First published: 27/02/23.

Timonator 4.5

Los Glaciares

Los Glaciares (Inscribed)

Los Glaciares by Timonator

With a guided tour me and my girlfriend went to the parque nacional los glaciares and more specifically one of its main attractions- Glaciar Perito Moreno. From the hotel it was a 80 km ride (around 1 hour) into the parque where the entrance of 5000 ARS (Currently around 15€ each as of blue dollar rate) needs to be paid a bit more than halfway towards Perito Morenco Glacier. We went off the bus on the right side of the tongue of the glaciar or more specifically in the laguna de los témpanos which proofed it's name as some great icebergs with fantastic shapes were swimming in there. We got into drysuits and other appropriate gear and did a kayak tour on the lagoon. I would not recommand it as you get worse views of the Perito Moreno Glaciar than from the normal walkways as the 600m safety distance needs to be secured and also you don't kayak a lot as the tour already starts close to the glaciar. So most of the time is about sitting in the boat and wait. But it was also not too bad of an experience but to my opinion not a smart place to book a kayak tour. 

Afterwards we walked a bit at the main front of Perito Moreno Glaciar and it is like cinema within nature. Lonely Planet writes the Glaciar crashing into Península de Magellanes is "born to be a tourist attraction" and they're right. It's super beautiful and entertaining. Also we spotted some Andean Condors while waiting for Ice pieces crashing down the front of the glaciar. 

We returned to El Calafate where we visited also the Glaciarium, a museum about the Patagonian ice, ice in general and a bit about climate change. Quite interesting and nicely made- not sure if also part of the heritage- but a nice addition to the national park especially as big parts of the park are unreachable for most people and be visiting the museum one can grasp an idea if the size of the ice field. 

After visiting El Calafate for four days we followed the tourist ruta 40 towards El Chaltén which lies within the park boundaries. From there we did two day hikes to the most popular mountains- Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy. We followed the Lonely Planet advice to go on a not so windy day towards Laguna Torre which gives great views of Cerro Torre. It was worth the effort. We went directly after we had arrived to our hotel on the track which was already 4 in the afternoon and reached to lagoon around 7 in the evening.  After a break we returned to El Chaltén which we reached around 10 p.m. already using headlights for the last part of the track. Especially in the dawn we got the best views of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy while being cloud-free. Before some clouds were gathering around Cerro Torre but still the views were great. The track is moderate and can be managed in 3 hours/ 6 hours including return.

On another day we walked towards the Fitz Roy lookout at Laguna de los Tres. The track is again moderate until the final section which brings one up 600 meters to the lagoon. This part is very steep and requires hiking boots and good physical and weather conditions to succeed in my opinion. However the effort is worth it as one gets great views of Fitz Roy, a beautiful and cold lagoon and even views of the Lagoon Sucia around the corner at the top. Who doesn´t feel like getting sportive can also use the mirador after 4 km from El Chaltén to get good views of the Fitz Roy massive from a bit further away however still impressive. Finally we did rafting on the río de las vueltas which again I can recommand. It´s mainly within national park boundaries and despite the nice action with big waves after a calm start one will get to see impressive rock formations formed by the glaciars in the past like "the pyramide" mountain, walls broken through by the river which look like man-made however they´re not and a stony puma cave (without puma though). We also managed to all stay in the boat until the end.  
 
All in all Parque Nacional los Glaciares is a huge area which we got some great impressions of by our visit to the tourity places El Calafate and El Chaltén. Despite being mainly tourist places I have enjoyed being there and in the end the great natural experience is what will stick to my memory. With even more money one can also get to even more remote places of the national park which surely will deliver great impressions and experiences as well.  

Comments

No comments yet.

Log in to post a comment