(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part VI - El Calafate

We awoke early this morning to catch our flight to El Calafate.  We did not spend too much time doing any homework on this destination except that we knew it was Explora’s recommended transfer site in order to get to the hotel in Torres del Paine.  So, we booked a room at the Design Suites Calafate (continuing our Design Suites tour from Bariloche) in hopes of having a relaxing afternoon there before continuing on our journey the next day to Explora.

The flight was quite easy and we collected our belongings and took a taxi to the hotel. 
We arrived via a paved road that led to a very unpaved road that led up a random hill to a hotel plunked down on the outskirts of town.  It was modern, interesting, and sitting atop a perfect view of Lago Argentino, the largest lake in Argentina allegedly.  

Design Suites Calafate

Lago Argentino, behind our hotel...

We were a bit at edge since I received an email that Explora never received information that I sent to confirm our transfer.  So we scrambled with our hotel in Calafate to sort that out.  The most confusing piece was that there are actually two borders – an Argentine border and 10 km down an unpaved road, a Chilean border.  Amex researched a car to the argentine border but Explora picks up at the Chilean border.  So, with the help of our excellent concierge in Calafate she found us a car to the correct border.  Not cheap at all, but we were set. 

We headed to our room to drop off our bags and we were pleasantly surprised by a bottle of champagne and some sort of dulce du leche dessert pastry – very classy.  And this was set in front of our stunning view of the lake and arid surrounding land.

Champagne and pastries - another honeymoon surprise!

We took a taxi into town with a single mission in mind – laundry.  The original laundry spot we were sent to was closed, but we stumbled upon another one where we could drop off a bin of clothes and 5 hours later it would be washed and folded for 20 pesos.  Good deal.

From there we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant called Casablanca where we shared a cheesy pizza and a salad with a can of tuna plopped on top. I enjoyed a beer from the only brewery in Calafate, Sholken.  Slightly effervescent, it certainly did the trick but I wasn’t rushing to ship a case back home.

A welcome break from our Malbec swilling...

We arrived back at the hotel and I took a swim while GG worked out. Then it was back into town on the hotel shuttle to grab our laundry and a quick bite.  We opted for La Cocina, at the recommendation of our hotel, and had a fairly decent and very quick meal so we could catch the next shuttle back to the hotel to hit the sack early.

Tomorrow - on to Explora!