On my way between El Chalten and Puerto Natales, I had booked two nights in El Calafate. It is one of the more visited Patagonian towns – probably because it has the main airport in this region of the Argentine side. It is next to a large glacial lake, which is a beautiful light blue colour.

I booked a trip to Perito Moreno Glacier for the following day, so I had most of the first afternoon to explore the town. There was a very strong wind the day I arrived, even walking outside was unpleasant – aside from the face full of dust one received, it was hard to stand up in the wind. I didn’t know this at the time, but the day before there had been a massive storm in Torres Del Paine National Park in which 5 trekkers on the O-Trek had unfortunately lost their lives. Patagonian weather can be truly brutal.

Later that day, the wind finally gave way to a pleasant but cold afternoon. I decided to take a walk to see if I could find any decent food. As usual, Patagonian prices are excessive, and I couldn’t find anything appealing in any case – so I went to the local supermarket and bought some food to cook on the gas stove in my room. I even got some frozen veggies.

The following morning, after the traditional late pickup for the tour, I soon found myself on a bus to Perito Moreno Glacier. The glacier is famous for two reasons: it is one of very few glaciers that is actually growing; and the fact that you can literally drive to it. Being a tourist attraction, catching the bus is actually more expensive than some of the cheaper tours, which is why I opted for a tour.

I was in two minds about going to see it, seeing as I had seen tons of glaciers just over a week prior to this in Antarctica. But I figured I’d probably never return to Patagonia, so best to see it while I’m there. I also opted to take the boat that rides right near the glacier – not cheap, but once again – how often…

The boat famously sells drinks with ice collected from the glacier. Watching them pull a chunk of blue ice off an iceberg was entertaining. I didn’t bother with the gimmick. High cost aside, I had eaten two chunks of Antarctic glacial ice within the last two weeks.

For the first few minutes of the boat, you are in a seat. Then they open the doors and you’re allowed to walk around.

I was particularly lucky with my choice of day – the boat ride was closed later in the day due to how much ice was calving. I got a few shots of it happening, but quickly learned that they look like nothing – best to just watch and take in the memory. Many groups don’t see a single calving in an entire day.

The mountains rising above the glacier are really impressive. The highest point visible from here is close to 3000m above the altitude of the river, and you can really feel the scale. The mountain in the photo above is Cerro Perito Moreno, which is “only” 1640m.

The tour included more than enough time to explore the paths around the site – which are elevated walkways above the terrain. This even gave me time to mess around with settings on my camera. I usually find tours providing too little time, that was not the case here. A lot of complaints on this particular tour note that if you don’t take the boat ride in the morning, you run out of trails to walk with hours to go.

The park within which the glacier is found is part of the same park as Fitzroy, Cerro Torre etc, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Overall – I was happy I visited, it was really beautiful. Usual Patagonia complaints – over-crowded, super expensive etc, but still a really interesting place to visit.