The breathtaking Moreno Glacier
The Moreno Glacier is part of the Los Glaciares National Park which we already visited a few days ago from El Chaltén. Now we return for a second visit, this time from the El Calafate side. The Moreno Glacier is probably one of the most well-known glaciers in the world. First of all because it’s very much intact and it’s one of only three glaciers in Patagonia which is actually growing. Secondly the Moreno Glacier is quite large and it’s fascinating to observe its blue ice calving. And thirdly the glacier is very easy to access. While for most glaciers you need to go on a hike or cross a lake, here you can simply drive on a road right to the front of the glacier.
Our hostel had arranged a full-day trip to the glacier for us also including a local guide. It was an approx. two hour drive from El Calafate and we didn’t choose the main road but a smaller one which led us through beautiful landscape. Since it had snowed last night the mountains of the area were covered in snow which happens seldom at this time of the year. The mountains also had an interesting shape because they used to be glaciers many years ago and the moving ice has shaped their surface. On the way to the glacier we also stopped on a small farm where I fed fresh milk to the animals.
Shortly before the glacier we went on a small hike on the shore of the glacier lake. Unfortunately it was cloudy and raining so we couldn’t enjoy a nice view at the glacier but got wet instead. When we arrived at the glacier we had lunch in the restaurant right in front of the ice wall. In the meanwhile it stopped raining but the sun didn’t really want to come out.
After lunch we went for a walk along the different circuit routes which take you along the ice wall. We could admire the ice wall from different perspectives including the bottom and the top of it. It was also very fascinating to hear the booming sound of calving ice or actually see the ice falling down into the lake. In the later afternoon we went for a boat trip on the glacier lake where we again came very close to the ice wall. I found it quite breathtaking to be so close to such a massive ice field and experience how powerful nature actually is.
Unfortunately I also need to mention the area around the glacier is very touristy. You have a road leading directly to the glacier, a restaurant right in front of the ice wall and the circuit routes made out of metal walkways. In my eyes this destroys the atmosphere a lot and I would rather prefer hiking to the glacier than being dropped off right in front of the ice wall.
Back in El Calafate me and my cooking group needed to go shopping since we are up to prepare dinner tomorrow night and breakfast and lunch the following day. Unfortunately this ended-up again in a tiny conflict with Diann. She had the ideas to buy a special type of yoghurt for breakfast. I would have had no problem with this if the price of the yoghurt alone wouldn’t have been more than one-third of the budget we had for breakfast, lunch and dinner all together. However, this time I had the feeling Diann understood my concerns since she didn’t walked off as last time but continued shopping with us.
Breathtaking pictures! I never even thought about glaciers in Argentina! Freakin’ unbelievable! Thanks so much for sharing these beautiful pics plus introducing me to a world I want to explore one day. (AND that whiskey and glacier ice picnic is on my list!).