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Published: March 7th 2013
Perito Moreno glacier
Our first glimpse of the glacierAfter the intense hiking we did in El Chalten, and before we got into more of the same in Chile, we took a few days to recuperate in the town of El Calafate and per Craig Lan's suggestion to allow Chris time to shave. The town was small but huge compared to El Chalten (Population 600). It is the "jumping off" point for the Argentinian side of Patagonia so there was no shortage of tourists, souvenior shops and credit card machines.
Overall it was a great town with good food and good views of the water. However, with all the tourists the town restaurants have colluded to charge a "utensil" fee per person at 1-3 USD per person.
During our stay in El Calafate we took a boat trip out to the Perito Moreno glacier (~ 1.5 hrs outside of the city). We first jumped on a bus that took us to the Los Glaciares National Park. Before reaching the dock, we stopped to see the glacier from afar. The glacier is 60 meters above the water, extends >120 meters below the water, and spans ~100 square km.
The catamaran took us within 200 meters of the glacier and
Perito Moreno glacier
On the boat, heading towards the glacier we stayed there long enough to see the glacier up close and admire the colors and sheer size (neither of which can be captured in pictures). We then went ashore and viewed the glacier from balconies built into the side of the park. The balaconies allowed us to spend time watching the glacier and seeing it from all angels. During this time we also got to watch huge chunks of ice break from the ice and come thunderously crashing down into the water. At one point we saw a chunk of ice the size of a school bus suddenly drop into the water. The ensuing waves and shardes of ice made us glad we were at a safe distance (before the balaconies, ~37 had died from flying ice and waves).
We finished the tour with a shot of El Calafate liquer..an uber sweet drink made from the El Calafate fruit (pomegranite/blueberry tasting)
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Dave
non-member comment
You've seen glaciers before, I'm betting - was this one worth hitting up as well? (PS do you have an itinerary you can send me, or should I just keep copy/pasting these blog posts? :) )