Perito Merino Glacier

Full-day mini-bus trip to the Perito Moreno Glacier (80 kms each way). Interesting drive: arid country much of the way.

Good tour with lake walk included.

Saw lots of hares, hawks, even pink flamingoes; and a flightless bird that looked like an emu: it is called a choique.

Also a llama - & plenty of sheep. There are many big farms (estancias) in this area with extensive holdings of sheep, including Estancia Anita, one of the largest estancias in this province of Santa Cruz. 

Unfortunately, it has a tragic history: in 1921, hundreds of workers were corralled and gunned down by Varela (the military commander sent by the government in Buenos Aires) because they went on strike.

Then 3 hours at the glacier - which was plenty of time. You can listen to it creak and you can watch as enormous chunks crash into the water below. We did this for a couple of hours. It was like watching grass grow.

The Los Glaciares Nacional Parque is well set up with an extensive network of walkways taking you to what they call "balconies" which allow you to get up close to the glacier with ample opportunities for photo shots.

The Los Glaciares National Park is located in the area known as Austral Andes in Argentina, in the south west of Santa Cruz on the border with Chile. In the southern area of the park is Perito Moreno Glacier. It is very famous because of its dynamic changes which produce a cyclic phemomenon of forward and backward movement with spectacular ice falls from its front walls. As a result of the enormous pressure of the antique ice and the subsequent thaw, three big lakes - two of them inside the national park - have formed: one of these, Lago Argentino, is the one we look out over in El Calafate where we are staying.