Blogs from Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America - page 89

Luckily this time no real crazy stories, although my time in the Park Los glaciares was fabulous. First I went to El Chalten, where they have one of the most beautiful mountain scenery I've ever seen. But more than a day hike I could'nt do because of the bad weather and my complaining feet (after the 5 day trip being lost!!) 2 days after I took a bus (for a change) to El Calefate, home to the Perito Moreno Glaciar. With some other backbackers, we rented a car and drove in the evening to the Glaciar, where we camped! All night long we heard the sound of big Ice chuncks braking off the glaciar, Amazing!! Then I took one day of relaxing before I headed back to Chile, to the famous Torres del Paine, At Torres ... read more

A glacier is just a big ice cube.....a really big ice cube. So big, in fact, that until you´ve actually seen one, they are impossible to comprehend. The Perito Moreno is 20 stories high. That´s very tall indeed. When 20 stories of ice come crashing down in front of you, it really is quite something. We arrived at the glacier and viewed from a few different lookout points before hopping on a boat and heading on to the glacier itself. After donning our crampons, we head out on the glacier. Walking on ice requires a certain nack. I reckon Herman Munster would be pretty good at it as it´s all about feet up-feet down. No ankle flex, just small laborious strides making sure your ice studs get as much coverage as possible. We came across fantastic ... read more

Day 23- Saturday 25th February The Facts: Disemabarking at 7am Ushuaia Flight to El Calafate The longer version After disembarking the rush was on to find someone to post all our new jackets and fleeces (supplied as part of the trip) back to Australia. The Correo (Post) was open on, but they only do International Parcels Mon-Fri during selected hours, even though the customs sectio which is needed for this was open! We could only locate a DHL Office (not outlet for postage), and OCA who delivered freight only within Argentina! So we managed to stuff all the goodies in our bags and board a flight to El Calafate. Now, here was another interesting Taxi Ride- 135km.hr, 4 people, 4 full backbacks and no seatbelts. The taxi could not go any faster if it tried! And ... read more

Well hello again. I´m currently in El Calafate, after a 27+ hour bus ride from Bariloche to Rio Gallegos, and then a 4 hour ride to El Calafate. But it wasn´t terrible. It is decently easy to amuse yourself for that long if you know in advance it will be that long. Plus, I had Scott with me, and the benefit of meeting Hugh, an Irish guy, as well as Cody and Sean, two American kids from Seattle. They´ve all been great to talk to, and Scott and I are sharing a hostel with Hugh while the other boys camp. On the bus they showed four movies - one bad film with the Rock; an equally bad film that I did watch called Shriek if you know what I did last Friday the 13th; Analyze That; ... read more

there is really not an effective way to completely describe or capture the emansive and enormous barreling river of ice known as the perito moreno glacier. it commands respect. it's unbelievable big. imagine a tsunami's amount of fresh, chillingly cold, glacier water, thrusting with unparalleled power down from some of the highest and imposing peaks in the world...and then, with the snap of a finder, it gets suspended and froozen in its path - an invisible shield holding the glacier and all its power from crushing into the valley and lake below. that is the feeling when you look up at perito moreno. the thing is...it's not really stopped. anyone who spends more than 5 minutes jaw gazing at the perito moreno will have the opportunity to hear the huge thunder-like claps of the glacier moving. ... read more