Times Change - A Generation Hands Over

Flo and I were in El Calafate around 2005. It was merely a necessary stop on the way to Perito Moreno because there was no accommodation near the glacier. It was basic, had little to offer, and lacked charm. It has developed out of all recognition, and mostly in positive ways. My guess is it has tripled in size. They have preserved the area next to Lago Argentina, and there is a nature reserve with all sorts of birds. There are loads of restaurants, some quite charming, and plenty of shops and services.

Today, we leave El Calafate and head for El Chalten. Back then, we paid a local taxi driver, with an old Peugeot $50 to drive us for 4 hours along the dirt track road. On the way, we stopped in the middle at a bar. It had a challenge. A ring on the end of a long string and a hook on the wall. If you could swing it across the room and hook it, you got a free beer. A very rare occurrence, except I did it twice on my very 1st attempts. It has become a family legend. I tried it, of course, again today, but I failed in all 9 attempts. The kids and Flo also tried and tried until when I had already stepped out the door, Lennox saved our family's reputation. However, times have changed, so there is no beer for Lennox, and the bar is no longer recognisable as such. It's now a cafe, restaurant and souvenir shop. No longer any feel of a bar in the middle of nowhere. That special atmosphere is lost forever. Thankfully, the dirt track is gone too, and it's an easy but far more expensive drive ($200}.

We see the mountains from afar, and of course , their beauty is timeless. For me, the peaks at Chalten are the best in the world.

P.s. The spot where the 1st photo is taken is more or less the view Captain Fitzroy and Charles Darwin had when they were the 1st Europeans here. Strangely, they stopped 50km short of the peak, possibly lacking supplies to go further.

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