Advertisement
Published: July 16th 2006
First view of the glacier
We stopped for this shot while the driver checked out the damage on his car!Another long bus trip (17hrs) took us North and a little East to El Calafate. It is a small town that pretty much lives off of the tourists that come to see the Parque Nacional Los Glaciores. We arrived at 2am which was not ideal to say the least, but we had been recommended a hostel by the family in Ushauia. So off we walked through town to find it. We found it eventually but all the lights were off and no-one answered. After a bus journey like that it was hard to take so we dragged ourselves to a cab office and got a taxi to another hostel we had heard was good - America Del Sur. A little expensive but very chilled and it had under-floor heating! Although it was a bit too hot ...... we were slow cooking!
The biggest attraction was the famous Perito Moreno Glacier so we started to plan when to go. We wanted a clear day, it was cloudy and foggy when we arrived. We got chatting to a couple and toyed with the idea of hiring a car because the excursions seemed to be so expensive. Through asking questions (this info was not
Just after a large piece fell off
I wish you could put videos on here!! offered to us of course) we found that 4 of us sharing a taxi pretty much halves the price of seeing the Glacier! Happy days!
When we got up on Sunday morning, the weather was good and clear so we jumped in a cab. On a windy road nearing the Glacier the cabby suddenly lost it and the car started to spin! It was a hair raising moment to say the least. We 360´d and thankfully due to his slow speed, when we hit the muddy bank, it was only a small impact. We feared a lot worse, and the other side was a steepish bank into a lake! The cabby just shrugged it off ...... not much damage, everyone ok, off we go! We had a good hard laugh about it after and were thankful that we did not hire a car ourselves!!
There are bigger glaciers than Moreno in the parque but we were told that Moreno is the most spectacular. We found out why! We were so lucky in that while we were there we had huge bits breaking off. It advances 2 Meters a day so you constantly hear the cracking sound of the ice moving.
It is an awesome sight (especially the colour) and the noises it makes are amazing. The pics say it all except for the size of it ..... 50mts high, 5kms across and 40kms long!! Towards the end of our stay, we got even luckier. A huge iceberg appeared from underwater and rose like a football being held underwater and then let go. It was a surreal moment. The scale of it was so big, we half expected Thunderbird 2 to fly up as well! ,-) We found out later that it is called a 'base break´. The ice goes a further 150mts underwater and occaisionally breaks off under the surface .... unreal. I got a cool video of a chunk breaking off as well! It must have been a reward for having to suffer a car crash to get there. The four of us were on such a high that night.
Nick and Sally and another couple we met there (Ben and Rachel) planned to head North after, via Chile and a Ferry Company called Navimag. We had read mixed things about it but needed to go North, were sick of buses, and thought doing it with some good company
The obligatory sign post photo!
With our friends Sally and Nick would be fun ...... so we booked it! ..... 3 days on a ferry to come!
Before we left El Calafate, we went ice skating on a frozen lake. Bloody freezing day but good fun! You could hear the ice cracking underneath but were assured it was not deep on the part that you could skate on. I believed them as I could see grass underneath but Lynny didnt ..... she was petrified!! As usual a dog followed us around all day and he even came ice skating with us! he was nowhere near as cool as Mr Doggy Perro though!
Gray x
Graham has failed to mention the funniest part of the day at the glacier. We heard him shout "COME ON BABY" and looked round to see his legs and arms everywhere as he slipped over on some ice in cartoon fashion! It turned out he was shouting to the Glacier!?!? His timing was perfect!!!
Lynny x
Advertisement
Tot: 0.15s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 79; dbt: 0.0976s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Sophia
non-member comment
Why Why Why...
.. Do you always write on a depressing monday morning!? :( Would have LOVED to have seen Spicy go flying on the ice "COME ON BABY" hahah! SillySpicy. Really good to hear from you again, glad you're still enjoying yourselves :) Where is Brophy the Broach?? London is hot hot hot and sunny by the way! Look after each other, lots of love soph x x x x x x