After seven days in El Chaltén it was time to move on again. This was the longest I'd spent in one place since I'd left Aldea Luna on February 16. The next stop was El Calafate famous for being the stop over for the Perito Moreno Glacier. El Calafate is primarily a tourist town, and therefore expensive. I noticed when I reached El Chaltén that there were more tourists and this was no exception. That aside the town is really pretty and the hostel I stayed in had beautiful views.
Most of the people I'd met stayed in the América del Sur hostel, which was new, clean and had a great, although expensive, BBQ restaurant attached. I took advantage of the steak deal so I could clean out the salad bar (it's been a while since I've had the opportunity to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables). I was brought three steaks and saved one for the following day.
I booked an afternoon bus ticket to the glacier and rested up in the morning planning my next steps.
The bus takes around 90 minutes to reach the glacier. The bus travels around the Lago and then across the flat steppes with mountains in the background, where you get an idea of how vast this region is.
After seven days in El Chaltén it was time to move on again.
When you get to the National Park the rangers come on the bus and you pay the entrance fee.
The road then twists and turns along the shore of the glacial melt water and you start getting your first glimpses of the glacier.
When the bus drops you off you get around 4-5 hours to explore. I headed down to the lake to get some shots of icebergs from the glacier.
The glacier stands at 70 metres high and 5k wide, stretching across the mountain range. You can hear the ice breaking and hitting the water from a distance. It's a really loud and exhilarating experience. I wasn't able to photograph the entire glacier to give any sense of scale. But this is the biggest glacier I've seen so far, it's almost unreal in how large it is. I've also heard people talk about the glacial blue and I found it in the cracks at the front (see the top pic).
You view the whole glacier from impressive walkways which stretch for kilometres giving unprecedented views.
It started to rain so I headed for cover and caught the 7pm bus. I arrived at the hostel for 9pm. Time for dinner, packing and getting ready for my 8am bus to Puerto Natales the following day. The O trek was getting closer!
