The next morning we were up early on the road to the Upsala Glacier in  Los Glaciares National Park.  We arrived at Estancia Cristina which is a private ranch located in the National Park.  Estancia Cristina was established in the early 1900s by British traveler/explorer Joseph Masters.  Our route that day consisted of a bus to boat combo.  This seemed to be the case many days in Patagonia.  The area is so remote, and multiple forms of transportation were needed to arrive at a destination.  The boat ride was beautiful.  We passed through gorgeous icebergs floating in the water.  In Europe there is definitely a feeling of “Oh look!  Another cathedral.”  In Patagonia it’s “Oh look! Another glacier/iceberg.”

 

Now prepare yourself for an inundation of beautiful iceberg pictures:

 

 

We finally got to the ranch and unloaded from the boat.  In the brochure we were led to believe that when we arrived at the ranch we would be taken to the top of a giant hill on All Terrain Vehicles (aka 4X4s) to view the Upsala Glacier.  Jackie, Jamie, Carly and I were so quite excited for this adventure!  The night before one of us, who shall remain anonymous (note: me), said “Guys, in all seriousness, let’s be super careful tomorrow on the 4X4s.  We probably won’t be wearing helmets and who knows how difficult it will be to drive over the rocky terrain.”

Now for a tangent: My brother is a Physician Assistant.  Whenever I call him worried that I have contracted some incurable disease he tells me “Theresa, in medicine we say ‘Let’s look for the horses rather than the zebras'” which essentially means “Theresa you have food poisoning from Morocco not Ebola.”  In other words what is the most probable conclusion here?

I should have used the ‘horses/zebra’ analogy in this case.  Did I really think I would be given my own personal ATV 4X4 to drive up a mountain to a glacier at breakneck speed? Well, yes I actually thought that.  But SHOULD I  have thought that?  Well, maybe.   There were a bunch of misleading 4X4 pictures on their website. HOWEVER, would that have been the most successful way to get a bunch of people up a mountain to a glacier?  The answer to that is no.  Instead we were loaded into Safari looking jeeps with benches on each side and a handle bar attached to the ceiling.  “Hold on because it’s going to be a bumpy, nausea inducing ride,” should have been inscribed on the side of the jeep.

 

 

 

Needless to say, I was happy to exit the jeep and head towards the glacier.  After a short walk we made it to the lookout point.

One thing I have come to realize about Patagonia is it’s undescribeable and unbelievable.  It’s like looking a postcard and this day was no different.

Next we left and rode back to the ranch to take a tour.  We walked around the grounds, the original buildings and the museum.  The Master family had a son, Perci, and a daughter , Cristina.  The ranch was named after Cristina who sadly passed away at the age of twenty.  Perci (the son) left the ranch and did not return until he was sixty.  When he came back he married a ranch employee named Janet.  During their marriage the tried to adopt a child partly to keep the ranch in the family.  According to reports the government would not allow.  Many believe the government wanted to take control of the ranch when no one in the family was left living.  Perci died in 1984 and Janet in 1997.

We returned to El Calafete on our boat.  On the way back we passed by the other side of the Upsala Glacier.  Fun Fact: The Upsala Glacier was named after the researchers who studied it from Uppsala University in Sweden.  Six Degrees of Separation Fun Fact: Jackie taught graduate classes at Uppsala University in Sweden for seven summers. (Have I mentioned she is a rockstar teacher/professor?)  Everyday I am reminded of what a small world it is!