Day 63: Laguna Nimez

So, after the last two days were dominated by rain. So today I went to Laguna Nimez right here in El Calafate to watch birds.
Looked out of the window, sun, great... Went outside and it was COLD... Ok, I know the pattern. I just have to walk for a while and then I'm fine. Only one problem. Around the lagoon you have to walk slowly so as not to disturb the birds too much. Also there was a fierce wind which almost blew my hair off of my head.

Just for protocol, I'm here around 50 degrees south which is the equivalent to Frankfurt. But here we don't have 25-30 degrees during summer. On a really warm day temperatures get as high as 15 degrees... And then for lunch we had snow for a short time! As they say, here you have 4 seasons in one hour. Next week in El Chalten it won't be any better. Also during Christmas week, when I'm in San Carlos de Bariloche (around 41 degrees south which equates to south of Rom) it won't be much better!!! Only when in the 2. week of the new year I'm in Salta (about 25 degrees south) will temperatures rise to just above 20 degrees but then it's the wet season there... So now you know why there are so many glaciers around here. Because it's frickin cold... Here a the base of the Andes. I'm soooo looking forward to Atacama (says the youth in me).

Have I already mentioned that Argentina is no country for vegetarians? Well only if you prepare your meals yourself or alternatively resort to spaghetti with tomato sauce every day. Now I finally understand what they were preparing me for on the ship...

Where were we? Right, birds... They made the same mistake I did. They also flew south for the summer, where it's warm...

Correct, these are Flamingos!!! I always thought that you find them only where it's warm. I'd also like to point out that the one on the right side has his head above the water. Why am I pointing this out? Because they are the cows of the lagoon. They constantly have their head beneath the water "grazing"! Constantly, without pause, ok, at least in the morning. Maybe they behave differently in the afternoon when their bellies are full.

Some birds

There's always one with his beak full...

Some falcon or other...

Another bird...