to translate for us, we figured out we had to go back to Chile, get the correct paperwork and return. We started to get a little worried since the bus driver was getting ready to leave and we were going to be stranded between 2 countries. The border was literally in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, there was another bus going the opposite direction and generously offered to take us back to Puerto Natales. We graciously accept and hopped on the bus back to Chile. Safely back in Chile, the bus stopped at a rest stop beside the border. Things got a little better as it turned out the owner would let us print the required documents from his office. The bus driver also offered to drive us back across the border to El Calafate on his return trip at 6pm at no charge. We again graciously accepted and found a comfortable seat in the restaurant to spend the next 8 hours.

…8 hours later and not a single bus passed by in either direction. We anxiously anticipated the drivers return and hoped he would return. He arrived on schedule and we were back on the road. We made it through the border this time with ease (the same border patrol officer was on duty as earlier and had a smile this time) and arrived in El Calafate at 10pm. There were no more buses to El Chaltan that night so we found the closest hostel to the bus station (Penguin Hostel) and booked the first bus out of town.Read more