The next stop on our Patagonian adventure was one of the most spectacular in Argentina. From El Chaltén we made our way to Calafate, the town closest to the collection of impressive glaciers found near the border with Chile. The most impressive of all is the infamous Perito Moreno, a tall, blue glacier that really took our breath away. What was equally as impressive though is that our feminine charms managed to get us to the glacier completely for free. Usually tourists pay $20 for the bus to the park and about $20 for the entrance (a lot of money for Latin America). We decided to hitchhike to the park and after two minutes got picked up by three lovely Argentinians in a mini van who work in the park and told us to hide in the back on arrival to the park which got us in for free 🙂
Perito Moreno was the first glacier I ever saw in my life and it really surprised me how beautiful it is. It is an impressive 35km long, 5km wide and 60m high. Every now and then a bit of it cracks and ice/snow comes crumbling to the water causing mini tidal waves at the base. It’s pretty spectacular to see. What makes Perito Moreno special is that it’s one of the only glaciers in the world that instead of receding is advancing up to two meters a day. The surroundings are really beautiful as well, with snowcapped mountains and bright blue lagoons and we were lucky enough to have a pretty sunny day during our visit. It’s really the only big attraction in Calafate and we only stayed one day here but it was well worth the visit and another top attraction to add to our list.
Now we are crossing the border again going back to Chile (sipo its confusing) to see what their deep south has to offer!
