Wow. Another day of crazy adventures and awe-some views.
My tour left at 8:30 this morning (a bit more reasonable an hour) to go to the Perito Moreno glacier. We took a short busride through El Calafate - my current city of inhabitance - to pick up the rest of the passengers on our tour. I LOVE IT HERE. The town is just so beautiful and peaceful. It's exactly what I needed after a bit of a hectic weekend in Buenos Aires. It's so...lodgy. My hostel is like a wood cabin - except with heated floors. Everything is just rustic and homey. The perfect place to relax and enjoy.
And...it's NOT THAT COLD HERE. Do you believe that Patagonia of all the places is where I am not cold and I am not wearing all of my clothes at once? After driving through town we started on our bus ride to the Perito Moreno glacier. We drove along Lago Argentino which was a beautiful shade of what I can only describe as crystal blue. Like Swarovksi or something. It just sparkled against the blanket white mountains. There were icebergs floating everywhere and the shore looked like a quaint arctic beach.
Our tour guide spoke to us about the history of El Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares and the wildlife that lives here. Apparently, pumas and condors are among the biggest animals that call Patagonia home. We even saw a few condors flying!! Their wingspan is about 3 meters long. Just imagine that swooping overhead. Powerful scavengers. Soon after I opened my eyes (the guide's voice put me to sleep a bit) and we were at the dock to take the boat across the lake to the glacier.
The glacier is AMAZING. It's just this huge carpet of ice bridging the gap between the shores of 
Lago Argentino. I also never knew how blue ice is. Ice glows blue. It's shimmering and irredescent and bright. And the shape of the glacier surface is brilliant. It's so random and jagged. Adds a bit of danger and fierce-ness to the sight of it. Once we pulled onto shore the cameras came out and our guides split us up into an English group and a Spanish group. I couldn't decide which to do since it's nice to meet locals and the guides speak better Spanish, but at the same time...the English group was smaller. Smaller = better when it comes to tours.
Lago Argentino. I also never knew how blue ice is. Ice glows blue. It's shimmering and irredescent and bright. And the shape of the glacier surface is brilliant. It's so random and jagged. Adds a bit of danger and fierce-ness to the sight of it. Once we pulled onto shore the cameras came out and our guides split us up into an English group and a Spanish group. I couldn't decide which to do since it's nice to meet locals and the guides speak better Spanish, but at the same time...the English group was smaller. Smaller = better when it comes to tours.So I stayed with Marco for our English tour. Thank goodness I did. I met this awesome girl from Texas and a couple from England with whom she is travelling. We ended up spending the day together and we had a blast. Our guide led us up the shore to the map of the glaciers to explain to us the ecological facts and figures. Just as we turned our backs, the glacier ruptured. That's right. We heard a crash. Turned around. Dust and ripples in the water. A glacier rupture (extremely rare mind you) happened while we were there and we missed it. We were a bit disappointed. What are the chances of that happening again today? Marco was pessimistic: zero. Well...zero point five.
But it's ok. We were about to walk on the glacier!! It's the third biggest glacier in Argentina. So why were we on the third biggest? Marco thinks the publicity is best for Perito Moreno. Haha. That, and it's the easiest to get to. Perito Moreno is also a well-balanced glacier. It has a zone of accumulation and a zone of ablasion. Basically, Moreno has beaten global warming. As it melts, it also grows. In fact, sometimes it slides so far, it reaches the opposite shore creating a complete bridge and causing the water level of the lake to rize 15-20 meters. Pretty sick.
In preparation, we fastened our clampons. I felt like I was 5 years old again, getting ready to go ice-skating but with feet 
too little that they don't have skates small enough, so you wear clampons with your sneakers. We trekked down the shore and up onto the ice. I was WALKING ON THE GLACIER! You look really funny walking up a glacier. Marco told us to walk like ducks when going up and walk like monkeys when coming down. Basically, you have to keep your feet set wide apart so that you don't step on your own feet. You also have to take high steps so that your foot can come down with enough force that the clampons dig into the ice.
too little that they don't have skates small enough, so you wear clampons with your sneakers. We trekked down the shore and up onto the ice. I was WALKING ON THE GLACIER! You look really funny walking up a glacier. Marco told us to walk like ducks when going up and walk like monkeys when coming down. Basically, you have to keep your feet set wide apart so that you don't step on your own feet. You also have to take high steps so that your foot can come down with enough force that the clampons dig into the ice. Trust me. You need to have your clampons stuck in the ice. The wind is so harsh here that it knocked people over. It's a cool feeling (and kind of funny) to stomp your feet into the glacier 
and feel the wind try to bowl you over and yet remain completely upright while other people - who didn't smash their feet in - blow all over the place in front of you. What can I say? I'm a natural glacier-walker. Haha. Or I just follow instructions and look like a duck and a monkey.
and feel the wind try to bowl you over and yet remain completely upright while other people - who didn't smash their feet in - blow all over the place in front of you. What can I say? I'm a natural glacier-walker. Haha. Or I just follow instructions and look like a duck and a monkey.We walked by some lake/ponds on the glacier. The clearest water I ever saw. I felt like if I jumped in I'd fall straight through the earth and out the other side. (I don't know where that would put me, but that's just how clear and bottomless it looked.) Trekking through the ice was easier than I thought. I expected the ice to be really smooth and glassy everywhere, but it was pretty slushy where we were walking. We trekked in a single file line. It made me think of Vertical Limit or something. We went into a little ice borrow (see a
bove left) and just hiked all along the craggy surface. Incredible. Then at the end, they served us alfajores and whisky. Hysterical. And they fill the whisky glasses with glacier ice. So I had a sip just to say I drank the glaciers. But whisky is not my drink. And I didn't even need it to warm me up!
bove left) and just hiked all along the craggy surface. Incredible. Then at the end, they served us alfajores and whisky. Hysterical. And they fill the whisky glasses with glacier ice. So I had a sip just to say I drank the glaciers. But whisky is not my drink. And I didn't even need it to warm me up!And to think...when I was in Vegas I was upset that I couldn't go to the Ice Bar in the Mandalay Bay. Ha! I had whiskey on a glacier. In Argentina.
And then we descended the glacier and hiked through the forest for our late lunch. The view was just incredible. Imagine living in that log cabin and waking up to this every morning. Sigh. The song that popped into my head today was "The Prayer." Apparently, glaciers make me think of serenity, peace, grace and Charlotte Church.
After lunch we re-boarded the boat and the bus to drive to the balcony view of the eastern side of the glacier. OMG. They really should do this part of the tour first. Because you see Moreno from above and you think to yourself "I want to walk on that." Incredible. Jan and I (that's Texas girl) walked around the balconies for a while. When we heard a crash. OMG. OMG. It was happening again. Guess it's my lucky day since there was a 0.5 chance!! We saw part of the rupture this time. We watched the ice crash into the water, though we missed it break off the glacier. We got to the lowest balcony and just stood in awe. The glacier is larger than the city of Buenos Aires, it just extends as far as the eye can see until it blends with the clouds hovering over head.We decided to start making our way back up through the trees to the bus. And then...a crack. OMG. Again?? We missed it. Damn trees. So we RAN back down to the low balcony to get a full view and not miss it. Could it really
happen four times in one day? Yes. Yes it can. The last and final rupture was the coolest thing I have ever seen. This massive slice of glacier from the surface to about 3/4 of the way down just cracked like a paint chip off a wall and sagged and dropped in slow motion into the lake causing the entire lake to wave with the impact. I wish I had it on film....
happen four times in one day? Yes. Yes it can. The last and final rupture was the coolest thing I have ever seen. This massive slice of glacier from the surface to about 3/4 of the way down just cracked like a paint chip off a wall and sagged and dropped in slow motion into the lake causing the entire lake to wave with the impact. I wish I had it on film....And that was how we ended our day. Rupturing glaciers. Intense.
BESOS!
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