We were scheduled to leave el Chalten on November 25 and to transition to el Calafate for the rest of the Argentina leg of the trip. For reference, el Chalten is quite remote. There is a single stop (a few buildings) between el Chalten and el Calafate, called La Leona. It is basically a small restaurant and museum and a hotel with a few rooms.
Since we had limited time, we were offered the chance to hang out and wait until early afternoon to leave or to go on the last of the four most-famous hikes in el Chalten, Laguna Torre. We didn’t really have time for all of it, so we did the lookout, which was nice (and crazy windy!). Some pics.
This, dear reader, is where things go a bit off the rails. As we left el Chalten, Nacho grabbed some cheesy-bread for the bus. I had some, as did many others. I had had some nice Locro for lunch after two days of intense hiking (and mostly because I’d not had any yet). And, I had a bit of a Diet Coke left from the day or so before. So, I sipped on it (mostly to get rid of it) before we left.
As soon as I tasted the bread, my stomach began to churn. We were packed into a bus, 1+ hour from La Leona, and I was several rows back. Everyone was tapped out from the intense days of hiking, most asleep or nearly so. No service, bags packed away, etc. I started to feel violently ill. Fever, hot flashes, cold flashes, and bile just going to town in my stomach. I held it in for two intense pushes by my body to vomit and about… 20-30 min from La Leona (so 30 min later), I vomited so, so, so, so much.
The guide sprang into action, ready to clean, but I had still more. I went three more rounds before I was done. Then, we limped to La Leona, where I confirmed for a doctor on the trip that it was coming out both ends. Weirdly, great news, because it meant bacterial, instead of viral. We got a large plastic bag, and continued the 1.5 hour trip to el Calafate. I only remember vomiting 3-4 more times into that bag. I only barely remember stumbling into my room, people helping me, the doctor giving me some pills, and riding out the night drinking water and further emptying myself. Only one more round of vomit during the night, but the next 24 hours or so, I did not leave my room. I have a single picture (doc got me some water and crackers).
Everyone else went to see a glacier. I tried my best to sleep and recover. I found out later a total of five of us became sick over the next couple of days. Mine was probably the worst of the group. Onward and upward!