People fly hundereds of kilometers off the their main route through Argentina just to see this glacier. Why? – Because it is so big, so picturesque and staying on the viewing balcony opposite you are just a hundered meters from the ice…
The only gateway to Glacier Perito Moreno is El Calafate. Every morning a caravan of the tourist buses depart El Calafate. The cheapest provider *RP Transportes” charge 450 pesos for round trip. My bus was full, so maybe it is better to buy a ticket in advance. Distance to the glacier is around 80 kms, 1,5 hous drive. We had rain from the morning and cloudy sky. Departing El Calafate I saw on the right huge and light-blue Lago Argentino. Then there were kilometers of savanna and another lake – Brazo Rico on the left. Stop. National Park is very smart in… collecting entry fee. Inspectors board the bus and charge money. 330 pesos per head. If you do not have pesos you can pay USD or Euro like me, but the rate they use is lower then official. It seems to be their little private exchange business!
Narrow road goes onward up and down along Brazo Rico lake. Finally you see it. Wow! Few kms onward car park and you have 3 hour to explore. Today – in the rain and strong wind. But it is still impressive. The solid system of metal walkways will take you to different observation levels. Rich people can pay extra 350 pesos for 1-hour sail along in the little boat /not worth!/ You will hear like thunders – the glacier is calving all the time. The face of the Perito is 5 kms wide. The height is from 40 to 70 m. Great, great… But why we do not have the blue sky… Unpredictable Patagonia… I was here some 30 years ago and the sun was shining. But I did not have digital camera to take 150 pictures and video recording, like today.
