After 22 hours on a luxury coach we arrived at El Calafate at about 10pm New Years Eve. Left El Bolson at 11pm after much waiting / 17 hours after we had actually got up that morning. We drove down the route 40 and then on to route 20 via Sarmiento to Comodoro Rivadavia on the South Atlantic. Stopped there for 20 minutes to refuel and then south down Route 3 to Rio Gallegos and then noth west to El Calafate.
Total distance was 1630km in 22 or so hours. Some of this was on gravel but mostly good sealed road. The countryside was fairly bleak, just desert / pampas most of the way. Little evidence of any livestock, the odd sheep here and there. There were the odd estancias, or sheep farms. Quite a few lamas and ostrich type birds. While it was rolling countryside in places, most of it for hundreds of kilometers at a stretch was just flat pampas.
The oil industry is quite well developed with dozens of "nodding neddys" pumping oil, with all the associated infrastructure. There were virtually no towns or any obvious habitation most of the way. There was very little traffic, but we did spot two hardy cyclists about 150km south of Comodoro Rivadavia.
The coach was very comfortable with recliner chairs, on board TV and because there were only 21 on a 42 seat bus we all had a spare seat each. There was an onboard toilet and two drivers.
We all had a shower and change of clothes when we arrived and then went down and had a shared new year celebration at the hostel we are staying in. Liz and I are sharing a room in the dorm with John and Lisa, a younger English couple on their honeymoon......
The hostel is nice and quite. Slept in this morning and then wandered in to town for a brunch. The weather here is warm, about 20 degrees and partly overcast. El Calafate is another tourist town. I suspect most tourists arive by plane!! Being New Year's Day nothing was open until around mid day. The town has only been developed in the last few years because of demand by tourists to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is a bit like Tekapo landscape wise.
Tomorrow we are going to the Glacier, which is one of the largest advancing glaciers in the world.
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