February 5 - Back in El Calafate

Hi, There:
So, I ended up having a very interesting day for what seemed like a slack day around town.

Things started off when I went downtown to try and get a few Arg pesos for spending.  I try a couple of bank machines, but my transactions kept getting rejected.  I kept reducing the amount I wanted, but no joy.  I think I only wanted $1000 pesos ($150 cdn) with my last attempt. 

The was a lady nearby trying to get some Chilean pesos from the bank, but the banks don't do that.   She had Arg pesos and I had Chilean pesos, so I suggested we could do a deal. Everything normally works via converting to US$, but since  I know the Cdn rates for conversion to both pesos, so here's what I figured:  
1) Convert A pesos to Cdn $
2) Convert C pesos to Cdn $
3) Equating the rates above should give C pesos to A pesos

(I hope you are following this - there will be a test)

I guess Marcia thought I had an honest face, so she believed me and we worked a deal.  Marcia now had her Chilean money and I had my Argentinian pesos.  (Marcia - if you ever read this - I checked my figures later and they are correct.  You don't have to send your Italian friends after me)

So, as we were sitting in the bank doing this, we drew the attention of an Israeli couple who wanted to exchange some Argentinean pesos for American dollars and couldn't.   Oh, what the heck - I had some US$, so  by figuring out the Cdn$ > US$ rate I could help them out, too.   

At the end of it all, we all went away relatively happy.  Later on Marcia pointed out to me that the Israelis and her were all Jewish, so I they must have trusted me and my arithmetic.

We talked a bit longer and Marcia told me she wanted to go to the Glaciarium (Glacier Museum).  I invited myself along so off we went, to find the free shuttle bus (the museum is out of town).  After leading Marcia to the wrong tourist info centre (sorry), we got to the correct bus stop and headed out.

The Glaciarium is very interesting and I would recommend it to anybody who has a chance to go see it.  No photos are allowed, so I can't show anything.  I even forgot to take a picture of the outside of their building, except for this:

All the exhibits are in Spanish and English.  Lots of interesting educational stuff, a very neat exhibit showing how one of the ice dams at Peritro Moreno Glacier collapsed, and a very strong statement about how climate change and its effect on glaciers and consequently the earth in general.  I believe I read somewhere that this has caused some controversy, but their exhibit is convincing.







So, back through town to to the hostel.   One small bit of excitement - a fire engine "roared"  by me.  I had trouble getting the camera out but you can see the vintage of the fire department equipment.  Is 60's or early 70's?








 I should mention that I am staying at the America Del Sur hostel.  Laura chose this for me because her nephew and his wife (Chris and Jami) had stayed here and liked it.  Great choice!  Nice place  - clean, 10 minutes to town and super friendly staff who also speak very good English -  a boon to language challenged idiots like me.  Here's a shot of Herman at the desk.  He's worth every drop of the beer I bought him at happy hour!




One more event for today - The staff here (see, I told you they were helpful) made a reservation for another couple (Mike and Diana) at a good restaurant just up the road.  Will tell you about it later tonight or tomorrow.