Puerto Moreno,
Argentina
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Ah the wonderful Moreno glacier. Didnīt fancy the bus tours as they cost a bomb and you only get a couple of hours there so we got a couple of folk together and hired a car, the plan being to camp out beside the glacier and wake up to it the next morning but you know what they say about the best laid plans...The campsite was closed so we had to drive another 30km round a lake to find somewhere to pitch our tents. Turned out to be beautiful though, the sky alive with shooting stars and satellites. Managed to drag ourselves out of bed at 5.30 the next morning and drove in to the park just before the dawn. The glacier was amazing, it creaked and groaned and glistened in the moonlight. We pulled on every piece of warm clothing we possessed and watched the sun warm up the distant peaks - blue then orange then pink - absolutely gorgeous. Huge chunks of ice fell off and crashed into the water when you least expected it. Can you see how tiny the people in the photo look beside it? Makes sense why the tour boats donīt go too close. The glacier continues to creep forward and forms a plug or dam across the river which bursts every four years or so, we missed the latest one by only a week or so, must have been an awesome sight.
And so back to the wee tourist town of El Calafate and our campsite full of cats. Never usually a big fan but after the mice experiences of Torres del Paine Iīve come to love them, just wish theyīd stop trying to get at the tuna in our tent...
