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Published: February 29th 2008
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Moreno Glacier
How amazing is this! Hi everyone. This entry is totally out of sequence, but it is current! Thought you all might like to know where Evan and I are actually are now and what we are up to. I am going to post the other entries soon - just have to find an internet cafe where I can upload some photos.
Finally we have arrived in South America! We have wanted to visit here for so long and we are finally here. Unfortunately it also means we are on the last leg of our round the world trip. Two months here and then it is back to the real world. But we are very much looking forward to seeing our friends and family again.
We arrived into Buenos Aires, Argentina on 15 February. It should have been 14th, but we had a few problems with our flight! We flew from Mexico to Miami, and when we got there we were told that our flight was overbooked and that we may not get a seat! Great. After some time the airline called for volunteers to stay behind so Evan and I jumped at the chance. The place was crazy, everyone was frantic and we
Moreno Glacier
This piece of ice with the beautiful blue background is the massive chunk that we saw fall off the glacier hitting the water creating a massive wave and loud noise. Absolutely awesome! thought we would be much better off in a nice hotel. Turns out it was VERY nice. A five star resort! The rooms was fantastic - loving the king size bed. It was so good we could have happily been bumped off another flight - but alas, it was not to be 😊 and so we arrived in Argentina only a day late having had a great hotel experience and made a new friend, Cecilia, a local of Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires is a great city. It is very green, there is always something going on and so far we have found the people to be very friendly even when we are trying to talk to them in almost non existent Spanish.
On Saturday we went to the nice area of Recoleta where I got totally sucked in by the markets. Some of the artists were fantastic and I ended up buying quite a few jewellery pieces for me and gifts. Then Sunday we explored the San Telmo antiques market before heading off to a local futbol match (soccer for all us Aussies). It was the Bocca Juniors and the Argentine Juniors. We were in the cheap seats
Moreno Glacier
Me standing over one of the many gorgeous blue cracks in the ice. - actually it was so cheap there were no seats. Standing room only. But it was so much fun. The place was packed, the fans were crazy, and the local team (Bocca) won 4 nil. The third goal particularly was very impressive - it was a frantic four attempts at goal in a few seconds before the fourth attempt actually succeeded! Dad, thought you would be proud of me making it to that game!
Another day we visited the lovely area of Palermo where our friend Cecilia took us our to a local restaurant for lunch. It is always nice to have a local experience. Then we wandered around a few shops, sat at a cafe and had beer and then headed home.
After Buenos Aires, we flew down to El Calafate in the Patagonian region of Argentina. It is absolutely amazing!! Day one was just a rest day and then day 2 we headed out for a day hiking on the ice. It was one of the best experiences ever. I wasn´t too sure because of the cost but Evan was keen and it was a good thing he convinced me.
We took a local tour
and were picked up at 8am, and then it was about an hour and a half to the National Park to see the Moreno Glacier. It was the wierdest thing. El Calafate is in a very desolate place, there aren´t any trees, just dirt and scrub with a small town built on the edge of a beautiful big lake - Lago Argentine. The drive is amazing because you go from this desolate place, getting a good view of the lake along the way and then you are suddenly in forest. Then...you get your first glimpse of the glacier! WOW.
We jumped on a boat and got dropped off on the other side of the lake close to the glacier. Then it was information time followed by the strapping on of crampons before we were out on the ice - actually walking on the glacier. It was so beautiful and being that close to it meant we got to see it in a way many others don´t. An hour and a half later it was all over very quickly and we stopped for a quick scotch whisky on the ice - kindly provided by our guides. Then it was back
Moreno Glacier
Evan in explorer mode - he loved it! to the camp for lunch and a lazy hour spent watching and listening to the glacier.
Walking on it was amazing, but simply watching it is too. You sit in the peace and quiet and listen to the glacier creak and moan, making sounds like gun shots sometimes, and other times like ice cracking in a glass. Then if you are really lucky, you will see the glacier calve. And we did!!! We sat patiently waitin and watching and were rewarded when we saw a huge part of the glacier face suddenly calve off and go crashing into the lake. It made the loudest noise and created a massive wave alone the lake. Absolutely incredible.
Then it was back on the boat passing close to the glacier face, and then we had a quick drive around to the northern face of the glacier. Here is where the national parks have set up boardwalks, making it the place most people go to view the glacier. It is also here that you can get the best overall impression of the hugeness of this awesome thing.
The Patagonian icefield is the third largest in the world, Antarctica first, and Greenland
Moreno Glacier
How amazing is it having this glacier right next to a forest? Absolutely wierd really. second. The Moreno Glacier is particularly interesting of all glaciers because it is not receeding. It is actually stable, and even grows at some times of the year. It sits on the lake bed, and is about 100m or so from top to bottom. It is incredible.
Here too we watched and listened (although much harder with so many more people around talking) and saw a few more small (well not really!) chunks of ice fall, and then we were lucky enough to see another big chunk calve off.
It really was a totally awesome experience and we recommend it to everyone. The closest we are likely to come to Antarctica for a few years (or maybe ever) to come.
Next stop - Torres del Paine, Chile.
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