Today we flew from Ushuaia to El Calafate. Before we left, I walked around town a bit and found a sled house. I also walked down two streets below our hotel to check out the cemetery. Lie the one in Buenos Aires, it has above-ground tombs, but unlike Recoleta cemetery, they we not as beautiful.
We were picked up at the El Calafate airport and driven to Estancia El Galpon Del Glacier, a working sheep ranch with tourist accommodations. It is the best place we have stayed. My room has a separate small sitting room with views across the fields to the water.
We joined in with a tour bus of people to watch a demonstration of sheep shearing. I wasn’t able to see through the crowd of people to watch the shearing, but I have seen sheep sheared before. I did find the talk about the area and its history very interesting. Then they showed us the different breeds of sheep they raise and explained the advantages and disadvantages of each breed. We also watched a demonstration of the dogs herding the sheep. Took lots of pictures
The bus tour group were being served a barbeque dinner, but we went into the dining room for their overnight guests and had another good dinner with fine wine.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.