El Calafate, a small town next to Lago Argentino comprising mainly of lodgings, is the base for anyone wishing to visit the Perito Moreno glacier.
The Perito Moreno glacier could be approached 3 ways; the south shore and ice trekking, a boat ride, and the north shore with the viewing platforms. A complete experience would take up at least a whole day. A typical tour starts with a boat ride that takes you to the south shore next to the glacier.
This is a place where chunks of ice exist in rather unlikely situations. Here we see them on the shore of Lago Argentino on a warm day of almost 20 degrees Celsius.
And the glacier itself is next to a Lenga forest (or in technical terms, Magellanic subpolar forest). This strange juxtaposition is made possible by its unusually low elevation of 1500m above sea level.
The walk from the shore to the ice mass is through an other-worldly landscape, consisting of exposed sedimentary geology, forest, a glacial lake, surrounded by snow-clad mountains. This is part 2(a) of the tour, and the guide stops along the way to try to explain these phenomena to the crowd of tourists.
Although ice is nice, there's more to it than meets the eye (sorry for the pathetic attempt!).
There is a slippery piece of rock some distance away from the ice, which may have been smoothened by glacial movement. It is a reminder that the glacier is not what it used to be.
This is the ultimate primeval combination of ice, rock, and vegetation:
Part 2(b) starts at this shelter where we tourists put on crampons and start the 'mini-trekking' on ice.
It is an amazing, mind-blasting experience, as everyone else on TripAdvisor testifies. For me it is not because of the walking on ice itself but because of the unworldly feeling and sights of being ON this glacier. I have not been on other glaciers but I don't think it's quite the same:
Sunglasses (preferably with polarising optics) actually serve a very functional purpose here. The mysterious, intense blue colour is due to ice under higher pressure with lower oxygen content. After lunch with glacier view, a boat ride across the glacial front to the opposite shore leads us to part 3, walking on the viewing platforms.
