Originally Posted by
Marambio
By $600 you mean 600 USD? That is a lot of money. There are daily coaches from El Calafate to El Chaltén which cost around 400 ARS per person one way. The journey takes roughly three hours.
I wouldn't drive in Patagonia in anything but a 4WD, even if the road from El Calafate to El Chaltén is paved.
To get to Ushuaia from Cueva de las Manos you could pass through Río Gallegos instead of El Calafate. Río Gallegos ranks very high in my "ugliest town on Earth" list. From there you need to cross the border to Chile, take the ferry across the Magellan Strait, re-enter Argentina and drive all the way south to Ushuaia. It's a very long journey. I'd rather fly.
Yes, I meant $600 USD. It seems upon further inspection that the rate for a private car (one way) should be about half that. It's been an intense week or so of planning and research, I probably pulled a quote for the wrong thing or round-trip.
We're strongly disinclined to rent a car for the 8 days at El Chalten / El Calafate given Los Cerros is supposed to be at the doorstep of most of the interesting hikes; even if I wanted to do it, recent web accounts of cops stopping drivers at random looking for a "donation" gave my girlfriend the creeps.
Thanks for your thoughts on the long distance drive. We decided that the round-trip to Cave of Hands is a bit too much to tackle in our short time. So rather than 16+ hours of driving or busing there from Chalten and back to Calafate we'll spend a couple days in Calafate before heading down to Ushuaia by air. I totally agree that driving all the way down 40 from either BsAs or Bariloche sounds incredible -- wish I had time for it but like those hands reaching out from 10,000 B.C., it'll have to get bumped to the next visit's list. Hopefully the Walichu caves will be moderately inspiring substitute.
The last decision I really need to make now is between Arakur (senior suite) and Los Caquenes (Channel view jr. suite) in Ushuaia. I took a refundable reservation at Arakur just because things are booking up so quickly, but by most accounts Los Cauquenes is a better experience. I like the fact that Los Cauquenes's views are more or less uninterrupted by the town, but that's offset by Arakur's close-at-hand hiking trails and forest walks. Price for a prepaid, non-refundable reservation at LC == the refundable one at Arakur. Any advice?