El Chalten (1)
For those looking for some adrenalin rush or just a quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of life, then try the humble town of EL CHALTEN in Argentina.
According to the website Lonely Planet, it is the second best city travel this year, 2015.
El Chalten (2)
ABOUT EL CHALTEN
The name Chalten means “smoking mountain” due to the clouds covering the peak.
El Chalten could be found in the province of Santa Cruz. It is a small mountain village beside Rio de las Vueltas and at the base of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy mountains.
One has to always be prepared due to the unpredictability of the weather. Summer is characterized by long daylight hours, windy weather, and temperatures between 5 to 18 degrees Celsius.
It is also common to see frost during summer. As for winter, there is snow with temperatures dropping between -4 to 3 degrees Celsius.
El Chalten (3)
Since the village is remotely located (approximately three hours from the airport) there are little amenities and establishments.
There is an information center for tourists needing assistance and help. Hotels and other accommodations are also available. Some hotels offer internet and phone service.
There is also a camping site for backpackers (but make sure to make advance arrangements due to the limited number of people that could be accommodated).
There are local restaurants and shops in town that caters to the needs of visitors. The downside of the place is the inadequate number of automated teller machines (there are only two in the whole village and during the weekends it usually empty) and no cell phone service.
Although it is not as civilized and developed as other cities it is equally beautiful as any other place on earth.
Panoramic view of El Chalten (4)
PLACES OF INTEREST
El Chalten is most famous for LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK.
Los Glaciers National Park (5)
The number one reason for tourists to go to the town of El Chalten is to visit Los Glaciares National Park. The said park is the second largest national park in the country occupying a total area of 7,269 square kilometers.
The name of the park originated from the ice cap along the Andes range. The said ice cap is the largest outside Antarctica and Greenland.
The park is 30 percent ice, with two big lakes: Lake Argentino and Lake Viedma. The former lake is the largest in the country with a total area of 1,466 square kilometers.
There is also a river, Santa Cruz River which is supplied by the two lakes. There are also a few minor glaciers, Mount Fitz Roy, and Cerro Torre.
Walkway to Perito Moreno Glacier (6)
Monte Fitz Roy in Los Glaciares National Park (7)
Aerial view of Cerro Torre on the left and Mount Fitz Roy (8)
The national park had also been the home to few animals like the guanaco, cougar, and gray fox. It is also the habitat of at least a thousand different bird species.
It was enlisted in UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1980.
As mentioned, this is a nice place for adventure seekers. Mountaineers would have a good time climbing and trekking CERRO TORRE and CERRO FITZ ROY MOUNTAINS.
As a matter of fact, the village is known as Argentina’s Trekking Capital.
Cerro Torre is one of the mountains in the border between Argentina and Chile. It is notable due to the rime ice found at the peak of the mountain.
This rime ice was formed due to strong winds making the accent to the peak difficult.
Cerro Torre (9)
The other challenging mountain in which a lot of daring mountaineers would love to experience is Cerro Fitz Roy.
Monte Fitz Roy
Cerro or Monte Fitz Roy is sometimes called by locals as Cerro Chalten. It is closely located near Cerro Torre. Only experienced mountaineers could completely ascend and descend the said mountain due to its level of difficulty.
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