Date of Entry: March 31st 2016
Date of Writing: May 21st 2016, Blue House Hostel, Sao Paulo, Brazil
After a few days spent chilling in Puerto Natales to recover from my immensely rewarding, but sometimes challenging 6 days trekking in Torres Del Paine National park, I grab one of the regular buses to El Calafate, about a 6 hour journey whose cost I cannot remember right now but I think it was around 30 CAD.
The border crossing is easy and the scenery pretty impressive but I drift off and almost before I know it I’m being welcomed into Bla guesthouse, a recommendation of Henrike who I spent a few days with before Antarctica in Ushuaia Argentina. The staff is friendly, the room comfy, and la China, the hostel dog, is beyond awesome so quickly I feel at home.
Before We get to the main attraction in El Calafate I want to give a big shout out to a very pleasant surprise found here, meeting up with Ben and Ceci who are back travelling more of south America together. For those that don’t remember I first met these two back in Pucon, then did the bolivian salt flats together, machu picchu, and various other adventures. I saw them again in mendoza but wasn’t expecting to see them here and during my time in El Calafate we got to spend several amazing days and evenings together.
At any rate they opt not to come with me to Perito Moreno as they have other plans for the day, and the roughly one hour bus ride to the glacier is ludicrously expensive (450 ARS 40 CAD round trip) for the distance covered and the entry cost of 260 ARS (22 CAD) to the national park isn’t all that cheap either for me it’s worth it though, and as I board an early morning bus on the 31st, I’m glad that at least the scenery on the bus ride is wildly impressive. It’s worth noting that Ben and Ceci did successfully hitchhike to the glacier and back even this late in the season and somehow avoided paying the entrance fee too thanks to their friendly drivers. There’s always options for those travelling on a shoestring.
More than halfway there the bus pulls over and stops letting Los Glaciares National park rangers up on to the bus to sell us the admission ticket and give us some maps before we’re allowed to carry on, the bus chugging along a winding road and eventually leaving us in a parking lot above the glacier, which we’ve already caught glimpses of in the last minutes of the ride. The bus leaves el Calafate around 8 and returns from the park at 3 there is also a later afternoon service which returns at night.
I get off the bus quickly and head straight to the boat ticket booth which costs another 150 ARS (12 CAD) for a one hour trip up closer to the glacier. (Though as it works out not as close as I’d like.) Here’s a little inside tip that worked really well for me. Take the first boat. We had maybe a dozen people on board and the very next journey looked pack, the difference that made in my level enjoyment of the ride was huge, and it helped for better photos too.
As I hurry down to the boat dock to wait to board I’m thrilled to see a rainbow cutting across the sky above the glacier, a perfect welcome to this massive wall of ice which is beyond Impressive. I will admit Antarctica has left me a bit of a glacier snob though, this place is still amazing, I’m still very happy i went, but I think my month spent sailing through Antarctica robbed me of just a little awe at this place.
As I wait I snap lots of photos for some very friendly Argentinean and Uruguayan tourists who are just thrilled to find I speak Spanish. I also meet two awesome french girls Ellie and Amandine who are from France but are studying in Montreal and are on exchange in buenos aires. They let me speak my ever worsening french for a few minutes out of kindness before both busting out there perfect english and making me feel foolish. But it’s not my fault entirely, I still maintain that more often than not my french is better than the average french traveler’s. As we board and the boat heads out towards the imposing blue wall of the glacier we get to chatting about Canada and life in general and end up spending the whole day together. They are both super nice people and I’m lucky that this is not the last time I’ll see them in the coming weeks. And if anyone is interested they should check out Amandine’s awesome blog.
Perito Moreno is one of the most active glaciers in the world, it’s also one of the few that is still advancing, at the centre of its tongue by as much as 7 feet per day, which is just crazy to think about, of course it also loses from the back and so doesn’t really move as much as you might think. All this activity makes for lots of calving bergs tumbling from the glacial wall, though catching one on camera is beyond difficult. Instead I turn my attention to a different kind of photographic masterpiece, Handing my camera to Ellie and peeling off my clothes, no doubt scaring everyone on board as this close to the glacier it’s very cold and now there’s a giant sprawled out and topless Canadian man on board with them.
As the boat continues to drift along near the glacier and lots of the south americans head down below deck for shelter from the cold glacial winds of Patagonian autumn I finally catch one of the calvings. Sadly it’s a small one, but still a huge piece of ice falling. Check the photos below closely as it’s somewhat easy to miss.
I spend the end of the boat ride chatting with one of the guides and he highly recommends some of the other tours to other glaciers in the park like rivers of ice, and Spezzini glacier but they end up being too expensive for me, especially after Antarctica. I’ll also take this chance to mention other ways to visit Perito Moreno which include the mini trekking (1200 ARS plus Entry fee of 260) and the big ice walking tour (2000 ARS with entry fee of 260) both too rich for my blood but both good options and easy to reserve just about anywhere in town.
As the boat pulls in to the dock and I head off alongside Ellie and Amandine, the three of us chatting happily as we climb up onto the trails which allow for different views of the imposing glacier, I find myself smiling. I love travel not just because you see amazing places like this, because you meet lots of really fascinating people from all around the world and you also learn how to form friendships super quickly.
Up above the glacier we keep talking and snapping lots of photos and I find myself a bit jealous of Amandine and Ellie who are much younger than me but already have lived in three countries and travelled a good amount too. I respect just how much they’re taking advantage of there exchange program for sure, even if as a teacher I have to condemn them for missing classes!!! For shame!!!
The next little while includes an aborted paint me jack, visits from several birds, and more stunning views of the massive ice field across the water from us, as well as views of the collapsed ice bridge which until about 11 days before had connected the glacier to the land.
It starts to rain quite heavily and we’re forced to find shelter under a roofed viewpoint of the glacier, waiting a while for the rain to die down but eventually being forced up to the top of the trail despite the rain to find a bathroom. We find the bathroom there has burned down and so wait for the shuttle bus to take us back to the main parking lot. As we wait though we take advantage of one last fantastic view of the glacier from above, the beauty of which is enough to wipe away my annoyance with the cold driving rain and bring me back to the awe of this incredibly famous patagonian gem.
Down in the main parking lot we spend some time inside eating some overpriced food since I forgot to pack a lunch. (Pro tip: Don’t forget to pack a lunch), and spend the lat hour before the bus leaves chatting away before boarding and heading back to El Calafate. Sadly Ellie and Amandine are moving on to El Chalten this evening so we say our goodbyes in the street and I head back to Bla Guesthouse for another few days. I’m still fighting a cold and want to spend a few relaxing days before moving on to El Chalten for more trekking. But that’s what will be up next on the blog and trust me when I say it’s an incredible place.
