El Calafate

While Puerto Natales is the gateway to Torres del Paine from Chile, El Calafate is the gateway from the Argentina border.

From Torres del Paine, I travelled 3 hours on bus to El Calafate, where I visited Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, a UNESCO World Heritage. Parque Nacional Los Glaciares got its name from the the glaciers that occupy almost half of its area. At 14,000km2, the glaciers form the largest continental ice extension after Antarctica. Also known as Patagonic Continental Ice, 13 of the 47 glaciers flow to the Atlantic. There are also more than 200 smaller glaciers, unconnected to the Ice Caps. The enormous pressure of the antique ice and the subsequent thaw has given rise to three big lakes. Two of the lakes, Lago Argentino and Lago Viedma, are inside the national park, the waters of which flow as Rio Santa Cruz to the Atlantic Ocean crossing the province. (Source: http://www.losglaciares.com/en/parque/index.html)

Glaciar Perito Moreno and Lago Argentino

The glaciers in the park look spectacularly blue, a result of the red (long wavelengths) part of white light absorbed by ice while the blue (short wavelengths) light transmitted and scattered. The crevasses appear more blue because of the longer path of light travelled.

Crevasse

Perito Moreno is probably the most famous glacier in the national park. A cyclic forward and backward movement causes dynamic changes which results in spectacular ice falls from its frontal walls in Lake Argentino. UNESCO describe the park as the best place to watch glacial activities in South America. (Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/145)

When I visited Perito Moreno, every now and then, small chunks of ice will rain on the lake.

Video: Ice falling into lake

When bigger pieces of ice broke off, there would be foreboding cracking noises followed by a thunderous rumble and splash, giving rise to big waves as a new iceberg makes its way into the lake. The most massive calving I saw created a splash almost half the height of the glacier. About 32 people were reported killed before 1988 and barriers are now erected to prevent tourists from getting too close to the glacier.

Icebergs in Lago Argentino

Post card picture depicting a massive icefall

How to get there

From the central bus station at El Calafate, take a bus to the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. There are 3 bus companies that make daily or twice-daily departures to the national park 80km from the town centre. They leave 8am/ 1pm and return at 12pm/ 4pm and cost the same (one has to specify the time slot to leave for and from the park when purchasing the bus ticket). The buses make 3 stops - at the gate so that the entrance fee of ARS100 can be paid, at the bottom of the park to allow tourists to take a boat ride on the lake and at the top of the park to allow tourists to visit Glaciar Perito Moreno.