Puerto Moreno Glacier
Puerto Natales to El Calafate
I continued to travel by bus across Patagonia, though in Chile and Argentina buses are significantly more expensive than in the northern countries of South America. Buses in Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia range from $7-20, in Chile and Argentina they ranged from $20-50 a pop.
From Puerto Natales I followed the well traveled Gringo Trail across the Chilean border into Argentina, heading towards the tourist town of El Calafate. The bus ride and border crossing took over five hours but I passed the time swapping travel stories with an American guy sitting next to me.
At the border, while we waiting for everyone’s bags to be off loaded, scanned and reloaded, he told me that a few days before a Dutch woman was held at this same border after a tab of acid was found in her backpack’s side pocket. The entire bus was held up for hours until she was eventually handcuffed and placed in the back of an Argentine border patrol car.
I hope she ended up alright and thought I should pass on the cautionary tale: do not forget to check your bag for tabs of acid, a left over bud of tree, whatever your preference, before crossing a border. Drugs are a serious possession in South America and at the border can be construed as trafficking, yikes!
the peaches here are some of the best I have ever eatten. I packed a few for the bus ride from Puerto Natales to El Calafate and ate them all in one go.
Parque Nacional Los Glaciares
Puerto F.P Moreno
El Calafate is the base camp from which many tourists visit the Puerto Moreno Glacier, one of countless glaciers located in the Andes Mountain Range spanning the continent. This glacier is fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and calves into the Argentino Lake at its base. Unlike glaciers around the world, this one is more hopeful, for while most are steadily receding Puerto Moreno continues to advance.
Glaciers around the world are tucked away in mountain ranges, requiring expedition by foot or in places like Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, often frequented by boat. Uniquely, the Puerto Moreno is easily accessible: just 48 miles outside of El Calafate, the Puerto Moreno is easy to interact with.
There are a variety of ways, or degrees to which you can interact with this glacier. I took a bus to the National Park, was dropped off at the visitors center, and would be picked up four hours later. On foot, I walked along a beautifully constructed wooden boardwalk along the Argentino Lake up to the glacier. There are several platforms from which you can view the glacier it all its glory. If you want to get a bit closer, there is a boat that crosses the lake and traces up and down the face of the glacier rising 240 ft out of the lake’s waters. Lastly, to get up close and personal, you can strap on rented crampons and do a five hour day hike upon the glacier’s ice.
There is an entry fee into the park, approximately $35 and the bus I took to get to the National Park was somewhere around $20. A pricy day for the average backpacker, but well worth the view! It is very important that you bring entry money with you as there is no ATM at the entrance into the park.
a massive ice berg in Largo Argentino
Lunch with a view
I had made friends with two Dutch women on the bus ride out to the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Together we walked along the beautiful wooden boardwalk leading along the Argentino Lake towards the Puerto Moreno Glacier. It is an exciting approach, slowly but surly moving closer and closer to the huge wall of glacier rising out of a wildly turquoise lake.
We stopped for some time at the first viewing platform, hoping to see some calving of the glacier. Just a few moments later, as I was about to bite into my peanut butter sandwich lunch, a huge chunk of ice slid down the 240 foot glacier face and crashed into the water below.
the lower viewing deck
Every few meters along the beautiful wooden boardwalk offered a new perspective of the glacier and the mountains on either side. From the highest viewing platforms I watched clouds floating above the glacier cast shadows on the ice below, making the glacier look as if it too were moving quickly, snaking down its valley.
The texture, colors and enormity of this glacier is mesmerizing. We spent three hours with the glacier before heading back tot he visitor’s center in search of warmth and something chocolate. An hour later, after a round of walnut brownies and coffee, our bus came to pick us up.
