Description

Although El Calafate is a nice small city, the real scenery is fifty miles away. True on the road to El Calafate you may see thousands of sheep (or none, depending on the day), condors flying (depending on pressure and ascending winds), but the Perito Moreno Glacier is one of Argentina's most beautiful postcards.

You have different alternatives for going to the glacier. The cheapest one is the bus (about 17 dollars for the round trip), but you will only stop once on the way, at a panoramic viewpoint where you will take unforgettable photos, and at the glacier itself. There are no shelters in the National park, except the cafeteria that closes at 5pm (and the afternoon bus returns at 8pm). So take a raincoat just in case...and remember to use the rest rooms before the cafeteria closes.

Walking down to the glacier and along the paths will take some 2 hours, but the longer you remain admiring the glacier the higher chance you will have of filming or taking photos of some of the huge pieces of ice that fall off the glacier, and of listening to the roaring noise (like an explosion) when the ice starts to crack. Let me give you some hints for filming. You never know where the ice is going to fall, so do not zoom in until you literally see the ice falling. Pay attention to the noise of the ice cracking, have your camera ready and point in the direction from where the noise is coming. Generally speaking, you will hear the noise some 5 to 10 seconds before the ice starts to fall off.

The Perito Moreno glacier is some 20 miles long and has an altitude of more than 200 feet.

The second option (the tour bus) costs more than double, about 40 dollars per person, but stops on the way for beautiful photos, includes a one-hour navigation in front of the glacier, and is by far the best option.

If you take the bus to El Chaltén (4 hour travel each way, at a cost of some 35 dollars for the round trip), you will stop in front of the largest glacier of the whole area (Viedma) but at a distance of a few miles. You can take a tour from El Chaltén to visit the glacier, navigate in front of it, and even trek on the ice.

The tour to the Upsala, Onelli, and Viedma glaciers is really worthwhile. I did not take it because it was expensive (about 100 dollars or more) but gives you a fascinating view of there the 3 glaciers meet. If you can afford it, don't miss it.

And if you are not planning to visit Puerto Madryn, you can always take a local tour from Rio Gallegos (5 hours away from El Calafate) to the Punta Virgenes penguin reserve, where you will find some 440,000 Magellan penguins. It is also an enjoyable tour. You will need some six hours for this tour, that also goes through the El Condor ranch of Luciano Benneton, where you will also see an oilfield with its gas processing plants. On the way you will see sheep and probably some ñandus (the south American ostrich).

Enjoy your stay at El Calafate.