Argentina - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 122

1

Two main arteries traverse Patagonia.
The RN40 runs parallel to the Andes and
links some of Patagonia's major sights:
the 10,000-year-old rock art of the
Cueva de las Manos Pintadas ; the Fitz
Roy sector of Parque Nacional Los
Glaciares around the town of El Chaltén;
and the Perito Moreno and Upsala
glaciers in the park's southern sector,
both easy day-trips from El Calafate. To
the east, the RN3 loosely traces the
Atlantic seaboard, passing the town of
Puerto Madryn , a launching pad for the
marine wildlife-rich shores of Península
Valdés , before heading south to the
Welsh heartland of Trelew and Gaiman ,
a short jump to the continent's largest
penguin colony, Punta Tombo .
December to February are the
warmest months to visit Patagonia,
but to avoid the crowds, inflated
prices and high winds, March and
April are better. Tourism all but grinds
to a halt come winter, despite the fact
that there is less difference between
winter and summer temperatures than
you might think.

CROSSING INTO CHILE
Esquel is well placed for crossing into
Chilean Patagonia, with several buses
weekly making the two-hour trip to
the settlement of Futaleufú , where
there is excellent white-water rafting
on its namesake river. Feryval and Lago
Espolón buses leave Esquel (travelling
south via Trevelin) around four times
a week. At the Chilean border
(immigration open 8am-8pm),
passengers transfer to a minibus for
the final 10km to Futaleufú.

with a smattering of shops, public telephones and eating
and accommodation options (which close in winter). It
can provide information on camping, park accommodation,
hiking and fishing, and sells fishing permits.

ACCOMMODAT ION
A number of cabañas, hosterías and campsites lie within
the park, including pricey lodges that cater for anglers.
There are a dozen free campsites with no facilities at all,
some very cheap basic ones with cold-water bathrooms
and a handful of slightly more expensive organized
campsites with hot water, gas and electricity; enquire at
the tourist o ce in Esquel or at the park ranger's o ce.

PUERTO MADRYN
Having spent hours travelling through
the barren bleakness of the Pampas,
you may wonder why you bothered when
you first hit PUERTO MADRYN . A windy,
sprawling, seaside city clinging to the
barren coast of northern Patagonia, it has
relatively few tourist attractions of its
own. But its proximity to one of the
world's most significant marine reserves
- the Reserva Faunística Península Valdés

Patagonia
Lonely, windswept and studded with
glaciers, PATAGONIA has an undeniable
mystique, a place where pioneers,
outlaws, writers and naturalists have long
come in search of open space and wild
adventure. When watching a southern
right whale swim metres under your boat
or strapping on crampons to hike across
the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap, you
won't care that Argentina's southernmost
chunk is now an established tourist
destination.
For those short on time, flights allow
you to hop between Patagonia's key
attractions, but to truly appreciate the
region's vastness, it is best to travel
overland. After hundreds of kilometres
of desolate steppe, nothing quite
bedazzles like the sight of serrated
Andean peaks rising up on the horizon
like a Gothic mirage.

ESTANCIAS IN PATAGONIA
Patagonia's empty steppe is speckled with
isolated estancias , many of which open
their doors to visitors. While most cater
for high-end tourists, others are more
modest, and some allow camping in their
grounds - a good example is Estancia
Menelik (see p.133). Contact Estancias de
Santa Cruz in El Calafate (Libertador 1215;
T 02902 492858, W estanciasdesantacruz
.com) for a comprehensive list of estancias
in Patagonia.