May 11-13:
El Calafate is all about ice. Big pieces of ice. Colorful pieces of ice. Dirty pieces of ice.
Let us explain. The town sits on Lago Argentino, the country’s largest lake, situated near the Andes in the south. Nearby is the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Here is the biggest assortment of glaciers outside of Greenland and Antarctica. Canadians know ice already, so Ruth is wondering why the visit. We don’t know ice like this.
On our first day we depart from the hotel toward the park. The first 60 kilometres presents little evidence of what we are to encounter. It is parched, dry land with eagles sitting on the side of the road picking at rabbit remains. Only the tumbleweeds are missing. A few kilometers more we pass through the park gates and the through some wizardry of nature the landscape suddenly changes. The flora erupts into low alpine forest, mixed with beautiful fall colors – all typical of a Patagonia in late fall.
Another few kilometers and we get our first view of the Perito Moreno Glacier. This is one big piece of ice. At its front it is 4 kms wide and 60 metres above lake level at the front and some 350 metres of depth in the central part. The glacier is some 30 kms wide.
This frozen river causes ice cracks and thunderous bursts that make the glacier a beauty in constant movement. We witness the glacier calving several blocks of ice during our two-hour stay. At the front, the ice is formed in a series of raptors that are deep blue in color and is so grand UNESCO was moved to given it a “World Heritage Site” designation. Some of have called it the 8th Wonder of the World.
What is interesting is Perito Moreno is only the 3rd largest glacier in Argentina. A guide attributes its notoriety to being accessible by car from El Calafate, a three-hour flight from Buenos Aires and an hour from our previous stop in Ushuaia. Two other reasons are its interesting formation and movement.
A funny aside is the glacier is named after Italian Perito Moreno, who explored these parts more than 100 years ago. He found Lago Argentino and came within a short canoe from the glacier but never did see it. Instead, Moreno had seen enough of the lake, turned around and went home. His efforts were enough, however, to have the glacier named after him.
Tony’s interest is sufficient enough that he decides on a second day of ice watching. Ruth and Alana need a little faster pace and choose a five-hour horseback ride into the hills surrounding the lake.
Tony sets his alarm for a very early start the next day. He’s chosen an 11-hour excursion that has him setting off in the dark for a 50 km drive to Puerto Bandera, where he’ll board a catamaran and set sail for the northern arm of Lago Argentino. The gem on this trip is to visit the front wall of Upsala glacier from the water. At more than 1000 square kilometers, Upsala is the biggest glacier in the national park and second largest in the country. It is four times the size of Buenos Aires. To get there you sail through an impressive array of icebergs, formed from ice detached by the glacier.
We are warned when we get on the boat that icebergs can jam the inlet to Upsala, preventing access to the wall, and are offered our money back should we not want the risk. There are no takers.
The boat leaves dock for the 90-minute trip on the lake surrounded by the mountains. As if on cue, the sun breaks over the mountains just as we near the first large iceberg. The day is perfect, not a cloud in the sky with calm winds and relatively warm temperatures. A reader can see by the pictures to the right just how blue the ice is. More giant icebergs dot the horizon and Tony is thinking seeing the Upsala wall is not looking likely.
The boat then arrives at a solid wall of ice and Tony is thinking we are at the wall. The guide announces over the loudspeaker in Spanish a number of interesting facts about the glacier and the surroundings. Then the same in English. Then with some disappointment in her voice, she says it will not be possible to access Upsala and points to some ice several kilometers away and says that is our view of the glacier. Tony is in disbelief as he’s sure we are at the glacier with the ice in front of him. The guide explains that when Upsala calves infrequently, but when it does ice kilometers wide falls into the lake. That is why the icebergs in front of us give the appearance they are still attached to the glacier. Most impressive.
The navigation continues towards Canal Spegazzini to see Seco, Helm Sur and Spegazzini glaciers. The latter being the highest in the park, rising 110 metres above the level of Lago Argentino. Because we don’t get to the Upsala wall, the captain treats us to view of the northern wall of Perito Moreno on our way back to the dock.