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| Perito Moreno Glacier |
The Argentinian town of El Calafate is known as the gateway to Patagonia. While the town itself is not much to look at, there are some amazing adventures in the surrounding area to experience. Visiting the awe-inspiring Perito Moreno Glacier should definitely be at the top of the list, as it was for us.
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| The old road |
There are several ways to experience the glacier, which is about an hour and a half drive away. Walking through downtown Calafate you will see lots of stores selling tours, but
Hielo is the big seller for the glacier. They seem to have a monopoly on walking on the glacier treks. This trip includes transfer, a short boat tour, a mini trek on the glacier with crampons, and some time to explore the boardwalks, all for 2400 pesos, or $150. On the other hand a bus ticket to and from the glacier which gives you ample time to self explore the boardwalks cost 500 pesos, or $35. Heidi and I chose a third option, which was a guided tour including transportation that went an alternative way to the glacier, stopping at an estancia, or ranch, on the way. It is a trip put on by the hostel we were staying at for 595 pesos.
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| Ranch Life in Patagonia |
After breakfast we boarded a full size bus and took off on a relatively deserted dirt road out of town. The guide told us about the ranchland as we passed by. We also slowed down for some wildlife sightings including caraca, eagles, condors, rabbits, rhea (like a smaller ostrich), and a fox, or zorro as they are known here. We pulled into one of the estancias for a quick coffee and restroom break. There were some beautiful views of the snow capped Andes Mountains looming behind the patagonian steppe, but the real stars here were the friendly and playful goats. I had one just like it when I was growing up in Savannah, Georgia named Brambles.
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| Heidi and the ice |
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| Boardwalks and views for miles |
Next stop was the main attraction, the Perito Moreno Glacier. Located in the Los Glaciares National Park, the Perito Moreno glacier is 3 miles wide with an average height of 250 ft above Lake Argentina at its face. It is also one of the few glaciers in the world that is not retreating. The national park not only has a visitor center, but also about 3km of boardwalk trails giving you different views overlooking the glacier. This is a wonderful setup for a photographer as you can go at your own pace and have lots of different angles and perspectives.
On our trip we had a little over three hours to explore the boardwalks, and we used every minute of that. A different view opened up around each corner. At one point we were high above the glacier looking at all the cerracs and fissures working their way back to the mountain peaks behind, and then we found ourselves right in front of the glacier eagerly awaiting the next piece to break off and tumble down into the lake. Not only is this glacier absolutely massive in scale, but it is a very clean glacier. Pictures of the ice show off beautiful hues of blue that stand out in stark contrast to the forest in front of it.
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| Ice spires and the snow capped Andes |
We could have stayed even longer soaking in this amazing view, but after a picnic overlooking the leading edge of the glacier we had to start making our way back to the bus. The amazing views continued almost all the way back to the parking lot. Even if you have seen glaciers before this has got to be one of the best and easiest to access anywhere in the world.
While we walked around I did notice a few Andean condors flying overhead and a few smaller forest birds as well. However the big find was an Austral pygmy owl, perched on a limb that really blew me away. I managed to snap a couple of pics. What a cap to an amazing day.
If you like glacier adventures you can check out adventures at some of the other glaciers of the world that I have blogged about
here.
After breakfast we boarded a full size bus and took off on a relatively deserted dirt road out of town. The guide told us about the ranchland as we passed by. We also slowed down for some wildlife sightings including caraca, eagles, condors, rabbits, rhea (like a smaller ostrich), and a fox, or zorro as they are known here. We pulled into one of the estancias for a quick coffee and restroom break. There were some beautiful views of the snow capped Andes Mountains looming behind the patagonian steppe, but the real stars here were the friendly and playful goats. I had one just like it when I was growing up in Savannah, Georgia named Brambles.
On our trip we had a little over three hours to explore the boardwalks, and we used every minute of that. A different view opened up around each corner. At one point we were high above the glacier looking at all the cerracs and fissures working their way back to the mountain peaks behind, and then we found ourselves right in front of the glacier eagerly awaiting the next piece to break off and tumble down into the lake. Not only is this glacier absolutely massive in scale, but it is a very clean glacier. Pictures of the ice show off beautiful hues of blue that stand out in stark contrast to the forest in front of it.
We could have stayed even longer soaking in this amazing view, but after a picnic overlooking the leading edge of the glacier we had to start making our way back to the bus. The amazing views continued almost all the way back to the parking lot. Even if you have seen glaciers before this has got to be one of the best and easiest to access anywhere in the world.
While we walked around I did notice a few Andean condors flying overhead and a few smaller forest birds as well. However the big find was an Austral pygmy owl, perched on a limb that really blew me away. I managed to snap a couple of pics. What a cap to an amazing day.
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