El Calafate pronounced El Cal-a-fart-ay
El Calafate is the place to see glaciers with the most famous one being Perito Moreno Glacier. Famous mainly for being so accessible – within an hour and a bit from El Calafate there is a system of walkways called the balconies that range from wheelchair accessible to a return trip of about 600 stairs. The beauty of the balconies is that you are viewing the glacier from above rather than from water level so it’s a very different perspective.
Not being content with seeing just one glacier, I wanted to see more and did a cruise that took in Spegazzini Glacier, Upsala Glacier from a distance due to instability of nearby cliffs and the north face of Perito Moreno Glacier. The day started out wet and windy and wasn’t particularly nice to be on a boat. We were on Lago Argentino which is the largest lake in South America so it’s not like it was open ocean but it was still a little choppy and walking outside you had to make sure you hung on to your hat and sunglasses so the wind didn’t rip them off. As we got closer to the glacier the wind howled off the glacier and sent all but the hardiest scurrying back inside. It was so strong it nearly took your legs out from under you. Thankfully the weather did improve.
The unexpected surprise for me was seeing icebergs. It was all very exciting. The boat gets quite close to the icebergs and as close as possible to the glacier but obviously not too close due to bits breaking off. Being that close was amazing, they are such breathtaking bits of nature,
I had wanted to do the trekking on the ice but decided my right knee would probably not forgive me as the crampons are quite heavy and they have a lot of stairs cut into the ice. Besides which I really didn’t want to have to be rescued off the ice. Instead I opted for the Safari Azul which is land based alongside the glacier…..up close and personal just not on it.
This tour involved an hour bus ride the balconies where we had a couple of hours to wander at our leisure. Back on the bus we drove another 20 minutes to the harbour on Lago Rico (an arm of Lago Argentino) and had a 20 minute boat ride up close to the south side of Perito Moreno and were dropped off on the shore for the walk. We stood on the beach across from the glacier and walked among the bergy-bits that had floated across and got to touch and taste the glacial ice. Strangely, it tastes just like water! We learnt a lot about the geography of the area but I can’t remember any of it. A cup of really good hot chocolate while we waited for the boat to pick us up and then back on the bus to town.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is constantly moving and over time has pushed forward enough that it makes contact with the peninsula near the balconies forming a dam which blocks off Lago Argentino from Lago Rico and causes raises the water level in Lago Rico (last time up to 30 metres). The pressure eventually causes the ice dam to rupture in spectacular fashion. It’s not something that happens with any regularity and they can’t predict it .The first record rupture was in 1917 which 16 during the 20th century. The most recent being 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
My last day was a bit of a lazy one after 5 days of 9 – 10 hour tours but I did go to the Glaciarium Ice Museum which also has an Ice Bar but having done that in Finland I couldn’t be bothered paying the extra. The museum was interesting with a lot of information about ice, glaciers and the explorers of the years. I also got to watch part of a movie about the last rupture what would have been amazing to see. They apparently had an idea of when it was going to go and people came from all over the world to witness it.
Tomorrow is an 8am bus ride to El Chalten.