We left on the bus for Argentina early morning and was excited by the prospect of the glacier we were to encounter in the next couple of days. After travelling for an hour or so, we arrived at the Argentinian border and was greeted by snow covering the entire area. We knew it was cold but didn't realise it was cold enough to snow! Getting through customs was quick and easy as we had expected; no x-ray machines or bag searches here in the middle of nowhere.
Being a 5 hour bus journey it went very quickly compared to the 18 hour bus journeys that we have to look forward to to move North to Buenos Aires. We passed some amazing scenery of mountains and miles upon miles of desert land where we could see the occasional Rhea (small relation of the ostrich family) and guanaco (llama/camel relation). Condors and falcons were flying about and it was great to see so many different wild animals, things we have never seen before.
Sooner than we realised, we had arrived in the tourist town of El Calafate. El Calafate is the tourist hub to visit different parts of the Los Glaciares National Park, including the most famous part of the park, the Perito Moreno Glacier. This is why we had endured the freezing temperatures and had travelled all this way down to see. Why is it so special?
It is said to be one of the most important tourist attractions in Patagonia. The 250 km² ice formation, of 30 km in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian ice field located in the Andes. This icefield is 380km long and is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water. The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three glaciers that are not retreating. Taking this onboard, we thought it would kick the ass out of the glacier we saw in New Zealand!
After checking into our hostel for the night and checking out the local town, we quickly realised that it wasn't as cheap as we had anticipated. As Calafate is quite a touristy town, it was a bit tough on the backpacker budget. Thinking we would be lording it up with steak dinners and nice digs in Argentina, we were instead cooking soups and pot noodles at our hostel! Things can only get cheaper I keep telling myself...
The hostel was very nice and there were people everywhere telling stories of their travels and getting advice of where to go and what not to miss. So we grabbed some beer and settled down for the evening listening and actually giving advice on Asia and New Zealand. Booking the tour of the glacier, we opted for the package that lets you actually walk on it rather than just look at it and from what others at the hostel told us, we were in for a treat. It was a chilled evening before setting off at 8am for our glacier encounter.
So off we set the next day in our minibus, waiting in anticipation for a glimpse at this glacier we had heard so much about. Hearing about it's size did nothing to actually prepare us for the sheer size of the thing. It was HUGE! To be exact: it is 5 km wide, 60 metres ABOVE the water and then a depth below the water of about 120 metres! At its deepest part, the glacier has a depth of approximately 700 m. So to put it into perspective the Glacier occupies the same amount of space as the entire city of Buenos Aires and more! It does move forward every day but it loses as much as it moves so it hasn't really advanced or receded in the past 90 years! This was it! We were here and staring at the thing. You could just feel absolutely insignificant in front of it.
Our tour managed to show us many different sides of the beast. First we went on a boat ride in front of it looking up and wondering whether a piece of the ice would drop off at any moment. The closer you get, the more you notice all the different shades of blue. It has something to do with light absorption and reflection, I dunno I was never good at physics! At this point, it was absolutely freezing on the boat and started to snow. But this is the weather you expect being at a glacier so already the experience was so different to Franz Josef in New Zealand. Checking a thermometer on the boat, it read a cool 0°C!!!! For some reason that made me feel even colder...
Off the boat, we moved in for a closer look. After some safety rules by the ice climbers, we got into our ice crampons and were led onto the ice. Watching everyone walking in a straight line on the ice was so funny, stamping and plodding along in time to a silent beat. Navigating around holes, crevasses and ice pools we trekked our way over the glacier. This time there was no way you were gonna get me to strip down and get into an ice pool - I think I would probably have frozen to death!
We walked on in our little line for about 2 hours ending back where we started where we got a nice little surprise. The crew had set up a makeshift bar on the ice complete with whisky, chocolate and as much ice as you wanted! So we stood on the glacier with a glass of whisky and a huge chunk of what we were standing on - you don't get fresher ice than that!
We than were given 2 options: see the glacier from another side for about 30 mins or go to lunch early. We opted for more glacier time - we paid to see it, we thought we might as well make the most of it. I am so glad we did because the ice guide took us around a corner and down into a cavern UNDERNEATH the glacier. Yes, a little dangerous when you actually think about what we were doing. We had a glacier of however many tonnes over our heads, it weighted 900kg per square metre so no idea how much weight was above us; not the most comfortable of situations but amazing nonetheless! The colours were so much more intensified with the most amazing blues and purples I have ever seen. Both Nick and I breathed a deep sigh of relief getting back out of there and the realisation of the danger set in - one big crack and well I don't really want to finish that thought...
So back on a lighter note, after stuffing our faces full of food, we journeyed round to the last section of our trip; a look at the North face of the glacier. Why I hear you cry, have you not had enough glacier for one day? But it was still so amazing. The novelty had not worn off yet and on this side of the glacier, bits fall off. Now when I say bits, what I really mean is massive chunks break off to the sound of loud cracking noises which then fall into the water below causing a wave of water leaving a cloud of mist and ice dust behind - so yeah bits break off! It is a great thing to witness. We stood on the viewing platform in a snow storm waiting for this to happen. Just as we were about to give up, we heard a crack and all cameras were directed to the glacier as we eagerly awaited it's falling. People actually cheered when it finally happened. I just about got it on video.
Wholly satisfied we boarded the bus and returned to Calafate. It did definitely kick the ass out of the Franz Josef Glacier and I feel the journey South has definitely been worthwhile. On a less adventurous journey tomorrow, we board a bus for 22 hours to Puerto Madryn with a 2 hour stop via a small town called Rio Gallegos, making a trip of 24 hours in total. Quite a different day to today. Puerto Madryn holds promise of whales, something we have kept missing in Australia and New Zealand, I just hope we get lucky...
More thumbnails ...
4 votes 
