El Calafate and the Moreno Glacier

We got the bus into El Calafate and literally as we arrived the cold that Tim had been fighting struck. He spent the next few days in bed and I entertained myself window shopping and examining and eating the contents in the supermarket! There isnt really much else to do in Calafate, it`s just a base for exploring the glaciers.

On the 4th day we wrapped up warmly and took the bus to Glacier Moreno. It was unbelieveable, it looked like something out of Superman! We had four hours to view the glacier and when the sun is out and it´s warm you can definitely spend hours wathing it as small and larger chucks of ice are constantly falling off. There is a constant cracking sound as pieces move within the glacier and when ice falls into the water the sound is like cracking thunder. It really is phenomenal....so is the hot chocolate served in the cafe!

The 250 km2 ice formation is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The end of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 kilometres wide, with an average height of 60 m above the surface of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 metres.

It advances at a speed of up to 2 metres per day (around 700 metres per year), although it loses mass at approximately the same rate, meaning that aside from small variations, it has not advanced or receded in the past 90 years. The Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating.

The blue colouring was spectacular

Just a bit cold and wet

A huge block of ice fell whilst we were there, you can see the impact it made in the water