Kayaking amongst the icebergs below Glaciar Upsala floors me once again
We took the ferry “Janet” from Puerto de Punta Bandera north across Lago Argentino to Glaciar Upsala past icebergs sculpted by wind, water, sun and most of all, time. I saw a bull, my cat Princess, a swan, and a sphinx among other creatures including Pokemon characters my son used to draw as a child. We passed mountains and rock formations carved by the same forces of nature. The wind stirred swells and cresting waves, rocking the ferry side to side.
As we approached Upsala, the cute guide with the nose ring instructed us on how to don our dry suits. The gasket choked my neck and the pitching of the ferry on the rough water tweaked my stomach. I swallowed and swallowed and prayed my seasickness wouldn’t worsen. The guide explained what to do in case our boats flipped and my anxiety soared. I’ve flipped in plenty of kayaks in cold rivers, but I did not want to get dunked headfirst in this freezing water, dry suit or not.
We docked on the beach and pulled our tandem kayaks onto the rocky shore. Maggie sat in the bow and I worked the stern. The tour uses tandem kayaks for stability, and the guides say it's easier to herd eight kayaks rather than 16.
I learned, yet again, I don’t do well in tandem. After years in a solo white water kayak, I found the long touring sea kayaks a tad frustrating to maneuver. Whether it’s a tandem bicycle, tandem kayak, canoe, marriage, etc, I’d rather not have to coordinate my every movement with someone else.
Only one kayak flipped over, and Maggie thinks the guides tipped them on purpose close to shore as one of the women on the kayak worked for the travel agency that books these trips.
Patagonia Glacier travel tips
I kept running into other tourists who arrived in El Calafate for a short two- or three-day visit who had to settle for the balcony viewing and the sardine boats because the trekking tours were full. So if you are staying for a short time, book in advance and if you have a longer stay planned like us, five days, book the day you arrive if you haven’t already. Glaciar Perito Moreno is 80 km from El Calafate, so you have to rent a car, take a tour or bus to simply view the glacier.
We did not book our glacier tours until the day after we arrived in El Calafate and we were lucky to find openings. We flew in on Tuesday and spent most of Wednesday scouring the travel agencies for the best deal. They are all selling the same package, as the kayak and the glacier trekking tours are provided by park concessions. However, the agencies give different deals. We initially found a company that would sell us the mini-trekking tour for $100 US cash per person, but after searching the other places and discovering that was the best deal, we returned to find his office closed. We both started to stress as Maggie remembered he had said the company only had three more openings, so the next place we found we bought the package, paying $109 each. The tour company, Criollos Turismo, advertised the mini-trekking tour for $2400 Argentine pesos, but that did not include the park entrance fee of $215 AR pesos per person. Maggie only paid $30 AR pesos with her Argentine student ID, prompting her to suggest we now had more money for chocolate. For the kayak tour we chose the agency that gave us the best exchange rate of 11.5 as well as cashing in another $100 US for Argentine pesos, whereas the first place we stopped would only give us the standard bank rate of 8.5 even with US dollars. The kayak tour is advertised at 2915 AR pesos. We paid $252 each with US dollars from Alwaysglaciers. All tours include pick up and return from your lodging.
Maggie is quite astute at the currency exchange game here in Argentina. She recommended that I bring US cash, explaining that merchants would give me the best rate for US currency. We saved almost 30 percent on the costs of our tours, rental car and hostel by paying US cash rather than using credit cards or withdrawing money from an ATM. Businesses prefer crisp, clean US dollars, and one place even refused a twenty I handed them because it was too worn. When I run out of cash, which is happening soon, Maggie has me signed up on xoom.com for a better than the bank rate on Argentine pesos, with money exchange offices in Buenos Aires and Mendoza.