El Calafate, Argentina

---

Oct 5, 6, 2008

El Calafate, Argentina

Following our short flight from Ushuaia we landed in El Calafate, a small city of 20,000 or so near the Andes Mountains and home to some important glaciers on the east slope of the mountains.

The largest lake in Argentina is formed by glacial melt and it is interesting to see the icebergs floating around the lake. These are very interesting glaciers as they are at very low altitude and fed by the very large ice fields in the Andes. El Calafate has taken advantage of these tourist attractions and it would appear that the whole town is supported by the tourist business with lots of levels of accommodation and many of the usual tourist shops. This is a nice little city and easy to walk around. Several great restaurants serve the famous “ Corderro de Patagonia” ( wood fired, BBQ’d Spring Lamb ) and we took advantage with a very nice meal and the company of friends from Buenos Aires.

Sunday morning we were up early for a full day “ mini-trekking” adventure on and around the Perito Moreno Glacier. Our trekking included a 1 hour bus ride, a short boat ride to the face of the glacier and a 2 hour hike to the glacier, and up the glacier, to some spectacular views from our vantage point high on the glacier. This was a test of our “conditioning” as it is a tough walk on the snow and ice with “crampons” ice cleats. WOW !! What a great morning on the glacier. Our expert guides were very interesting with lots of information regarding the glaciers and the huge Southern Andes ice fields. It is interesting that a couple of the glaciers are expanding and the rest are retreating. The Moreno is static, moving very fast but not growing or shrinking for the past few years. Too many photo ops here.

We finished the day with an walk on “ The Balconies”. These are very nice walkways and stairs on the side of the mountain that allow you to go down very close to face of the glacier for a very good look at both sides of this spectacular piece of ice. ( two lakes are formed, one on each side of the glacier as it completely crosses the valley. ) First class facilities and we enjoyed another good walk before our bus ride back to the city.

Tuesday morning we will continue our adventures with a 6 hour bus ride through the Patagonia and into the Andes, from El Calafate, Argentina to Puerto Natales, Chile on our way to a 4 day stay Torres del Paine National Park, in Chile.

---