When I found out we are going to Argentina, one thing I knew for sure - we are going to Patagonia. For me Patagonia was this mysterious, even magical place where the world ends. Land of total freedom and tranquility where you can experience nature in it is purest state.
Along the way we met many young people, some of them from Europe, some - from big cities of Argentina. In spite of different background and origin they all had two things in common: first - they changed the comfort of their city life for the opportunity to live simple, even isolated life in the edge of the American continent, and second - they were radiating happiness and pride for their new home...You may ask why would somebody in their right mind would move to the place like that, especially in a young age? Because for them it was the most beautiful place in the world. It is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever seen. No photos or stories can give it justice, but I will try.
Since I was a child I was fascinated by power of nature. How could I miss a Perito Moreno glacier - 250 square kilometer "block"of ice, with average height of 74m above the lake, formed thousands years ago...what can be more exciting than admiring this world's wonder? Actually walking on it, watching, hearing the ice ruptures and having a glass of whiskey with glacier ice!
Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the most important tourist attractions in Argentinian Patagonia, partially because of it's easy access. The unusual thing about the glacier is that it is advancing, while most of other glaciers in the world are retreating. The glacier is located around 80 km from town called el Calafate (named after berries that look a bit like blueberries), where we decided to stay for 3 days.
El Calafate
The first thing you see before landing in El Calafate is a river flowing into the lake so blue that it looks like painted with aquarelle. Regardless to what one may think Patagonia is quite colorful. First there is the dark brown land, then there are lakes, rivers and ice in all shades of blue; trees are deep green, and there are flowers everywhere (we went in Spring) which feels quite strange considering the temperature was slightly above 0.
The town itself doesn't offer any architectural wonders. Everything is new, simple and designed to accommodate big crowds of tourists who come for a day, visit Perito Moreno Glacier and move further. It seems to me that El Calafate grew a lot in the last few years, because it still conserves the air of a village where everybody knows each other and dogs are just walking around. As El Calafate is literally located in the middle of nowhere (nearest town - 3h away) some products like gas or fruit are scarce. But in general it has everything one may need concentrated around main street - hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, souvenirs shops and agencies offering all kind of adventures.
For our stay we have chosen two activities - Glacier Visit (Mini Trekking on Ice) and a Visit of a Estancia (ranch).
Mini Trekking on Ice
One thing I admire about Argentinians (I actually admire many things about them, but this one was especially impressive) is how well they organize their tourism. We booked ours through the hotel and the only thing we actually had to worry about was to wake up on time. The rest was taken care off: We had a packed lunch waiting for us in the morning (just need to choose a combination of your liking), we had a driver picking us up and taking us to the bus, we had very interesting and informative explanation in two different languages simultaneously, we even got a trash bag!
The first stop of the trip was to admire a Glacier from faraway. The weather was not promising anything good, the freezing cold air mixed with icy rain was getting into the bones.
Then the tour took us to the Glacier viewing decks to enjoy the view for a good hour, while enjoying our packed lunch. We were lucky enough to witness few of ice ruptures. It is amazing natural phenomena when huge blocks of ice breaking from the main body of Glacier producing explosion like sound and mini tsunamis on the lake. I could watch them for hours, as they would give me goose bumps every single time.
One may ask, what is so impressive about giant mountain of ice? How about everything! The glacier is a living and moving "organism" which expands toward the shore in winter and retracts in summer. It constantly changes its structure with new carvings, cracks, ice water ponds and creeks formed every day. It emerges out of water 30 stories high. The glacier we admire now was formed with snow that fell hundreds of years ago when world was populated with totally different people who witnessed history we now are learning from the books. It has it's own fauna (the are actually species that manage to live on the ice)!
And then there is a color blue - 50 shades of it. Depending on the lighting, viewing angle, shadows you will see all possible tones of white and blue. In some places it is stained with earth, in some - it is so pure as a brides veil. Your eyes never get tired watching and exploring it. The size of glacier makes you feel so small and insignificant as a bug, it imposes power and respect.
Overwhelmed with a view we followed to the port where a little boat was waiting to take us to our next adventure. The Sun was starting to shine through the clouds...
To be continued...