Perito Moreno Glacier

2 October 2009

I arrived to the hostel late last night, but I was anxious to get in my full day and opted for the 8am tour. The tour bus came by the hostel to pick me up around 8:30, on the way out of town, before the 1 ½-hour drive to Los Glacieres. Our guide spoke both Spanish and English during the tour, so she was talking for literally the entire time on the bus, describing the different flora and fauna, the origin of the town of El Calafate, the history of the glacier, etc. After arriving in the park, we went straight to the boat dock to take an hour-long cruise up to the southern face of the Perito Moreno glacier, which sits on Lago Argentina. It was really unbelievable to see this glacier, which has been around since the last ice age, up close, and to look into the crevices and see the blocks of ice fall from the face into the water. There were a ton of icebergs in the water as well, that had fallen from the face of the glacier. The sound of the ice falling was really magnificent, but so unpredictable; it sounded like thunder every time, but you could never catch a photo, because by the time you heard it, the ice had already hit the ground. After the boat ride, we headed up to the restaurant and catwalks to the viewpoint. Again, these “trails” were raised metal platforms, similar to those in Parque Nacional Iguazu, but they were amazing at keeping your feet dry. It was raining the entire time while we were at the viewpoint, so I had to just suck it up, zip up the jacket, and head to the trail for the hour+ walk. The rain wasn’t too bad, but the wind in the Andes is so powerful, I very much regretted the decision not to wear my snow pants. We got back on the bus around 2:30 and headed back to town, which was perfect for me, as I wanted to do some shopping, explore town a bit, and buy my bus ticket for the next morning.

As always, the Patagonian weather was as unpredictable as ever, resulting in a snow storm in El Calafate when we arrived downtown. I still got out of the bus to brave the snow, and I was glad I did. Twenty minutes later, it was all sun and blue skies, followed by cold and wind in the early evening hours. I tried to get some pictures of these spring flowers just covered in snow, but I don’t think they turned out as well as I liked, because of the weak zoom on my camera. When the sun came out, it was absolutely brilliant, reflecting off of the freshly-fallen snow. After wandering around and purchasing a few souvenirs, I headed back up the hill towards the hostel, in search of this grocery store that was “just around the corner.” What I thought was the grocery store turned out to be the Argentine Home Depot – and they didn’t even carry duct tape for my poor jacket! Luckily, the grocery store, which did not look like one at all, was just beyond the hardware store, and they carried everything I needed for my journey into Torres del Paine: duct tape (aptly titled “Rapifix” here), rope, a flashlight, silverware, a Tupperware for my pasta, peanuts, bread, etc.

That night, the staff of the hostel was having a traditional asado, or BBQ, for one of their friends that was leaving town. The guy at reception invited me to join in the meat-eating, but I had already purchased food for my 1 night in El Calafate – breaded patties of broccoli! Weird, I know, but it caught my eye in the store, and I had to try them. While eating my delicious broccoli patties, I met some of the other guests at the hostel. There was the German girl I met on the tour, along with her South African boyfriend, a married couple living in Australia but from Florida (USA) and the Philippines, and some other girls from Czechoslovakia and Holland. After the asado, the staff treated us to some music, via drum circle. I never knew a tambourine could be such a versatile instrument – I thought one guys left for more wine, and he returned with a tambourine in a fancy case. I really liked the hostel a lot – it had a very good vibe.

There were also a ton of dogs that lived at the hostel or belonged to the friends of the staff, so it was entertaining to watch the dogs sitting outside while the meat cooked, just begging for a taste, then scramble when the scraps were deposited outside. One of the dogs, Mano, belonged to the guy who typically works the shift starting sometime in the middle of the night and ending after breakfast. He picked me up from the bus station when I arrived at 1am the night before, with Mano in tow, and I was so excited. Mano looks very much like Daisy! He’s a little bigger, with some black spots on the white of his nose, but their coloring is very similar. This poor guy – I probably told him about 6 times over my 2-night stay how much Mano looks like my dog. I’ve missed Daisy a lot since I came to Patagonia because there are so many more herding breeds down here, due to the sheep ranching. I kept seeing border collies on the bus from Ushuaia. I miss my baby Daisy!