El Calafate and the frozen beauty

     ARGENTINA

 

 

It took ages for us to arrive to our first destination in Patagonia. We did not manage to find a last-minute flight deal that would be a reasonable alternative to the forty-five hour bus trip. As neither of us had experienced before such a long journey, we had to take the chance…

 

Well, it took two days inside a bus but the tricky part was the now and then squeezed five-minute stops where we had literally to run into the bus terminals in order to get supplies or use the restroom. One thing is for sure, we are determined not to repeat it!

 

Lago Argentino

 

After two days of watching the interminable plains of the Patagonian steppes, we finally arrived to El Calafate, which was immediately recognizable by the beautiful and immense turquoise Lago Argentino. Besides the lake, with its flamingos, black-necked swans and geese, and the scenic bloom flowers by the shore, this little village is only relevant for being the gatekeeper of the astonishing Perito Moreno Glacier, located 80 kilometers from there.

 

 

The day after was very windy and rainy. Although weather conditions were harsh, we did not want to miss such a visit. But if weather was not perfect in the village, it was even worse in this World Heritage Site, despite being peak of summer. Temperature was around zero degrees and wind was blowing even stronger…

 

We started with a boat ride along the immense blue-peaked wall of 60 meters high, 5 kilometers wide but luck was definitely not on our side. A heavy rain that forced everybody to be indoors, except for the last minutes, where the sun finally showed up.

 

 

Afterwards, we made a long walk in the Park along the central part of the Glacier. This was the most exciting part as this frozen beauty of 30 kilometers long advances up to 2 meters per day, calving icebergs from its face. It is not everyday that one can witness huge ice blocks weighing over 10 tons thunderously detaching from a gigantic mass of ice and crashing against the water. Sometimes they would hit so hard the water that the tide waves originated in Lago Argentino seemed to be surfable…

 

    

 

 

And this was just the beginning of what Patagonia had to offer us…