Dec. 19-22
I arrived to El Calafate from Ushaia Friday afternoon. The main attraction in El Calafate is the Los Glaciares National Park, located in the area known as Austral Andes in Argentina, in the south west of Santa Cruz on the border with Chile. Saturday morning I visited Perito Moreno Glacier where I had the opportunity to put on some crampons and hike the glacier.
Perito Moreno Glacier, originally uploaded by dollop.
At the end of my adventure hiking the glacier my guide had a little bar setup on the glacier and served me some Scotch with glacier ice. A excellent way to end my glacier hike.
Perito Moreno Glacier, originally uploaded by dollop.
After hiking on the glacier I had my packed lunch with a view of the glacier and as impressive as the site of the glacier was the sounds of the cracking ice and the occasional break-off of ice that falls into the water was truly awesome. I can only describe the sounds being a combination of what sound like gun shots, a tree falling in the forest and thunder.
Perito Moreno Glacier, originally uploaded by dollop.
Sunday morning I took a catamaran tour of several more glaciers inside Perito Moreno National Park. The Upsala Glacier, and Spegazzini Glacier. Unfortunately the tour did not leave the catamaran. There was supposed to be an opportunity to disembark and hike around one of the glaciers, however there was too much ice in the lake for the catamaran to safely dock.
Lake Argentino, originally uploaded by dollop.
Tomorrow I will take a two day bus ride to Bariloche. I have chosen to take a bus so that I can view the countryside along the way. There will be a overnight stay on the route.