El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina

After spending great few days in Buenos Aires it was time to fly south. 3 h later we landed in El Calafate, Patagonia. 

Already far before landing in El Calafate you see the vast desert and huge grassland. We were here to explore in two weeks as much as possible of the mountain range - The Andes.  It stretches along the border between Chile and Argentina for around 7500km all the way from Kap Horn to the Caribbean Sea of Colombia and Ecuador.
In El Calafate a rent car was waiting for us. Nothing else was booked, but as it was in the end of the season it ended up perfect. We could go where every we wanted and stay as long as needed without the stress of needing to move on or the worst - hotel/beds are awful but still you 'have' to stay..

Since we landed late afternoon, we had only time to explored bit of the town itself by window-shopping and looking for somewhere to relax. 

While driving along beaches of Lago Argentino it was hard not to be amazed by the variety of birds I have only seen on TV. The area is also famous for its Chilean flamingo, although due to the floods they were somewhere else. Anyhow, I got to see the black-necked swan :)

The following morning, we drove west into Los Glacier National Park early to check out the Perito Moreno Glacier which is one of Argentina's biggest attractions.

I have seen and walked on glaciers before, but this was really cool with its frequent calving (big chunks of ice falling straight into the water) and The sound! It's like gunfire.

One amazing fact - Perito Moreno hold the world's third largest reserve of fresh water. 

We walked around there for couple of hours in drizzling rain. Well signed paths of various lengths, think we walked for 10ish km. You could also take a boat ride to get really close to that 70m high wall, but we are saving that for another time :)

Caracara

Black-necked swan

Buenos Aires

It took a while to get these photos from Argentina and Chile done. No excuses actually, but I'm going to blame the refurbishment of the flat and planning of the move to Örebro. Närke, here we come :))

How did it all start - A birthday gift from my wife (how awesome is she? :))

After a 14h flight via Frankfurt we landed in Buenos Aires. My first time in South America and I was excited. The plan was to stay there for 3 nights - explore - before heading even further south to Patagonia

Buenos Aires feels like a bit European. Not that strange considering that the city was built by the Spanish, later occupied by British, and later on, the enormous agricultural exports and immigration from Europe changed the city altogether. Today city shows off with wide boulevards and impressed construction work.

We stayed just outside the center in an area called ​​Palermo. Quiet, although hip and relaxed area with lots of restaurants, bars, shops, breweries, street artists, and so on ..

The hotel had bikes that we borrowed, which was the perfect way to get anywhere in the city. Not to forget to mention that the paths were well marked and great.

The hotel had a complimentary guided bus tour too, that was the best. Quick way to get a guided overview, and gave us a hint where to and not to go back :))

Below is one of the more famous areas - La Boca - famous for its colorful houses and being the birthplace of Tango.