Four Seasons in One Day

Fri, 28 Oct 2022

This was the last time we would be moving hotels before our departure for home.  Our original itinerary stated that we would be flying to Buenos Aires, "with the remainder of the day at leisure, to explore this vibrant and lively South American capital."  As fate and airline schedules would have it, however, our flight to Buenos Aires was not scheduled until 6:15pm, which left us with -- essentially -- an extra day in El Calafate.  Our guide Veni offered us suggestions of things we might want to do, and truth be told, several folks were tired, and welcomed the unexpected downtime.  He did offer to lead an optional walk to and through the local bird sanctuary, not too far from our hotel.  It is a lagooned area, off of Lago Argentina, shielded from much of the wind, which is home to hundreds of different species of birds who visit at various times of the year.  I am certainly no birder, but I will admit that identifying some of the amazing birds we'd already seen during the trip whetted my appetite, and we also agreed that we should take full advantage of being where we were, and so decided to participate on the hike.  The night prior, a majority of our group said they, too, would participate, but all of them caveated that assertion with the statement, "if the weather is good."  As fate would have it, when we awoke this Friday, I pulled back the curtain and...it was snowing outside.  Certainly NOT what we had been expecting.  It was a very wet snow, with huge flakes, most of which melted upon hitting roofs and the ground.  It was heavy, too, so the sounds of the splashing water betrayed just how wet it really was outside.  We didn't see other members of our group at breakfast, which led us to believe most people would be sleeping in, given the weather.  When it came time to meet up with Veni, sure enough, it was only Katherine, myself, Jeff, and Gershon (the senior-most member of our group) who showed up.  Snow was really coming down now, but Veni got us some huge umbrellas from the front desk, and we set off.  

The wind was strong and there were torrents of water running in the streets, along the curbs.  I was questioning our decision almost as soon as we left the hotel.  That said, after several minutes of walking, the snow stopped, the winds died down, and we could see blue patches of sky in the distance.  The birds started to sing again, and it was like a time lapse between winter and spring.  

As we approached the building marking the entrance to the bird sanctuary, one of the street dogs adopted our group and -- specifically -- latched on to Jeff, and did not want to leave his side.  The entrance was gated, and had a big sign saying "closed," even though it had another sign with their hours, indicating that they should have opened at 9:30am; it was nearly 10:00 when we arrived.  We went ahead and walked through the gate, which was only latched with a rope.  No one was around to collect our fee, and we were careful to leave the dog outside the gate, as the third sign there had stated "no dogs allowed."

Wet, Messy Spring Snow in El Calafate

Watching Weather Slowly Clear on Way to Bird Sanctuary

Veni, Jeff, and the Street Dog Who Adopted Us

As we were already inside, we elected to just go ahead and visit.  If someone showed up and challenged us, we took pictures of ourselves arriving, to prove that we had not come in before advertised opening time.  The winds were picking up as we started the long route around the lagoon, but it was clear that we were going to see a lot of different birds.  The lagoon itself was full of flamingos, and the sight of them against the hillsides covered with fresh snow was quite the picture.  Almost as soon as we began to hike on the boardwalk circling the lagoon, our dog friend appeared out of nowhere.  He must have crossed through or over the fence at some point.  He seemed perfectly at home, and essentially walked next to Jeff for almost the entire time we were in the park.  

Map of the Sanctuary As We Entered

Dog, Veni, Jeff, and Gershon

We saw lots and lots of different birds, but we also watched as a new round of snow squalls moved in from the mountains.  We were in sunlight but watched the wall of snow wash over the town.  We hurried our pace, trying to reach the visitors' center before the line of snow hit us, but we were about five minutes too late.  We finally made it there, and it was now open.  I never did hear an explanation as to when the docent arrived or why they were late, but I suspect he was sitting home in the earlier snow thinking, "no fools will be there in this weather."  Well, we proved him wrong.  He accepted our entrance fee after the fact, and we walked back to the hotel in the snow.  The squall had passed by the time we returned, and it was again sunny.  So very weird.  We were, however, properly chilled.  The large snowflakes had soaked through Katherine's pants, so she jumped in the shower and we put her pants on the radiator.  It was about 12:30pm, and we had to check out of our room by 2:00pm.  While K warmed up and dried off, I walked into town and picked us up a pizza for lunch.  It was, in fact, much better than the one from the earlier night, and it worked out well to eat in the room.

Flamingos and Snow

Next Band of Snow Fast Approaching

Crested Caracara

Snow Caught Up With Us as We Reached Now-Open Visitors' Center

After check-out, we hung out with several other members of our group in the hotel lobby and lounge, until our bus arrived to bring us to the small local airport for our flight to Buenos Aires.  The airport was modern but small, and sat directly on the shores of Lago Argentina.  The winds had picked up again, and we sat at the gate watching the men loading luggage onto the plane struggle to stand up straight.  It was quite a sight, too, to see an iceberg out on the lake, in the distance behind the airplane.

The flight to Buenos Aires was non-eventful and took about three and half hours.  I had to remind myself just how far south we had been.  It turns out that Buenos Aires has two airports.  The newer international airport is outside of town, whereas we were flying into the smaller city airport, which primarily caters to domestic flights.  It sits right on the inlet surrounded by apartment buildings, and the approach and landing were unlike any other I have experienced.  I could see inside apartment windows during the approach, and it felt a little too close for comfort for me.

Our Flight to Buenos Aires (Iceberg Visible in Distance)

Jeff and Barbara Waiting at Gate

Farewell Patagonia

El Calafate From the Air (Bird Sanctuary Lagoon Visible on Right Side, Above Stanchion)

We had yet another local guide assigned to us for our time in Buenos Aires -- his name was Max -- and he met us all at the airport.  The pilot had announced that it was in the 70's when we landed, but I don't think any of us believed it until we walked out to load onto our new bus.  The air was quite warm and even a little humid.  As before, our new guide Max and Veni had a long reunion, as they had not seen each other in a couple of years.  It was a very short ride to our hotel, which was the Marriott, located directly across from the iconic Obelisk of Buenos Aires, a smaller version of the Washington Monument, erected in the 1930's to commemorate 400 years since the settling of what became Argentina.  Veni and Max pointed out several areas close to the hotel where we could grab a bite to eat or a drink, as the location was really quite good.  That said, I think it was simply too late for anyone to venture out, so we all collected our room keys and scattered for the evening.

View of the Buenos Aires Obelisk From Our Hotel

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