Blue ice
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2008
1
41
101
Trip End
Jun 2009
El Calafate,
Patagonia,
Argentina
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Then along comes a town like El Calafate, the home to the Perito Moreno glacier.We had booked this as our way to get to Buenos Aires as the flights from Chile to BA were very expensive and this would give us another opportunity to see a Glacier. Not that we needed to as we had seen plenty of spectacular glaciers in Chile and around Torres, Or so we had thought...
The town of El Calafate is great, more developed and upmarket to P Natales but still lovely, and lots to see and do around there too. We decided that as we were in town we would do a tour of the world famous Perito Moreno Glacier.... but first something on the B&B.
A bit out of town but with a homely feeling is the B&B - Casa de Grillos (Which is the surname of the owners but also translates as crickets - which they have in their garden.) The middle-aged couple were very friendly and helpful and their house is clean and the rooms and bathrooms stunning. We paid more than we normally budget however it was worth it.
Food in town is very good but as with everything in Argentina expensive. We did however find a real gem in a place called Borges and Alvarez (Libro Bar) a very cool bar/ restaurant that looked like a library and served great food and beer!! See pics.The overall feel of the town was one that would make a great ski resort town with all its outdoor and adventure shops.Surrounding the town is the Lake Argentina, another sublimely amazing turquoise lake, which is the largest in Argentina.
The Glacier Tour:
We opted for the Alternative Tour of the glacier as it takes the back roads and stops off at a few places which enables one to see more wildlife like birds.
We were heading through the park after spotting several Condors up close when we rounded a corner and over the buses hi-fi system we heard a countdown from 10 with the music from star wars and other epic movies all blended into one soundtrack, although it sounds corny it was the build up to rounding the bend to be confronted with the Perito Moreno glacier in all its glory... !! WOW !! After seeing other glaciers it is truly a spectacular vision to see this 5km wide advancing ice field that expands 14km back as far as the eyes can see.What makes it interesting is it is one of the few world glaciers that is not retreating but moves forward and blocks a channel between two lakes. This then causes a huge amount of pressure which causes a massive rupture every few years which, if observed is apparently an amazing spectacle. The last one in July 2008 exploded with over 1million tons of Ice collapsing !A lovely afternoon was spent watching and listening to ice crashing off the glacier into the lakes.
