Picnics in Patagonia

El Calafate and El Chalten in Argentinian Patagonia are situated in some of the wildest, windiest and most spectacular scenery I have ever seen. Apart from the obvious attraction of the glaciers, there are lakes, estancias and dirt roads surrounded by prairie with snow-capped mountains on the horizon. Whilst we were there, our lunches were usually picnics, partly because there is little other option when you are halfway up a mountain or 20 miles from civilisation, and partly because my parents were with us for this section and there is nothing my Mum likes better than a picnic.

The content of the picnics was quite consistent, cheese and salami baguettes, crisps, apples and orange juice. The bread in Argentina tended to be quite sweet, almost like brioche, but it was usually possible to find French-style baguettes. The salami was always good, but the best we had was bought in a tiny butchers in El Chalten. The cheese was sliced mozzarella or cheddar which looked quite processed but didn't taste that way. It wasn't long before I rediscovered a childhood pleasure of putting crisps inside my sandwich, which my parents allowed, just this once, seeing as I am on holiday.

There were a few additions to the standard picnic every now and then. Sometimes there were alfajores, the Argentinian sweet treat. Two round crumbly biscuits are sandwiched together with a layer of dulce de leche, a caramel that is found in almost every Argentinian desert. Depending on the variety, the biscuits might be chocolate or vanilla and the finished product may be dipped in chocolate or rolled in desiccated coconut. They are extremely sweet, too sweet for my Dad, and so sweet that Tom had often eaten them all before we got round to the picnic. 

Once we had beer, kept cool in the boot of the car and opened between a boulder and a small stone. On two occasions we had champagne. Moet et Chandon have an Argentinian vineyard that creates moderately priced fizz. It is sweeter than most champagne, more like prosecco, and goes down very nicely. We chilled our first bottle in lake Argentino where Perito Merino glacier is, and our second stayed cold in Tom's rucksack whilst we walked.

Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina

Whilst the picnics themselves remained similar, the locations certainly did not. Our first was overlooking the Perito Moreno glacier, waiting for calvings and surrounded by tiny birds that would eat any crumbs that fell. The next was at the edge of a dirt road overlooking the prairie, lakes and mountains. We had set off in the tiny hire car to tackle the unpaved roads around El Calafate and were rewarded with beautiful wilderness, huge skies, birds of prey and guanacos. Tom and I had a picnic whilst sat on a glacier during our day ice-climbing. We could see caves, huge cracks leading to running water below and jagged peaks of ice as far as the eye can see. At the end of the day, before getting the boat, we all had a glass of Bailey's over chipped glacier ice, demonstrating an alternative use for ice axes. We also had a very welcome picnic after climbing past Fitz Roy base camp to get to Laguna de Los Tres near El Chalten. After a long walk through woodland and along rivers, it was a strenuous climb up the final ascent, with a tight, winding path and dizzying drops, but the views from the top were worth it. We ate/inhaled sandwiches whilst overlooking the lagoon, the peaks of Fitz Roy and Torres and listening to the avalanches in the distance. 

I still love picnics whilst getting soaked on a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, or whilst freezing on a beach in Silverdale, but our picnics in Patagonia are going to take some beating.