Now showing photos for Brazil and Argentina - have had some technical difficulties. Also handing over to Marianne now for a guest blog writing slot....
As official guest contributor I have been tasked with describing our
trip down to El Calafate in Argentina to see the Los Glaciares National
Park - and in particular the Perito Moreno Glacier.
I first saw the Perito Moreno Glacier in a brochure about ten years ago
and have been dying to go and see it for myself ever since (as Heidi
will tell you I have a little fetish about glaciers after climbing
around on one in New Zealand and this one looked so much bigger and better). The only problem is that it is a long way south and therefore bloody cold for most of the year. The ideal time to go is November to
February but we decided that we would chance going in October and just pray that the weather was kind to us.
After a three and a half hour flight from Buenos Aires (Argentina is a
very big country) we arrived to find that the temperature was about 15
degrees colder than in Buenos Aires but it wasnīt raining so that was a
good start. The next day we were booked onto a trip to see the Perito
Moreno glacier and then go trekking on it so Heidi began to pray to
her weather gods. Now Iīm not entirely sure what it is that she does for them but it must be good because they come up trumps time after time. The next day we woke up to glorious sunshine and it had even warmed up a bit. The guide on our trip said that it had been raining and snowing for most of the week so it seems that we were very lucky indeed.
We drove about 80km to the site of the glacier and got our first glimpse as our bus drove around a corner. Iīm not sure that words can
describe how amazing it was (and for those of you that know me you will realise that it is not often that I am lost for words). The front of the
glacier ends in the Argentino Lake and seems to go on for miles. When
you get up close to it you realise just how big it is - it is the height
of a 20 story building with lots of jagged towers of ice along the top.
While we stood watching it we were lucky enough to see some huge
chunks fall off the front of it into the lake. It makes a sound like a
very loud rifle going off and then the ice falls creating huge waves in
the lake. We took lots and lots of photos - see below.
In the afternoon we got a boat across the front of the glacier and then were fitted with crampons for our minitrekking. We never did find out why it was called īminiī trekking as we were on the ice for a couple
of hours - although didnīt go very far because we had to stop for photos
every 200 metres. We wandered up and down on the ice and then were
entertained to find at the end a couple of tables laid out with glasses
and a large bottle of whisky. The guide went over to the glacier with
an ice pick (of rather larger than average size) and hacked of huge
chunks of ice. He then distributed it into the glasses and added very
generous measures of whisky. Very warming on what had turned out not to be a cold afternoon at all!!
The following day we went on a boat trip to see some of the other
glaciers in the areas. None were quite as spectacular as Perito Moreno but it was also an excellent day. The best bit was seeing the huge icebergs that had broken off the front of the Upsala Glacier and were floating in the middle of the lake. The boat drivers fortunately successfully navigated through them without any Titanic type incidents.
Our trip to El Calafate was rounded off by a trip in a 4x4 up one of
the mountains just outside of the town. We got great views over the lake and also saw about 20 condors which were nesting on the side of the
mountain. We had to laugh because in Peru we got up at 4.30am to drive to Colca Canyon to see the condors and only two ever appeared and there we were on a small mountain in Argentina with 10 times that number!
It was then back to Buenos Aires for the night before flying off to the
Iguasu Falls the next day.
Argentina
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