El Calafate and The World´s Third Largest Icefield

El Calafate
February 8, 2008

(Amber)

After a quick and easy flight to El Calafate, which allowed us to avoid the 40-hour bus ride to the South, we arrived and were amazed that the hostel Matt called several days before actually held a room for us. We got checked in to a very basic, though still very expensive room (almost $55 USD, which is insane here), and went to drop off laundry.

That was the first order of business because I was wearing Matt´s last pair of clean underwear (and had been for several days)........and neither of us had one stitch of remotely clean clothing. In fact, at the airport in Bariloche we had to open Matt´s bag to remove our camping gas, and the smell that came out of the backpack and assaulted the nice people checking in for their flights was humiliating. To our delight, there was a place down the street with machines and soap. Ahhhh...the small pleasures.

El Calafate sits on the largest lake in Argentina, Lago Argentino....which is the third largest in all of South America, in the middle of an area called the steppe, or upland meadows. It is an area that boasts low, small scrubby plants that can survive the insanely harsh winter snows and year round wind that frequently reaches up to 100 km per hour....and this huge brilliantly blue lake. A lake that is so cold that, if you fall into it, you have 2-3 minutes before hypothermia sets in. So we opted against going for a dip. As you get closer to the Glacier, rainfall increases, and you´re suddenly in a large Lenga forest.

The waters here are a brilliant turquoise, due to the glacial melt, which causes minute powdered particles to be held in suspension. This color, against the brown backdrop of the steppe region and bright blue sky, is unreal.

El Calafate is a tiny, dusty town in seemingly the middle of nowhere that exists primarily thanks to its proximity to Glaciers National Park. It also has a little bit of the Colorado ski town vibe that Bariloche had and is definitely a budget buster.....but also has a distinct feeling of isolation off of the main drag.

Animals in the area include foxes, pumas, eagles, owls, woodpeckers, small rodents, and Andean condors....just to name a few. Pumas here are known to eat up to 30 sheep in one night, so farmers in the area are not fans.

We spent the evening trying to upload photos on computers that....turns out....are only on dial-up, or at least they only function at dial-up speed. We have so many beautiful photos from Argentina that we can´t risk losing, but the technology here just doesn´t allow us to upload. So we put them on a jump drive and will just protect them as much as we can until we get to a faster connection....which will likely not be until Buenos Aires. It´s just so remote down here.

We are so far south now that the sun really doesn´t set until almost midnight. Inevitably, we will be walking around....feeling like it´s 7pm....and realize that it´s 11:15.

Food isn´t an issue in Argentina. Other than craving fresh fruits and veggies, which we have now rounded up at the local market, we are able to get things here that agree with us and don´t seem to cause issues with our stomachs or appetites at all. Pasta, hot dogs (or panchos), pizzas, steak........it´s a food lover´s delight. And we are allowing ourselves to really enjoy it....knowing that other countries are around the corner that will be not nearly as easy.

Random fact....We have seen almost no chains or American fast food joints, which is really nice. In most of the countries we´ve traveled you don´t. But for example, in any mid to large Thai town, you always see at least a Dunkin Donuts or KFC. Not in Cambodia, Vietnam, or Laos...but definitely in the more highly visited countries in Asia, you see the standards. Here, that´s not the case. We saw a few in Quito and Santiago (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC), but that´s it. Walmart, fast food chains, etc....have in no way infiltrated South America....at least not that we can tell. That´s a super happy tidbit now. As I was choking down cold trout in Ecuador, I was singing a different tune though.

Matt on the boat

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Los Glaciares National Park
Moreno Glacier
February 9, 2008

(Amber)

We got up really early and were on a bus to Los Glaciares National Park by 8:30am. We were there by 10:30. And even though our lives seem like a National Geographic spread at this point......this glacier took the cake.

A few facts about Perito Moreno Glacier...

• it is the world´s third largest glacier
• it sits within the 3rd largest ice field in the world - with only Antarctica and Greenland having fields that surpass it
• it´s one of the few on Earth that isn´t shrinking - it calves about 2 meters a day while growing about the same amount - so it´s in equilibrium
• it is 30 kilometers long
• it sits 60 meters above the lake and extends 170 meters into the water at its deepest
• it´s one of the most active glaciers that humans can really get close to - we were able to get within a couple of hundred meters

We spent about two hours watching the glacier roar and break off....causing huge splashes and waves and noises that sounded like shotgun blasts. We then got on a ferry, which let us spend an hour close up to the glacier on its highest face.

It is the first glacier I´ve seen, and it was so immense, living, and gorgeous that I can´t even really describe it. It was a million shades of white and brilliant blue and seemed like the most powerful force of nature that I could ever imagine. Black lines striate it and show its age...which is estimated to about 30,000 years. I know I sound like a broken record, but it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, one that I will never, never forget.

Little known fact about me......One of my first ruins to visit was Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was phenomenal. A life-changing experience for me for sure. And since then, we´ve visited ruins all over the world, and I´m bit of a ruin snob. I love ruins, don´t get me wrong....love going to even the smallest one. But most don´t compare to our wonderful experience at Angkor Wat. Same way you might become a food snob if you were fed beef tenderloin and twice baked potatoes at the age of two I guess. Point is this.....I am now, very likely.....a glacier snob.

Random funny fact....

• With the laundry still not done, I toured a freezing cold icefield with bare feet stuffed into my really dirty hiking boots. Didn´t have one pair of socks. Unlike the clean undies, Matt didn´t even have a single clean pair of socks to cough up for the good of the team. One photo, which I made Matt take, commemorates the experience.