Some people are happy looking at pictures of glaciers. Others may take a boat to see them up close. But we? We wanted to walk on one. And we just happen to know a perfect place for that.
We travelled to El Calafate, Argentina, like so many people, intending to visit Los Glaciares National Park. This park, located near the Andes mountain range, encloses around 300,000 hectares of glaciers. The glacier front is a 60 meters high ice wall ending on the Lake Argentino, surrounded by a mountain forest that’s not bad at all.
The entrance of the park leads directly into the glacier front, from where you get a great panoramic view of the lake and the glacier. You can hear pieces of glacier breaking down every few minutes, and you don’t need too much luck to see some truly impressing ice sections falling into the lake.
A short ferry trip surrounded by icebergs takes you to a small tourist centre, where you can leave your stuff, put some mandatory gloves on, and get ready for the glacier walking tour. The walk takes you up and down the ice, a very exciting trip but also not recommended for people who are afraid of heights (seriously, it’s quite high). Along the tour you will make some stops to taste true glacier water (in case you always wondered what undomesticated water tastes like), take some pictures and have some whisky on the rocks because why not.
Weather in the area can be unpredictable, and “take a jacket” would be putting it lightly. We finished the tour really, really wet, but by the time we were back in town, it was sunny again. If we had gone by car we would have almost certainly explored the rest of the park, but bus tours tend to frown on people not showing back on time. At least we saw a cute cat.
