Posted 16 March 2007
We have just spent two wonderful days visiting the great glaciers of Argentina in El Parque Nacional de Los Glacieres in perfect weather, blue skies and ideal warm sunshine.
The first trip was a full day catamaran trip to the biggest glacier Upsala Spezzani and Onelli and picnic lunch on the rocks beside Laguna Onelli after having walked there through a lovely Fagus Norte or Beech wood (Linga Guido being the local name), the fundamental tree in Argentinian Patagonia well adapted to the dry conditions here.
The second trip to Perito Moreno, which which is far better known and features on most tours, was again a day trip but this time by minibus of Austral Mundo with a guide from the National Park to explain so much that we had not known previously about Patagonia and glaciers.
Our first stop was to take a one hour trip by catamaran to get closer to the ice, but the real attraction of this glacier was the ability to view it from above by means of wooden walkways, where we again had a picnic lunch. The biggest negative was the almost total absence of sculpted ice flows. The cost was 80A for the all day minibus and guide +30A for the park + 38A for the one hour catamaran.
It´s hard to compare the three trips. San Rafael was first and there was such a steady build up of expectation as we cruised on the sea first through the islands which are dotted along this Chilean coast, then saw the first sign of deep blue small beautifully sculpted icebergs floating by and an hour later turned a corner to reveal for the first time a glacier. It was by far the most expensive trip as catamaran and the 5 star hotel at the port were controlled by the same company.
We are agreed that the best trip and the best value was the Upsala, three glaciers trip. Here again there was a steady build up as we motored for about an hour from Puero Bandera, then gradually building up to Upsala the biggest Argentinian glacier, in some ways the least impressive. The best part was the Condors for we motored very close to a nest where a female Condor was nursing two large (grown hen sized) fluffy charcoal grey chicks. We got so close at one stage that the chicks were sent back to the safety of a hole in the rock, and the Condor flew off the nest to perch on the cliff face. The ultimate photo opportunity.
Not so far behind were the small blue icebergs (huge chunks), formed as the blocks of ice fall off the advancing glacier to float down stream to Lago Argentina, the second biggest lake (to Titicaca), which eventually flows out to the Atlantic coast. In essence the direction of flow is used to define which land belongs to Argentina and which to Chile. Upsala itself looked very dirty as it was carrying by far the most rock debris in various layers created by the tributary glaciers. The all day catamaran trip cost 175A + 30A entrance fee to the park + 18A for the transfer by minibus from hotel to port and return just less than 40K Chilean each.
The Perito Moreno minibus driver talked to us through his excellent microphone system for almost the whole of the two hour drive to the glacier. He was arguably the best guide we have had and spoke so well and deliberately in Spanish that I could understand a great deal of the information and then repeated the whole message in superb English diction. So I have little excuse for forgetting. He started by describing the Patagonian Steppes, explaining that they were not deserts because the grass although yellow and coarse was food for the guanacos and the sheep.
Then there were the El Calafate plants, Berberis Buxifolia, food for the birds which humans turn into liquor, eat as fruit, make jams and flavour ice-cream. We first ate Calafate on our trek at Chile Chico where we were told the legend that ´´He who eats Calafate berries will return to Patagonia´´. He stopped to show us the Caracara birds of prey sitting on the fence posts and the flamingos feeding in the lake. Then went on to describe the second Patagonian landscape with a mixture of beech trees and the barren looking land, and finally as we got higher the dense beech forest. Looking across the lake he pointed out the entirely barren rock coloured land just above the water on the other side of the lake and said this represented the height to which the lake rose when frozen and covered in snow in winter.
I must say we are extremely impressed by the standards of care for the environment in Argentina. There is virtually no litter in the countryside. He said that the biggest environmental problem was caused by thousands of wild cattle which went back to the formation of the park in 1937. The low lying plains alongside the lake had been farmed by settlers, though they had no legal right to the land and when they were evicted they left their cattle behind. The wild cattle now prevent the forest from renewing itself in the natural way. It is very difficult to remove the cattle from such a wild inaccessible area. They cannot just kill them without removing the carcasses or they will alter the food chain in a unique environment and it is almost impossible to remove them. Nevertheless that is their next task.
Upsala glacier is so named because it was first studied by the Swedish university in 1902 and by Perito (expert) Moreno (his name). Because he proved that it discharged into the Atlantic (and was thus claimed for Argentina) he was given good land by the Government near Barriloche. He left the land for the nation provided it was made into the first conservation zone. Their first National Park was thus formed in 1903. (Need to check accuracy of dates something occurred in the 1940/50s)
The fascinating explanation was the formation of blue ice, which arises when frozen snow falls from high altitude and is turned into ice by compression, thus presumably locking in oxygen as opposed to formation of ice by the freezing of water. The blue gets more intense the greater the compression and in general relates to the age of the ice, with the bluest at the bottom of the glacier as illustrated by a large piece we saw fall from Perito Moreno which in general was simply ice coloured.
Al Calafate is described in the guide book as unattractive which is we feel very unfair. There is nothing very old but the town is pleasant and it the only place we have yet visited which would satisfy the well heeled shopaholic. We have a very nice hotel here with a generous sized room, good bathroom, and excellent continental breakfast for 140A or 24K. The first hotel opened here when there were only four families living here, its logic being as a stop on the long trek westwards with the wool wagons destined for Europe via the Atlantic ports. He said these wagon trains covered just 20km per day and took 20 to 30 days to reach the coast. Today a farm has as many as 30,000 sheep.
We would definitely recommend the very small restaurant El Puesto, with a genuine pizza oven but a full menu, which had recently been doubled in size by the addition of an extension with seating for another 12 people. Eating steaks here with wine and a chocolate desert cost 115A, a shared pizza with a starter and bottle of wine was 70A. The first night there was a queue for two hours outside on the pavement and we were asked promptly if we wanted the bill.
The second night was much more relaxed and we spent a long time after our meal talking to the young German backpackers on the next table. Rheinheldt, the woman, worked for the government as a judge, Gerrit worked as a software engineer for a company involved in the application of virtual reality (where everything is observed via the picture in a headset) in this case it was used for the design of aircraft control desks, and presumably later for the training of pilots. They were currently working on getting realistic physical feedback on using the virtual controls.
They were a delightful couple trying to holiday by backpacking for the very first time and had chosen Chile/Argentine as the easiest location in South America - the most secure for sure, though they had had their small rucksack and cards stolen on the bus down to Puerto Montt. The logistics of travel here are quite difficult because of the terrain. I think they will try Peru and the Inca Trail next. In a four week holiday from work, they had trekked by tent for several days in both Torres del Paine and Fitzroy. They had had spells of bad weather at both locations including snow whilst they sheltered in the cold tent for 24 hours. They felt that Torres del Paine had more to offer having lakes and a glacier to add variety, whereas the main attraction of Fitzroy was the impressive double peak. They like the English girl I was talking to on the Perito Moreno catamaran had liked Buenos Aires, certainly we would agree there is nothing particularly appealing about Santiago. Again the Chilean option was by far the more expensive, though not bad if you camp out. I can´t help feeling that Chile is losing out to Argentina in the attraction of middle class tourists by pricing their major attractions for the very well heeled only.
We spent our first afternoon in Calafate by visiting the nature reserve for birds which they have created in some wetland by the lake. Flamingoes, ducks, geese, black necked swans, a Harrier which Joan identified correctly and we later learned is one of the two birds of prey in the area. An absolutely natural un-enhanced reserve it was a pleasant circular walk of about 6km, with a helpful set of notes on what look for at 25 identified points.
There will be some who think we take risks, though in practice they are more imagined than real. But on our minibus trip to Upsala we were reminded of the major real risk we take in any country traffic accidents. We were waved down just after I had noticed a small ambulance racing back to Calafate. A coach presumably full of tourists, like us bound for the catamaran port had collided with a Volkswagen car, cutting it in half and scattering the debris of wheels, doors and engines across the road. The coach had landed up in the ditch on the wrong side of the road but the passenger compartment was comparatively undamaged, as for the car driver he, presumably left for dead was still strapped into his seat hanging out over a non existent engine with part of his head missing. I had been listening as two American girl students in front of us had been slagging off a ´friend´for her immaturity in going for maximum male conquests on a single night. They said not a word for the rest of a journey.
We have just spent two wonderful days visiting the great glaciers of Argentina in El Parque Nacional de Los Glacieres in perfect weather, blue skies and ideal warm sunshine.
The first trip was a full day catamaran trip to the biggest glacier Upsala Spezzani and Onelli and picnic lunch on the rocks beside Laguna Onelli after having walked there through a lovely Fagus Norte or Beech wood (Linga Guido being the local name), the fundamental tree in Argentinian Patagonia well adapted to the dry conditions here.
 |
| BROUGHT CLOSE TO SHORE for CONDOR BIRD WATCHING |
 |
| UPSALA GLACIER, ARGENTINA |
 |
| UPSALA GLACIER |
 |
| PICNIC LUNCH STOP |
 |
| RE-BOARDED AFTER LUNCH BREAK |
 |
| NATIONAL FLOWER OF ARGENTINA, EL CALAFATE |
 |
| PERITO MORENO GLACIER ARGENTINA |
 |
| PERITO MORENO GLACIER |
 |
| PERITO MORENO GLACIER |
We are agreed that the best trip and the best value was the Upsala, three glaciers trip. Here again there was a steady build up as we motored for about an hour from Puero Bandera, then gradually building up to Upsala the biggest Argentinian glacier, in some ways the least impressive. The best part was the Condors for we motored very close to a nest where a female Condor was nursing two large (grown hen sized) fluffy charcoal grey chicks. We got so close at one stage that the chicks were sent back to the safety of a hole in the rock, and the Condor flew off the nest to perch on the cliff face. The ultimate photo opportunity.
Not so far behind were the small blue icebergs (huge chunks), formed as the blocks of ice fall off the advancing glacier to float down stream to Lago Argentina, the second biggest lake (to Titicaca), which eventually flows out to the Atlantic coast. In essence the direction of flow is used to define which land belongs to Argentina and which to Chile. Upsala itself looked very dirty as it was carrying by far the most rock debris in various layers created by the tributary glaciers. The all day catamaran trip cost 175A + 30A entrance fee to the park + 18A for the transfer by minibus from hotel to port and return just less than 40K Chilean each.
The Perito Moreno minibus driver talked to us through his excellent microphone system for almost the whole of the two hour drive to the glacier. He was arguably the best guide we have had and spoke so well and deliberately in Spanish that I could understand a great deal of the information and then repeated the whole message in superb English diction. So I have little excuse for forgetting. He started by describing the Patagonian Steppes, explaining that they were not deserts because the grass although yellow and coarse was food for the guanacos and the sheep.
Then there were the El Calafate plants, Berberis Buxifolia, food for the birds which humans turn into liquor, eat as fruit, make jams and flavour ice-cream. We first ate Calafate on our trek at Chile Chico where we were told the legend that ´´He who eats Calafate berries will return to Patagonia´´. He stopped to show us the Caracara birds of prey sitting on the fence posts and the flamingos feeding in the lake. Then went on to describe the second Patagonian landscape with a mixture of beech trees and the barren looking land, and finally as we got higher the dense beech forest. Looking across the lake he pointed out the entirely barren rock coloured land just above the water on the other side of the lake and said this represented the height to which the lake rose when frozen and covered in snow in winter.
I must say we are extremely impressed by the standards of care for the environment in Argentina. There is virtually no litter in the countryside. He said that the biggest environmental problem was caused by thousands of wild cattle which went back to the formation of the park in 1937. The low lying plains alongside the lake had been farmed by settlers, though they had no legal right to the land and when they were evicted they left their cattle behind. The wild cattle now prevent the forest from renewing itself in the natural way. It is very difficult to remove the cattle from such a wild inaccessible area. They cannot just kill them without removing the carcasses or they will alter the food chain in a unique environment and it is almost impossible to remove them. Nevertheless that is their next task.
Upsala glacier is so named because it was first studied by the Swedish university in 1902 and by Perito (expert) Moreno (his name). Because he proved that it discharged into the Atlantic (and was thus claimed for Argentina) he was given good land by the Government near Barriloche. He left the land for the nation provided it was made into the first conservation zone. Their first National Park was thus formed in 1903. (Need to check accuracy of dates something occurred in the 1940/50s)
The fascinating explanation was the formation of blue ice, which arises when frozen snow falls from high altitude and is turned into ice by compression, thus presumably locking in oxygen as opposed to formation of ice by the freezing of water. The blue gets more intense the greater the compression and in general relates to the age of the ice, with the bluest at the bottom of the glacier as illustrated by a large piece we saw fall from Perito Moreno which in general was simply ice coloured.
Al Calafate is described in the guide book as unattractive which is we feel very unfair. There is nothing very old but the town is pleasant and it the only place we have yet visited which would satisfy the well heeled shopaholic. We have a very nice hotel here with a generous sized room, good bathroom, and excellent continental breakfast for 140A or 24K. The first hotel opened here when there were only four families living here, its logic being as a stop on the long trek westwards with the wool wagons destined for Europe via the Atlantic ports. He said these wagon trains covered just 20km per day and took 20 to 30 days to reach the coast. Today a farm has as many as 30,000 sheep.
We would definitely recommend the very small restaurant El Puesto, with a genuine pizza oven but a full menu, which had recently been doubled in size by the addition of an extension with seating for another 12 people. Eating steaks here with wine and a chocolate desert cost 115A, a shared pizza with a starter and bottle of wine was 70A. The first night there was a queue for two hours outside on the pavement and we were asked promptly if we wanted the bill.
The second night was much more relaxed and we spent a long time after our meal talking to the young German backpackers on the next table. Rheinheldt, the woman, worked for the government as a judge, Gerrit worked as a software engineer for a company involved in the application of virtual reality (where everything is observed via the picture in a headset) in this case it was used for the design of aircraft control desks, and presumably later for the training of pilots. They were currently working on getting realistic physical feedback on using the virtual controls.
They were a delightful couple trying to holiday by backpacking for the very first time and had chosen Chile/Argentine as the easiest location in South America - the most secure for sure, though they had had their small rucksack and cards stolen on the bus down to Puerto Montt. The logistics of travel here are quite difficult because of the terrain. I think they will try Peru and the Inca Trail next. In a four week holiday from work, they had trekked by tent for several days in both Torres del Paine and Fitzroy. They had had spells of bad weather at both locations including snow whilst they sheltered in the cold tent for 24 hours. They felt that Torres del Paine had more to offer having lakes and a glacier to add variety, whereas the main attraction of Fitzroy was the impressive double peak. They like the English girl I was talking to on the Perito Moreno catamaran had liked Buenos Aires, certainly we would agree there is nothing particularly appealing about Santiago. Again the Chilean option was by far the more expensive, though not bad if you camp out. I can´t help feeling that Chile is losing out to Argentina in the attraction of middle class tourists by pricing their major attractions for the very well heeled only.
We spent our first afternoon in Calafate by visiting the nature reserve for birds which they have created in some wetland by the lake. Flamingoes, ducks, geese, black necked swans, a Harrier which Joan identified correctly and we later learned is one of the two birds of prey in the area. An absolutely natural un-enhanced reserve it was a pleasant circular walk of about 6km, with a helpful set of notes on what look for at 25 identified points.
There will be some who think we take risks, though in practice they are more imagined than real. But on our minibus trip to Upsala we were reminded of the major real risk we take in any country traffic accidents. We were waved down just after I had noticed a small ambulance racing back to Calafate. A coach presumably full of tourists, like us bound for the catamaran port had collided with a Volkswagen car, cutting it in half and scattering the debris of wheels, doors and engines across the road. The coach had landed up in the ditch on the wrong side of the road but the passenger compartment was comparatively undamaged, as for the car driver he, presumably left for dead was still strapped into his seat hanging out over a non existent engine with part of his head missing. I had been listening as two American girl students in front of us had been slagging off a ´friend´for her immaturity in going for maximum male conquests on a single night. They said not a word for the rest of a journey.
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