El Galpon del Glacier Feb 22 to 24

This was a 2-night stay at a small, family-run provincial hotel – well, more like a guest house – on the shores of Lake Argentina (Pip down-to-earth with bang!).  The point of being here was for it to act as a staging post for visits to the 3 glaciers: Perito Moreno glacier, the only advancing glacier in Argentina and one of the few advancing in the world (we later discovered that it is not advancing, but ‘in balance’), the Upsala glacier (largest in Argentina) and one other. 

That first evening there was a rather charming demonstration of Tango combined with a lamb BBQ at the restaurant next door – hugely touristy and basic, but quite fun nevertheless.

VIP cabin

On day 1, we were due to go on a super smart boat trip (10 people only) down the lake (Lake Argentina is something like 1,200 sq km and the second largest in Latin America behind Lake Titikaka in Peru), where the highlight was to be a gourmet lunch.  We were collected at 0800 on that first morning, driven to the port only to be greeted by the boat operator telling us that the boat was unserviceable!  Hugely peeved, we had the option of going on a somewhat larger boat (200 people) with the general public, but a boat which at least had a VIP area   

The big 200 seater boat

on the upper deck where the Captain sits.

Having come 8,000 miles to see this sort of spectacle (the glaciers that is), we took this option.  The trip was spectacular!  Not only did we see the 2 ‘lesser’ glaciers, one of which was the famous Upsala glacier, but we also got to see the Perito Moreno glacier from the water, an event which had not been on our original schedule.  The weather was perfect and the glaciers totally beautiful (yes, I know – bad English!)

THe magnificent Upsala Glacier

Perito Moreno Glacier

We arrived back at the hotel at 1630 and at 1730 we were introduced to Marcos Lopez, the owner of the hotel and a larger than life character – great fun and with a bit of the middle aged Buenos Aires playboy about him.  He put us all on very nice horses and we proceeded to have an exciting and highly spectacular ride along the shore of the lake (still lake Argentina).  The area was bustling with hares and birds of many different feathers.  It was a short ride by our new standards, but truly memorable and included Marcos showing Jemima how to ride without stirrups; he took off at a gallop, rode a tight circle and came to an abrupt halt, using his balance and thighs to stay perfectly positioned.  Thanks for the demonstration Marcos!

Arriving at the Perito Moreno by car

The next day we checked out and were driven to the Perito Moreno Glacier – equally as impressive from the ground as from the boat.  

It was an eerie sensation, standing in front of such a large chunk of ice.  Every now and again we heard the beast creak in what sounded like distant thunder, as the whole body of ice continued to move forward and the component parts seemed to jostle for a front row, lakeside view.  

Big ice fall

We were enlightened still further by our new guide, Alejandro and saw a couple of ‘calvings’ – when chunks of glacier break free from the face of the glacier (those that have reached the 'front row') to form an iceberg.  It was a fascinating experience, but possibly one which our great grandchildren will not have the opportunity to see if global warming continues at this rate.

Perito Moreno Glacier - several km across

 A picnic lunch on the lake shore

Great picnic spot1

was followed by a 5 hour transfer to our next stop, Aguas Arriba, 35km beyond El Chalten and in the shadow of Mount Fitzroy……….