El Calafate – Day 1: A Cold Welcome
EL CALAFATE
Day 1: A Cold Welcome
March 24, 2023
The way to my next destination was not unlike the previous one, as I kept my eyes laser-focused on the views outside the window. After the three-hour bus ride, I found myself in El Calafate, with rain and strong winds ambushing me from every side. And I couldn’t have felt more alive if I wanted to. I mean, how could you, after seeing entire hordes of guanacos running their asses off?
The second I got to my hostel, my energy quickly wore away as central heating tightened its warm and fuzzy grasp over me. That said, I still had to head to the town centre, a few kilometres away, to eat something. Then I got back, remembered I had to buy toothpaste, and headed out again. Then I got back, remembered I also needed supplies for the following day’s trek, and did one final lap. Let’s just say I didn’t have any trouble memorising the road to the centre after that.
Once back for good, I could finally allow myself the pleasure of properly chilling and enjoying the warmth of the hostel. As great as that was, I also have to mention the ordeal that was getting to my upper bunk bed. First of all, it had the stability of a two-hundred-year-old’s spinal column. Second, the ladder had no hooks and slid away from underneath my feet during my ascent. Third, by the time I finally made it up, a skin graft on my shins would not have gone amiss, given the rough edges of the bed frame.
Once in position, all ready to go to sleep, the guy underneath me came in and started shifting relentlessly. It was pretty much like sleeping in my cabin while sailing through the Drake Passage, if not worse.