El Galpon del Glaciar

El Galpon del Glaciar is not for the faint-hearted. I want to give you all a very raw and realistic expectation of this place. It's rustic and fully equipped with bugs, older smells - estancia smells, smaller beds, and sandy tap water. But, Toby and I embraced this adventurous location and really loved it. The first afternoon we arrived, we scheduled to go horseback riding. They had two guides that joined us along with a sweet french couple. They gave us the flexibility to go at our own pace and expertise of riding. I have the desire to gallop every chance I get, so one of our guides made sure I could take advantage as much as I could. This was Toby's first real horseback ride ever, so he was able to take it easy and enjoy it! Toby had the pleasure of riding a sweet and hungry horse named Princessa and I rode a handsome gelding named, Abba. It was a great introduction to this location just outside of El Calafate. Our room had a smaller/lumpy bed - not the most comfortable, and it had a nostalgic smell of my grandparent's home similar to mothballs. That would maybe be a turn off to some, but we were refreshed by this sheep farm's honesty. They weren't trying to be something other than....a sheep farm! We were out of town, winding down our trip with a realistic accommodation in a rural setting and it was lovely. Our last night in El Galpon and Patagonia was spent lounging in our sitting room that adjoined to our room, watching a huge eagle settle into a tree outside our window while sipping on some of our Chilean wine. Don't expect a luxurious experience if you visit El Galpon. What you can expect is a sweet staff that maybe needs to work on communication because they're running a hotel and a ranch -understandable, a quaint, but comfortable room, the smell of horses and sheep, a great view, and a really relaxing/peaceful Argentinean setting. Enjoy it! We sure did.