We saw Perito Moreno Glacier yesterday! It was just as impressive as the first time I saw it ten years ago.
We booked a day trip through Hielo Adventuras ($125), which included a boat trip to the front of the glacier, and walking on the glacier.
Perito Moreno is 90 minutes west of El Calafate. We were picked up at our hotel at 9am, and then we were off.
At Perito Moreno, we first had a couple hours to wander around the observation walkways. The glacier is always calving (pieces of ice breaking off), and we were lucky to see an entire face (about 50 ft tall) calve right in front of us. I didn't get it on video but have some cool pictures with the mini tidal waves.
Next we took the boat ride near the front of the glacier. It looks more impressive looking up from water level than from the viewing platforms where you're mostly looking down.
On the other side of the lake we met our guide for the glacier trek. First we put on crampons, a 10-second lesson on use (walk with your feet apart, and with your feet flat, not on your toes or heels, and how to walk up and down inclines), and then we were walking on the glacier!
We spent almost two hours walking around. It took a few minutes to trust the crampons, which were heavy on our feet. Plus with the added height, our boots didn't get wet.
It was a very warm day (about 15C), and walking on the glacier is no colder than walking on land. We wore gloves to protect out hands in case we fell, because the surface is covered with sharp ice pebbles (sort of like crushed ice). It is deceptive in some areas, where it looks like your foot will sink into slush, but it's all ice underneath and you can walk on what looks like slush.
It is dangerous to wander off the path of the guides. The glacier melts at this time of year (although the snow build up at the top keeps the glacier size in balance), and so in places you could fall through to water flowing down inside the glacier.
Towards the end of the glacier walk, the novelty had worn off, and we were getting tired and just wanted to get back to town for dinner.
El Calafate has grown up since I was last here, taking advantage of the tourist draw of Perito Moreno. It's becoming a nice resort town, with nice restaurants and patios for a coffee.
We just wanted something simple for dinner so stopped in at a pizza place. Somehow I always forget that pizza (and most Italian food) is hit-and-miss when travelling, actually almost all misses. The beer, however, was excellent. There's only one beer in Argentina, Quilmes, and it ranks up there in my opinion as one of the best beers in the world, only behind Beerlao in Lao.
We forgot that it's Carnaval, and Monday and Tuesday are holidays in Argentina. There were more local tourists, and also the ATMs ran out of cash! Fortunately the ATMs were refilled, but there was were still line ups to get cash.
We weren't sure at the border crossing if we would be charges reciprocity fees of $70 to enter Argentina (this is what Canada charges Argentinians to enter Canada). The Lonely Planet said we would, but we weren't. I think for land crossings we'll be okay.
In El Calafate we stayed at an actual IHYF Youth Hostel. This one had part morphed into a hotel, with some double rooms with private bath. It had the best showers on the trip so far. The main reason we selected the hotel is because they have self-serve laundry facilities. After the W Trek, we needed to wash our dry-fit clothing, but didn't trust the special washing instructions (half the detergent, no dryer) to other people. So we now have packs full of clean clothes again.
Today we're on a couple buses to get us to Punta Arenas (about eight hours on buses, plus the border crossings). We plan to relax there for at least a couple days (we've been on the go since the start of the trip), and hopefully a day trip to see a penguin colony.
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