Glacier Perito Moreno
Trip Start
Jul 04, 2009
1
59
60
Trip End
Jan 19, 2010
Where I stayed
El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina
Saturday, December 12, 2009
El Calafate is a touristy (and therefore overpriced) town with nothing really to see or do. So why visit? Because 80km from the town is a massive glacier which is one of a kind.
Glacier Perito Moreno is gigantic - about 30km long, 5km wide and 60 meters high. What makes this glacier special is that instead of receding like other glaciers it is actually advancing, by about 2 meters a day!
So we spent 4 hours at the glacier, just sitting and watching and listening. It's actually like it's alive. There's constant crackling throughout the glacier as the ice moves (sometimes the sound bounces off the surrounding mountains and sounds like gunshots) and frequently pieces crumble off the face and fall into the water. It is so loud it sounds like thunder as the pieces crash into the water. We were lucky enough to see a huge piece as tall as a 3 story building split away and slide into the water. The colours of the ice are beautiful with slices of blue glowing amongst the vast white.
