Walking on Ice

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Well as you may have noticed, I’ve managed to fall somewhat behind in the old Travelblog, but after our adventure yesterday I thought I’d surprise you with an up-to-date blog.

We have finally reached the Argentinean depths of Patagonia, Tierra de Vientos (land of the winds), and home to the third largest ice field in the world. Below the towering Andean peaks we travel on our journey to the end of the world, Ushuia, Tierra del Fuego. But on our way we have taken in the sites, with Cuevas de las Manos, El Chalten and now in El Calafate. One of the big archeological sites in Patagonia are the Caves of the Hands, where we went to observe the rock paintings that amazingly date from before 7000BC. The paintings where mainly of negative hand prints made by placing the hand on the rock and then blowing paint from the mouth onto the hand, the same technique used by the Aborigines. The explaination of such an old site was pretty incredible and worth the stop on our way to El Chalten.

We arrived in El Chalten to howling Patagonian winds at 11.00pm at night and unfortunately had to cut our stay short due to lack of cash since there were no ATMs in town. Amazingly the town itself is actually younger then me, having been created in 1985 to claim the land before Chile got the chance, and in the summer attracts thousands of trekkers and mountaineers. However due to lack of funds we weren’t able to hit the mountains, although we did get some amazing views of the surrounding snow-capped peaks.

Next it was off to El Calafate, the gate way to Glaciar Perito Moreno, one of the worlds most dynamic glaciers. As with many things the only way to not only see the glacier but to actually get to walk on it, was with an organised tour group. So off we went with a bus load of others. The glacier was an incredible mass that extended from the mountains to the lake in a body of jaggered blue ice. Being one of the most dynamic glaciers meant that we got to hear the cracking ice and see huge icebergs crash into the lake below to spectacular booming sounds. After watching the glacier for 2hrs, we got to see the glacier up nice and close on our boat trip to the other shore. On the other shore it was a quick course in Glaciology 101 and then we strapped into our crampons and were ready to hit the ice. Walking on the ice was an amazing experience seeing large crevices, glacial springs and the water pockets beneath our feet. The tour agency also pulled out all the stops when they stopped us in the middle of the glacier to offer us some scotch and chocolate, who would have thought. The ice trekking has got to be one of the highlights of the trip.

Tonight we brace ourselves for another 20hrs on the bus before we finally set foot in the southern most city in the world.

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Photos

Towering mountain of ice
We got the best views on our boat ride across the front of the glacier

Dynamic face
The ice bergs crash into the lake every few minutes

Team glacier
Looking like pros out on the ice

Watching in Awe
The just missed it photo after an giant ice berg plunged into the water

Me on ice
Cold and windy, but nothing Kathmandu couldnt protect me from, and the crampons were certainly a help

Watching in Awe
The just missed it photo after an giant ice berg plunged into the water