Clouds over the Andes from the far end of Lago Viedma
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Today we got up at 4.30AM for a flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, in southern Patagonia in Argentina. We picked up a rental car at the airport and headed off towards Estancia Helsingfors, at the far end of Lago Viedma, on the south side.
Lago Viedma is a huge glacial lake and the route we were taking is a side road with few people around.
It was a day for varied and dramatic cloud formations and we were slowly driving closer to the Andes, at the far end of the lake. This is what you can see in the image at the right, clouds over the Andes past the far end of Lago Viedma.
More images across the lake follow….
Looking across Lago Viedma towards Mt Fitroy
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Lago Viedma panorama
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Looking along the lake shore, towards the west
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Clouds over Lago Viedma
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Helsingfors and the end of the lake
Above is a view of Helsingfors as we were coming in. The building you can see is the only surviving one from the original estancia and the current estancia is out of sight behind the trees at the left.
Murray Foote 
wow, love the countryside, amazing mountains and those clouds. Keep up the great postings.
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will watch this unfolding gallery with real interest.
The predominance of cloud clearly reveala the tumult of weather and, the colours, say in Helsingfors pic with the old ranch, are unexpected and stunning.
Leo
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What amazing photos of an amazing place… wonderful!
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Thanks very much, Lois. We had a very special time at Helsingfors.
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The name sounds Icelandic… do you know if it is?
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No, apparently the name comes from the explorer Antonio de Viedma who was the first European to reach there.
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Silly me… I meant Helsingfors sounded Icelandic!
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Ah, OK. Swedish, I think. It was originally an estancia until it became part of the national park and then effectively a hotel. It was founded by Alfred Ranstrom, who was a Finn and Helsingfors is apparently the original old Norse name for Helsinki.
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i’m jealous!!!what a trip!!!the landscape must be really breathtaking….
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Absolutely! Helsingfors was also a wonderful place to stay, in the middle of a national park with great access.
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[…] The color of its transparent waters merges with the green of the forest around, creating a fantasy landscape. It is located 180 km from El Chaltén, as well as El Calafate. The lake is home to the 2-km wide Viedma Glacier. Photo by: murrayfoote […]
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