Here it is guys, one of the most unique and interesting experiences yet. The glacier. When I was paying for the tour the night before, I thought that I was overpaying. But, on the bus bride there, without even seeing the glacier I ended up changing my mind and man was the tour great. We had about an hour or so bus ride there, with stops along the way so we could stop to see the wildlife and to take pictures of the scenery. We got to meet some nice goats and a friendly cow whonlet people pet him, which was pretty cool. As we were on our way again, we passed a lake with a beautiful rainbow framing it. It seemed so surreal and made up, like, you're going to throw in a rainbow too?!
Once we get there we get three hours to walk the catwalk trails and to just absorb the majesty. The parking lot was quite far away (as it should be), so you have to pound out a 20 minute walk to catch a glimpse of it. You can definitely hear it though, about every 5-10 minutes, a crack like thunder, an echoing boom like a cannon shot. As you walk, you can see the vibrant blue waters of the lake that holds the glacier, sizeable chunks of deep blue ice float past in the water as well. Then, the catwalk turns, as you follow it around the bluff you are met with the image of a wall of ice that stretches from one side of the lake to the other. At this distance it looks deceptively small, it seems to grow as you get closer until your scale adjusts and you realise that you are looking at a 60 meter tall wall of ice. In my three hours there, about two hours in sight of the glacier, I saw it calve five times! I even caught a few pictures of the waves and mist it threw up as it hit the water.
The interesting thing about this glacier, Glaciar Perito Moreno, is that it is one of the only glaciers in South America that isn't shrinking, but actively growing. It moves forward two metres a day! It also happens to sit in a mountain valley that faces an elbow turn of the lake below. The glacier comes down the mountain valley like a wedge and drives itself into the lake and goes all the way to the other side, effectively blocking the flow between both sides of the lake. Over the course of the season, water movement makes a tunnel through the glacier and the tunnel gets wider and wider and eventually collapses, leaving a path for the water to flow freely again.
Suffice it to say, it was quite an impressive sight. There were other activities available as well, walking on the glacier, drinking cocktails with glacier ice, a boat ride close to the glacier, I ended on the boat ride. Now this part was a bit of a bust, mostly due to the fact that it started to rain. Pictures were nigh impossible from inside the boat because the windows were covered in rain, and going up top exposed you to the blowing wind and wet. But hey, I can't complain about the day.
After thee boat ride it was time to go back. I had a lot more fun (and some beers) with Chris the Kiwi and some other friends. We were quite the international table, we had New Zealand, the U.K., Canada, The Netherlands, France and Argentina represented. I will definitely end up writing about this later as well, but it's such an interesting feeling to be able to meet people from all over the world who are doing the same thing as you, travelling in South America, it doesn't matter the age or gender and there is always something to talk about, the trip! So it was quite a fun evening.
And that was my first glacier experience, I would definitely recommend, and I would do it again in the future.
See all of my pictures here! (1'700 and counting)
Great pictures, Nick! It also sounds like you're meeting very interesting and like-minded people. Your dad and I think is a great primer to your first year at university residence!
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