Our next destination is the Perito Moreno Glacier and National Park. The closes city to the Glacier is El Calafate, situated on Lake Argentina. The road south of Bajo Caracoles was mostly dirt and gravel with little stretches of asphalt. Slowly but surely the romantic Ruta 40 will be entirely paved and no longer a challenge to complete.
El Calafate is a very busy town. Surprisingly busy since the tourist season ended several weeks ago, I’d hate to see what it was like during the height of the busy season. The main street is teeming with shops and people filling them up. I can’t complain though. I was able to find a shop that sold those fancy berets the Argentine horsemen wear. This town has a large number of adventure vehicles that look like they have never been off road.
This picture sort of captures the range of diversions in town.
The temperature dropped 20 degrees as we approached the glacier area.
I’ve seen glaciers before and was not sure the extra day, extra miles and $20 USD would be worth the trip. I still didn’t like that they charged us foreigners 3 times what the locals pay but the Glacier is spectacular. They have a well done aluminum and wood walkway down to the glacier face that provides a number of close-up views. While we were there big chunks of the glacier fell into the water. We heard them but I never saw it happen. Unfortunately the sound that catches your attention is the last stage of the event, save for the wake created by the ice falling in the water.
We met a couple from Germany on a GS. They shipped their motorcycle from Germany and planned to leave it in South America so they could return next year for more touring. More motorcycles showed up in the parking lot. Three of them were from New Zealand.
The ride out to the Glacier and back to Calafate was pretty scenic also.
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