Blogs from Perito Moreno Glacier, Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America

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R: Today was the day we were off to Perito Moreno glacier. It is in the Los Glaciares National Park which is about an hour drive from El Calafate, which we did on the bus. Breakfast at the new hostel was a bit underwhelming, but we survived! Scambled eggs, Dulce du Leche pancakes and strong coffee - not much not to like really! We went the long way to the national park which is easily accessed by road from Calafate, but the route took us via Lago Argentino (the largest lake in Argentina) and various viewpoints to see hares, herds of vicuna and birds along the way. We stopped at an Estancia (ranch) along the way which was appreciating the tourist custom. Earning a living from cattle is hard in this area now so they have ... read more
Scooby Doo drops in in Argentina
Perito Moreno Glaciar from the shoreline
The face of the glacier


We went to bed with the curtains open to take advantage of the view of the sun setting and rising over the lake. The trouble is the sun rises so early, it tricks you into getting up too soon and at 6.30 I go for a run. I planned to run along the lake, but at the end of the road are wild dogs. So I make do with jogging up and down the (rather steep) road by the hotel. After breakfast we set off for Perito Moreno Glacier. This 35 km long, 4 km wide glacier ends at Lago Argentino where you can observe it from boardwalks along the shore. The first part of the drive is stunning, but pretty soon the cloud descends and it starts to rain. By the time we reach the ... read more
Los Glaciares National Park
Steps become waterfall
Perito Moreno Glacier


Another gorgeous day in Patagonia! We were allowed to sleep in a little later today, and then the bus actually froze, so we were delayed another hour. We finally got going on our long drive towards Perito Moreno glacier, one of the most famous in the world. It's easily accessible, you can trek on it, and every few years (last in 2012), it freezes across its branch of the lake. When this happens, the water digs a tunnel through it to keep the flow going. The tunnel expands until its supports are too weak and it collapses under its own weight. Apparently it's an incredible sight, but it was not the case this year. We were taken near the glacier on a boat trip first, where we got to get up close and personal with it, ... read more
Happy in Patagonia!
Not complaining
Just wow. No other comment


After a few big trekking days we left Torres NP in search of the most famous glacier on the continent and its closest town El Calafate. El Calafate is a Mecca for cold climate travellers and sits at the southern entrance of Los Glacieres National Park. It was also hosting a long weekend music festival when we rolled into town making for a very crowded introduction! We set the van down a couple of blocks back from the main stage of the festival and wandered the craft markets and local brewpub taking in the music and the crowds. In the morning we took the hour-long drive to the entrance of the national park and towards Glacier Perito Moreno. The glacier is enormous: 5km across the face and 60m high, it covers 296km2 rising from the lake ... read more


comments + some picture comments later ;)... read more
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ungemütlich früh, in schwärzester luft, verlassen wir chile richtung calafate, argentinien. die sechsstündige fahrt gibt uns einen guten eindruck über die weite des landes. selbst die kleinsten städte sind hier mehrere stunden fahrt voneinander entfernt - dazwischen nichts als endlose schaf-farmen und der allgegewärtige lago argentina. die mehrheitlich trockene grassteppe wird zwar vom anden-massiv eingerahmt, doch die vorherrschende landschaft ist flach, flach, flach am rande großer seen. patagonien öffnet einmal mehr seine regenpforten und so lullt uns gleichmäßiges prasseln ein bis wir calafate erreichen. hier steigt unsere, auch englischsprachige, tour-führerin zu und begleitet uns bis zum perito moreno - unserem bislang größten gletscher! es schüttet immer noch, als wir den bus verlassen, aber wie sagt man so schön: “es gibt kein schlechtes wetter, nur schlechte ausrüstung!” … und... read more
rainy
freezing on the ship


Après avoir vu tant de glacier de loin, je ne pouvais pas passer en Argentine sans aller voir le Perito Moreno ! 257km² de glace, un barrage naturel entre deux fleuves, seul glacier a gagner du terrain chaque année sur la terre en Amérique du Sud. Départ dans la matinée pour faire une balade en bateau afin de s'approcher à une centaine de mètres du glacier puis balade sur les différentes passerelles qui ont vue sur le glacier. Les morceaux de glace se détachent en permanence du glacier et produisent suivant leur taille et la hauteur de la chute des bruits semblables à des détonations de fusils, c'est assez impressionnant !... read more
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Puerto Moreno, Salta and Cafayate Upon arrival in el Calafate we grabbed a taxi to the the puerto Moreno glacier about an hours drive out of town. The glacier is a sheer wall of ice, 60 meters high 5 km wide and 30 km long and is truly spectacular. It is one of the few remaining advancing glaciers in the world and creeps forward at a pace 2m per day causing giant icebergs to carve from its face and crash into the lake below. We were lucky enough to witness a few of these icebergs ( ok so they weren't giant) but they still made an earthshattering bone crushing noise as they split and then tumbled into the lake below. The warm hearty shepherds pie with a crusty layer of cheese on top and the eccentric ... read more
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Upon arriving in the town of El Calafate, we ventured into the local bird park on the shores of Lago Argentina and discovered how windy Patagonia is. I could hardly see the birds for the sand blowing in my eyes. The next day we set off for our trekking adventure to Perito Moreno glacier. Mum laughed in the face of their age limit and suggested to me that the warnings were pointed out to us because the tour agent thought I was pregnant (after the family friend faux pax of last Christmas perhaps). We had a couple of hours to explore the walkways to get different views of the 25km long glacier and listen to the creaking and cracking of the glacier as parts of the front of the glacier wall kept falling into the glacial ... read more
Waiting for my turn to climb
El Calafate bird park
El Calafate


After a hassle free 28 hours of bus trip, we finally arrived at our destination, El Calafate. We were now in the heart of Patagonia and the temperature had definitely changed from the pleasant heat of Bariloche. It was still by no means cold though and in comparison to English winters, you could almost go as far to say that it was mild, however this was the Patagonian summer and could only imagine how cold it would get in their winter. Our hostel was a strange affair, looking more like a ‘Holiday Inn’ than a hostel, placed on the widest, most empty, random road we had ever seen. Donna and I joked that it looked almost like we were on some kind of airport runway rather than a road…turns out, we were right and in fact, ... read more
amazing sight!
Vast!
Moreno




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