Icebergs and Glaciers

After walking on glaciers Monday, I was having a tough time deciding what to do on Tuesday since all of the activities in El Calafate are full day adventures. Originally, I had three days planned, but it turns out I had to pick between hiking in El Chalten and going on a boat ride through the rest of the glaciers.

Hands down, everyone said to go to Chalten. But something was nagging at me. I came to Calafate to see glaciers. So I decided that even if it would be repetitive, that the boat ride was what I wanted.

Boy am I thrilled that I went with my gut! It was an absolutely incredible day. I left the hostel before 7am to book my ticket on the boat...a bit of last minute planning. But when I got to the Catamaran the family from Barcelona that had been on my minitrekking trip was in line for the boat.

It's funny how you can just connect with people. I mean, yes, this family was on my minitrekking tour. But they were in another group. I don't even think I said two words to any of the three of them all day. And yet, when I saw them in line for the boat we all got so excited to see each other. The power of a familiar face.

And so we spent the day together on the deck of the boat. So many people stayed inside. I was shocked. It felt AMAZING to be outside cruising the channels of Lake Argentina. It was extremely windy. So much so that the son of the family, Arturo, and I leaned back into the wind and it held us up.

Soon we were on our way to the Upsala glacier, the largest of the glaciers down here. As we sailed through the canal, we started to see icebergs!! All I could think of was Titanic. Not in the scary, oh-my-goodness-I'm-going-to-die kind of way, but in the wow icebergs are huge and no wonder it tore a hole in a cruiseship. The icebergs started out flat and wide, like huge blue-white stepping stones in the green water. Oh yeah, today the water was green - halfway between mint and aquamarine. Actually, exactly like opal green. I know opals aren't green, but when the lights hits them there is a certain streak of green that shines. That was the color of my entire view since there was water pretty much as far as the eye could see.

We made it to the Upsala glacier. It's three times the size of Perito Moreno and four times the size of Buenos Aires. We could only get as close at 15 kilometers because of all of the icebergs in the way. It was a vast vast plain of white, like a jagged bridge adjoining two mountains. We only idled for a few minutes because we were so far away before venturing on to the Spegazzini glacier.

Through the Spegazzini Canal we saw UNBELIEVABLE glaciers. I wanted to hop off the boat and climb on them. There were icebergs with arches. Icebergs with caves. Icebergs in funny shapes. Icebergs that just towered above the catamaran. The icebergs were the same sparkling blue as Perito Moreno, but free-floating.

Then we arrived at the Spegazzini glacier. I think this one is the prettiest. We crept up to it so that we were only about 200 meters away. The glacier cascades down the side of a beautiful mountain peak until it flattens out on the water. And....WE SAW IT RUPTURE. I am the luckiest girl ever. I couldn't believe I watched two different glaciers rupture. And this one was waaaay up close. We felt the repurcussions on the boat as we rocked back and forth. My Spanish family and I were speechless. We took so many photos together and of each other that everyone thought I was their daughter. Well, they adopted me for the day.

The boat backtracked through the Spegazzini Canal to our third stop, Perito Moreno. I wasn't that excited since I had already seen the glacier for the entire day before. That'll show me. We saw the third and only other visible side of the glacier and.....the biggest most grand rupture anyone has ever seen (ok maybe not anyone ever, but yeah). An entire wall of the glacier, from top to three quarters of the way down cracked and just slid down in to the water crashing and busting.

My day was complete. Clearly, I made the right choice.

That night I met up with Jan and some other friends in the hostel for my last night there. Jan, another guy from Texas, a British couple, one Argentine and I all went out to eat. We wolfed down our food and then sat. Waiting for the Argentine to eat his little personal pizza. We were all on pins and needles. Looking at each other like "he's going to take a bite soon, I know he is." I finally couldn't handle it and went to the bathroom. Came back. The same piece of pizza was on his fork from before. Seriously? I know Argentines like to eat slowly and like indulge in their food, but we were all clearly waiting for just him. Cultural differences, haha.

I was sad to leave Calafate the next day. I really LOVE the town and my hostel was so nice and clean and warm. I slept in a sports bra and pj pants my last night. Amazing. It takes so little to make me happy.

But onwards to Ushuaia and the end of the world!

BESOS!