By the time I got into my tent, I would only be getting a maximum of two hours sleep before it was time for me to get up and head for the bus station, aiming for the 3 AM bus to El Calafate.
I got up quickly and packed up my sleeping kit before rushing along to the bus station. There was a slight issue, it was also the bus to El Calafate airport, and the bus was full and wouldn’t take bikes. A sub-optimal start to my day.
All the other buses were full too, the ticket officer said, except that I could get a ticket, with my bike, for the 2 PM bus, so it seemed that I should take it. After I had, she quickly closed up the ticket office and was on her way, and I was left to deliberate the situation. The situation being, that I’d just bought a bus ticket to El Calafate that would arrive at 5 PM, whereby the last bus leaving El Calafate for Puerto Natales that day, would be leaving at half past 4. Oh dear. I’d also been introduced to the idea that some buses in Argentina took bikes, others didn’t.
Starting to worry, I found a number for a private transfer company, and started to message, surprised to find that they messaged back at 4 in the morning. Soon though, they became unresponsive, and I was left not really having had anything confirmed at all.
I checked again online and found other coach companies, so formulated a new plan. Return to the campsite, set my tent back up, and then return to the bus station before 8 o’clock to check on the other buses. A flawless plan, until the morning, when I turned my alarm off, and promptly fell back asleep.
Mid morning, I tried that tactic anyway, rushing around all the various coach company offices in the bus station checking to see if they had any places available. There were not, and suddenly I had a dawning realisation that I was reenacting an episode of Race Across the World, a series I had watched fervently and clearly not learned anything from. The only difference being that I didn’t have a partner-in-crime to complain at when things went wrong. I had gone from the end of the world, to prime tourist season Patagonia in a day, and the transport woes were the same.
The tourist information desk couldn’t help with suggesting a company to provide a transfer with the bike, but I was pointed in the direction of a wall of taxi numbers, so picked one, and thankfully they responded quickly. Yes they could give me a lift the 200 km to El Calafate. The catch? It would cost 300,000 (£155) in Argentinian pesos, or $215 USD. Well, it was that or spend over £300 on a new flight from El Calafate, so it felt like I had little choice.
Clearly the price in pesos was better value, so, as I hadn’t got any Argentinian money yet, I rushed off to a bank. Finding one, I was initially bemused when I couldn’t take out the amount of money I needed, until I realised that the machine would only let me take out up to £50 worth of pesos a day, nowhere near enough. Not to worry I thought, there was a branch of Western Union nearby, I could take out some dollars, apparently at a better rate than they would be usually, which could help reduce the relative price of the transfer. Only problem, Western Union had no dollars.
I was in trouble, I messaged the taxi company back and said that I didn’t have enough cash, could I possibly visit a cash machine in El Calafate when I got there. How about you pay some of it on your card was the response. Well, ok then, I’ll pay all of it on my card if that’s an option!
The transfer passed pleasantly enough, the route comprising flattish roads of beautiful tarmac, as the road navigated its way around two large lakes – Lago Viedma and Lago Argentino – backed by beautiful snow-capped peaks.
Arriving at El Calafate bus station, with some time to spare until the last bus, which I’d already booked online, I made for the company’s ticket office to ensure that my bike would be allowed as luggage. No we don’t take bikes, the woman said, why does no one check these things. Look at the sign, she said pointing at a sign reading ‘no bici’.
Once the bad cop had her say, the good cop checked my passport and then said that she’d need to phone head office to make sure it was ok. It was, it just needed me to pay an additional fee, specifically for bikes, funnily enough.
That sorted, my next thought turned to bike boxes. I was to arrive in Puerto Natales at half past 10 at night, and my flight the next day was at 11 o’clock. The window for picking up a box was small, so it wasn’t with much hope that I messaged a bike shop to ask if they could sell me a box. Thankfully the first one came up trumps, and not only could he sell me a box, but he could open up early to let me have it.
When the bus arrived into Puerto Natales, a full hour early, I took the opportunity to book a hotel for the night and recover a little sleep. After I’d finished discarding all of the unused food out of my panniers, that was.
PedalTheGlobeBlog 
Another excellent blog with lovely pictures! It is probably not surprising that you didn’t wake to check the 8am buses considering what a hard day you had. If you were doing this route again your new found information about the ferries and uses would be very helpful! Good that you found a way to get your return back on track!
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What drama! A real Race Across The World moment. Well done on getting yourself sorted, even if it did mean using up more ‘budget’.
You have been lucky to encounter some very kind Chileans on your trip and now it would appear that there are equally kind Argentineans – I’m thinking about ‘good cop’ ticket lady and the bike shop owner here.
I’m intrigued to find out how you communicated with the taxi company? Was it over the phone or by text/email? I don’t think my Duolingo Spanish would cover arranging a taxi journey to the airport -with bike – and optional currency payment! (Unless of course they speak English!!)
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Thanks Elaine, I suppose you are right, I shouldn’t feel too bad about using extra budget so close to the checkpoint. Some of the real contestants would have started on day 1! Many of the business owners in Chile use Whatsapp for communication, so at this point (when I was fending for myself as opposed to having the help of friends) I was using Google translate to translate the message and then translate my reply from English. It did give me a small sense of satisfaction, when I could add something like ‘perfecto, muchas gracias’ without having to have it translated first! I was slightly annoyed when I arrived home to find a message from WhatsApp to say that translations would just happen in app! 😂
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*now
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which bus company took you from El Calafate to Puerto Natales, as I need to do this trip next week?
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Hey Joel, hope you’re enjoying your ride?! It was Turismo Zaahj I booked with. They had a bus leaving El Calafate at 16:30 on the day I was travelling (it arrived in PN at about half 9 as we weren’t delayed for too long at the borders). I had booked the ticket online, in advance, on the day, so I’d seen that it wasn’t a busy service, and it stated 30kg of baggage so seemed like they must have a decent amount of storage, but as I say one of the people in the ticket office said that bikes weren’t allowed, then ultimately it was fine after they’d checked and I just had to pay extra for the bike. If you have the time, it would probably be worth arriving at the ticket office in advance to ask about transporting the bike, but I didn’t have time for that! Let me know if you have any questions, have you been in touch with the Lago O’Higgins boat company already?
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I’m in Villa O’Higgins right now, I’m booked on the boat tomorrow. I have also booked the ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt departing the evening of February 12. Originally I was going to cycle to Puerto Natales but I was delayed by 2 days, so missed an earlier ferry.
I have been WhatsApping bus companies and straight away Turismo Zaahj said they don’t transport bikes. While another company said they did but then I spoke directly to the office in El Calafate and they said they are too busy with passenger numbers.
I’m now considering of perhaps I should cycle directly from El Chalten to Puerto Natales as it’s only 420kms, so I could do it if the wind is favourable
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So it does sound like you have plenty of time I guess? Well yes, I guess the official line for Turismo Zaahj is that they don’t take bikes, but they charged me a ‘bike’ rate for adding the bike so… It seemed to me that they just wanted to have the right to refuse if the service was busy, but maybe they did make an exception for me, hard to say, but could be worth asking in the bus station especially if you’re flexible on days /times of travel (all the bus companies have their own ticket offices at the bus stations). If it’s helpful, the company Marga Taqsa would take bikes on certain buses between El Chaltén and El Calafate, but it depended on the type of bus being used. I was successful in buying a ticket for a bus leaving at 2 pm with a bike booking but in the end didn’t use it as I needed to get to El Calafate earlier.
I think I’d have liked to have cycled between El Chaltén and El Calafate, it’s quite nice tarmac and the hills didn’t seem too bad. Think there is only one restaurant/hotel in between for the whole 200k though. The route between El Calafate and Puerto Natales certainly seemed like it’d be quite exposed to the elements. There was also very little in between. Certainly rideable as a last resort though, think in your position I’d aim to get to El Calafate to attempt to get a bus, but with enough time to ride if you had to.
Hope this helps, good luck!
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sorry to bother you again. Are you sure it’s all gravel between El Calafate and Puerto Natales. As street view on Google maps suggests most is paved?
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Hey Joel, oh yeah I see what you mean! Well, not that sure then I guess! I was by the window on the bus and when I looked out the window all I could see was the gravel at the edge of the road. It did feel remarkably smooth though, so yes I guess it was tarmac. I’ll modify the previous comment to avoid confusion. Thanks for pointing it out! Michael.
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