Patagonia on the platform
The wind blows almost permanently in Patagonia, the southernmost region of Argentina, an inspiring muse for travelers, explorers and artists, among others. Together with the eternal distances and the classic steppe, they form a trinomial of magic and mysticism that make it a place unlike any other in the world.
It is possible that all these features trigger a strong sense of belonging and camaraderie in every corner of Patagonia. Mechanics always help fixing cars –essential for mobility–, receptionists smile in lodges, and tour guides are tirelessly generous; you will always find this in Patagonia, to name a few examples. Lips may be chapped, but the powerhouse of silence holds dreamlike flashes.
Sacred Mantle
The city of El Calafate lies southwest of the province of Santa Cruz, and it has become an icon of Argentine tourism and a world reference for the last 25 years. The reason? Just over an hour away, along Provincial Route No. 11, there is Los Glaciares National Park, where the famous Perito Moreno glacier stands.
The Perito Moreno is not just another glacier. In addition to being the image associated with El Calafate and one of the most representative of Argentina, it is the only one that can be accessed on foot through a system of walkways, perfectly designed to take as many photos as you want from different angles, and to enjoy the feeling of sensitive glory.
Year after year, thousands of tourists from all over the world arrive at this town –city– it already has more than 25 thousand inhabitants– with the aim of seeing and why not walking on the legendary ice sheet?
Thawing in captive embers
“Is it your first time here?”
“No, but it's the first time I'm with you..."
It is said that the train passes once in a lifetime. For some, this is a cliché. For others, a saying to challenge and reformulate in mood swings. In any case, the platform can be self-destructive if the locomotive never comes. Luckily, there is Patagonia to nest dreams of cosmic adventure.
This is how the arrow sighed in the ether of Ondina of Úbeda and Fermín. In front of the Perito Moreno glacier, he contemplated the moment with no rush. As for her, she stood still, stunned by the magnitude of what she was seeing for the first time in her life, and took photos from all angles.
Ondina was born 25 years ago in Úbeda, Jaén, Spain. This was her first trip to Argentina and, after spending a few days of artistic smoke and urban ravings in Buenos Aires, she headed to El Calafate, a must for any traveler, even more so if they come from far away.
Once on Patagonian soil, the Spanish woman settled in a modest, but very friendly hotel. Although she was well off, she usually traveled alone on a shoestring.
Fermín was from Buenos Aires, but after graduating as an allergist he settled, first in Bariloche and then in San Martín de los Andes. He loved Patagonia. He was in El Calafate because it had been one of the stops on his motorcycle trip along National Route 40. Traveling along this legendary route was one of the Doc’s dreams, who was already 28 years old.
Now the scene goes back to the walkways of Los Glaciares National Park, located just over an hour from downtown Calafate. Fermín still did not know that the Andalusian –Jaén belongs to the community of Andalusia– would later be the mother of his children, Javier and Ámbar. However, looking at her in a state of absolute amazement at the magnificence of the glacier and Lake Argentino, he knew that he could offer himself as a photographer.
After several clicks, things began to change. While pieces of ice fell sporadically, Ondina started to focus more on her new partner than on the Patagonian wonders.
Their stay in El Calafate closed with lambs, calafate ice creams, foamy laughters, foggy windows and pagan stoves in bed sheets. Fermín returned to San Martín de los Andes, a village out of a fairy tale that can be reached by crossing the magical Camino de los Siete Lagos. Meanwhile, the Andalusian, before returning to Spain, did not miss the chance of spending a couple of nights in Iguazú to be surprised again, in this case, with the Iguazu Falls.
The glacier always comes back
Despite being under a spell, Ondina knew that visiting El Calafate had not been just another trip in her life. The atmosphere of Patagonia, the steppe that says nothing and at the same time is so telling of emotions and, of course, that glacier, so unique, tempted her to return soon.
Three or four years passed. Perhaps, five. Ondina –oh, her passport identifies her as Manuela Vicario– had already visited a great number of countries, but El Calafate and its glacier were on her list of great memories... and that’s it. But no. That Patagonian gem kept coming back to her.
"It's time to go back." She packed and was soon on Argentine soil again. Manuela returned to the place where she had been born for the second time. Hyper-connectivity eclipsed any kind of longing for acorns, night bullfighters and strawberry trees.
"It's a different breath from the others. The camaraderie is unwavering, the pause is precise and the distances shorten thanks to Spotify and the mates (eternal glory to this infusion!)" Manuela shouts from the rooftops of Patagonia.
"I don't know if I will stay here forever, but I needed to anchor my instincts for a good life and I found that in this unique land. It is not only the Perito Moreno, nor the Spegazzini, nor the Upsala. El Calafate got meI Yes, El Calafate took me and enveloped me. I love Jaén, Madrid and many other places in Spain and Europe. But, perhaps, fate held something different for me," says Ondina, while her children play in the garden of her house.
And Fermín? During the years of Manuela's "exile", he worked in a hospital in Puerto Madryn, on the east side of Patagonia. Madryn is the main beach resort in the region, ideal for sighting the southern right whale. He had few couples, none too serious, and just as El Calafate settled in the systole of the Andalusian, Manuela landed in the diastole of the porteño.
The Bahía Redonda witnessed their union –they are not married, but they are faithful to each other and say goodbye saying I love you– and today they kiss at the break of dawn in Calafate on the Huyliche hill. There are places that give out an elixir so captivating that it even reaches the kiosk while the sun rises.
There is no need to fear El Calafate. The worst that can happen is to fall in love and be happy. Let's toast to the glacier rocks, get ready and get there!