We arrived to El Calafate which is famous for its proximity to Parque Nacional de los Glaciares. The town is typical tourist resort full of souvenirs shops, nothing special other than the option to visit glaciers.
Parque Nacional de los Glaciares is composed of 40% of ice. There are 13 glaciers that end in Lago Argentino and Lago Viedma; the most famous one is the 5km wide Perito Moreno.
We chill-out a bit in town on the arrival day and figure out how to view the infamous glacier. We enjoy a good parrillada in local restaurant "Mi Viejo" with a bottle of Malbec.
The next morning we take a bus to Perito Moreno, we want to take a boat trip around it to see if from the water and later from the several walkways built in front of the ice wall.
Just as we arrive by the boat to glacier the massive chunk of ice dropped in the freezing water making a huge noise due to echo, the view is magic...the drop creates a serious wave like a tsunami that moves the lake and our boat!
Perito Moreno is about 60-70 meters high wall of ice, the colour is very deep blue due to lack of air in the ice. The glacier is constantly moving with c.2m in its center and about 40cm on its outside daily. Its not only moving but also maintaining its size despite global warming. Because of the constant moves it makes cracks and dull roar noise.
Several times in the past the head of the glacier advanced on the lake and reached the coast and cut off the passage between Brazo Rico and Canal de los Témpanos (ice-bergs). There was an ongoing pressure on ice, the powerfull stream created a tunnel under the ice. Eventually the tunnel collapsed on 13 April 2004 which is the "famosa ruptura" of the glacier' head.
The water in the lake is about 2-3C degrees which makes it impossible to do any aquatic sports, sadly.
Anecdote: it was rainy weather and a minute after the bus dropped us, it starts raining like cats and dogs.
What do people do in the hurry and the fear of getting wet? They of course run to the souvenir shops and buy a nice yellow poncho !!! LOL
Instead, we take time inside a cafeteria having a warm coffee and some minutes after, the blue sky came back and you could see everywhere dry yellow ponchos that people dont know what to do with ;)
After visiting the Perito Moreno we left the town straight to next destination El Chaltén being on the other side of Parque Nacional de los Glaciares.
Coach El Calafate - El Chaltén 3hrs, 214km