We spent 4 days at the Estancia Cristina, one of the few private ranches still allowed to operate in Los Glaciares National Park. While originally a working ranch dating back to 1914, it has focused exclusively on tourism since the mid-1990s. It was an amazing experience to stay in this utterly remote and stunningly beautiful location. Estancia Cristina is only accessible by boat and to give you some idea of its distance from civilization, we had to drive 1 hour from El Calafate (a town of only 20.000 people and itself basically in the middle of nowhere) before taking a 2 hour ferry ride across Lake Argentino. All drinking water comes from local streams, power from diesel generators and solar panels, and internet from satellite connection, everything else has to be brought in by boat.
Words hardly do justice to the rugged, unspoiled beauty of this area of Patagonia, so we decided the best way to share our experience is through (a lot of) pictures.
Day 1 – Horseback riding with Gaucho guide
Bonding with the horses and getting ready for the ride
Crossing a rushing glacial river. Kristina almost giddy with excitment
Horse selfie
The vistas were amazing
Gaucho style
On our way back
Day 2 – 5 hour hike to the Carnero viewpoint
We encountered this at the beginning of the day’s hike. Foreshadowing? Hopefully not
Stunning view with the estancia in the distance
We’re in the middle of nowhere. And we’re the only ones there
At the viewpoint
Chris taking in the view
Waterfall
Day 3 – Upsala Glacier and the Canyon of the Fossils
Boarding a 4×4 for a bumpy ride to the viewpoint where our 14km hike begins
At the top we found cool glacial rock formations
And great views
Alex posing on the path
If you apply to the government in advance you can stay the night at this shelter. It’s bare bones, just wooden bunks and paper thin steel walls
The Upsala Glacier
Taking in nature’s grandeur
Haha
Yeah, hilarious
Mandatory group photo
The geology changes as we make our way towards the canyon
Taking a dip in the cold, cold, cold lagoon
Pristine
Looking at the condors in the distance and camera nearby
A lot of the rocks were slate as you can see here. It breaks into tiny slivers and is ultimately ground down to black dust
At the end of the canyon, we arrived in the pampas (grassland)
It was hot and the sun was blazing. Selfie of Alex’s makeshift turban
The estancia in the distance
Day 4 – Hike to a nearby waterfall
The waterfall was quite a sight
We ate our lunch just to the side of the waterfall
And were happy to cool our feet for a while
What a fantastic place. Great to see you’re all having such a variety of wonderful experiences.