November 24-26, 2023
After our three days in Ushuaia, we took a 1-hour, 20-minute flight to a much smaller town on the edge of the Andes Mountains in the Patagonia region. The population of El Calafate is roughly 25,000 according to the 2022 census, compared with Ushuaia’s roughly 82,600.
El Calafate
The town of El Calafate is situated in the Patagonia region of Argentina. As the Andes Mountains block moisture coming from the Pacific Ocean from reaching it, most of the Argentine side of Patagonia receives much less rainfall than the Chilean side, and thus consists of steppes, plateaus, grassland, and deserts. But within the borders of the Andes Mountains, there are also a number of glaciers and glacial lakes.
The town was named for a particular kind of evergreen shrub that grows there. It’s a thorny bush that has a round bluish-black berry similar in appearance to a blueberry, and as it grows nowhere else, it is symbolic of Patagonia.
The Legend
There is also a legend associated with the Calafate bush. According to the stories, two young people belonging to rival native groups fell in love. The only way for them to be together was to hide away and keep their love a secret. One was the daughter of the leader of one of the groups. This leader sought assistance from the tribe’s spiritual leader to separate the lovers.
This spiritual leader, in order to separate the two lovers, turned the daughter into a shrub with berries the same black color as her eyes and thorny spines meant to keep her lover away from her. And yet her young man loved her so much, he could not stay away from her. He died by her side.
Legend says that whoever eats the berries of the Calafate shrub will one day return to Patagonia, because the love shared by the two doomed souls manifests itself in an irrefutable love for the land.
Lago Argentino
El Calafate sits on the edge of the Lago Argentino, the largest lake in Argentina. The Lago Argentino straddles the border between the Andes Mountains and the Patagonian steppe. It is fed by glaciers and by the Lago Viedma via the Rio Leona. Its beautiful turquoise color is due to minerals from the glaciers that feed it.
Glaciers
This part of the Patagonia region is famous for its glaciers. In fact, the town of El Calafate probably owes its existence to the glaciers, and in particular to the Glaciar Perito Moreno, to which it is closest. If not for tourists visiting the glacier, the town would at the very least be only a quarter of its size at most.
There are thousands of glaciers in the Andes Mountains. There are around 4,000 just between Chile and Argentina. More glaciers can even be found in the tropics, in the northern half of the Andes from Bolivia to Venezuela. Ninety-five percent of tropical glaciers are in the Andes.
Of all the glaciers in the Andes, or even the world, the Perito Moreno is the only one still advancing. It actually cuts off a section of the lake, the Brazo (arm) Rico, and has made it into a separate lake. But as the Brazo Rico is fed by meltwater without any outlet, the water level and pressure eventually rise to the point that the water creates a sort of tunnel under the ice. This causes a rupture, or calving, where one or multiple chunks of ice break away from the glacier.
Glacier Activities
One of the best activities to participate in is a glacier walk. This is literally where you walk on top of the glacier. Walking on ice of course comes with safety hazards, so beginner glacier walkers should only go with a guide. There are also necessary pieces of equipment you should take with you, which will be provided for you if you go on a guided tour.
The most essential piece of equipment without which glacier walking becomes dangerous and inadvisable is a pair of sturdy walking shoes. And I don’t mean shoes you go for a short walk in. I mean at the very least a solid pair of well-made tennis shoes if not actual hiking shoes. Honestly hiking shoes or boots are best because they provide the best support and help prevent injuries like ankle-rolling.
The second most essential piece of equipment are a pair of crampons. These are special frames with metal teeth fitted and tied very tightly onto a pair of sturdy walking shoes. The metal teeth on crampons bite into the ice, enable you to walk on it without slipping. Third and equally important is a hard helmet, to prevent skull fractures and concussions in the event that you do slip and fall.
Glacier walking is a lot of fun, but it is a bit of a work out. Crampons are heavy, and the tour guides instruct you on how to step with greater force than normal to dig your crampons into the ice. It may not seem like it, but essentially stomping your feet with every step takes some effort.
But the effort is absolutely worth it – not only do you feel pretty good after exercising, but the views are unbeatable. Below is one of the photos I took on the glacier walk, and this wasn’t even with my camera but my cell phone.
Another fantastic activity is a boat ride to get up close and personal with the front edge of a glacier. Below is the front wall of the Glaciar Spegazzini, another of the major glaciers of Los Glaciares National Park. It rises about 440 feet in the air.
The boat ride may also take you among some of the icebergs shed by some of these glaciers. The Upsala Glacier, the largest glacier in South America, in particular sheds many as it recedes. The boat tour I went on did not go up to the front of the Upsala Glacier for this reason. The company running the tour boat decided that there were too many icebergs to risk it, at least in the summer.
Other Activities
As much as El Calafate may owe much of its current state to the attraction of the glaciers, there are other activities. Some are glacier-related; others are not.
The Glaciarium
Described as a glacier interpretation center, The Glaciarium features exhibits and presentations that educates visitors about glaciers. There is a wealth of information on how glaciers form and shape the environment, the history of their exploration, and how they in turn are affected by said environment. The Glaciarium also is home to the world’s only bar (yes, that kind of bar) made entirely of glacial ice. How? Climate control, obviously.
There are rules, of course. You have to put on their special hooded capes, gloves, and boots in order to stay warm. Even then you can only stay about 30 minutes before you risk hypothermia, not only because the bar itself is below freezing, but also because alcohol actually lowers your body temperature.
Wildlife
There is also a wealth of wildlife to be seen in the area, if you know where to look. For example, I saw a number of birds in the area of the Bahía Redonda, just a short walk from our hotel. And the first birds I noticed were the flock of Chilean flamingos out in the shallow waters of the Bahía. There were also a number of Upland geese, Southern lapwings, a couple of Crested caracara, a long-tailed meadowlark, and a number of small shore birds.
On one of the boat tours heading toward the glaciers, I saw an Andean condor flying overhead. And we saw Lesser Rhea on two occasions – once on the bus heading toward the Perito Moreno glacier, and once in the shuttle going to the airport. In several places including the town itself there were also a number of black-faced ibis.
Other wildlife in the area include guanaco, a wild relative of the domesticated llama, and pumas, although they are secretive and just like the jaguar of the rainforest you may not see one at all.