ice age

perito moreno parque los glaciares argentina @ journeylism.nlPerito Moreno. One of few glaciers in our melting world that still ‘grows’. Growing that causes pain. At least, that is what you think when you listen to Perito sighing, moaning and screaming when moving forward with crumbling walls of ice.

Perito Moreno is situated in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares in South West Patagonia. The park is both part of Chile and Argentina and houses many glaciers. The variety in colors and locations of these glaciers makes the park an absolute ‘must-see’ when visiting Patagonia.

front wall perito moreno parque los glaciares argentina @ journeylism.nlParque Nacional Los Glaciares is home to glaciers Upsala, Heim, Spegazzini, Mayo, Ameghino, Onelli, Agassiz and Perito Moreno. Perito is not only the most famous one of the cold phenomenon, it is also the one about half of the world has most likely seen on TV in videos showing the effects of global warming.

But the breaking of Perito’s blue icy walls has, for a chance, nothing to do with the pollution of our planet. It is a natural consequence of the glacier growing over a meter a day. The frozen wall of Perito is constantly battered by the tremendous powers of water, temperature shifts, wind and moving ice. The result being a continuous crumbling of the front the glacier into the glacier lake. A spectacle of which both sound and sight are hypnotizing. Like a bunny in fast and furious headlight, you’re frozen on your feet. Unable to take away your eyes and ears from the brutal force of nature you are witness of.

parque los glaciares argentina @ journeylism.nlMost visitors to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and Perito Moreno stay in El Calafate. Previously a hamlet in the Argentinean outback, Calafate nowadays is booming. It’s charming main street makes you think of the American Wild West with wooden buildings and stores , bars and restaurants with porches.

The easiest and most economic way to visit Perito Moreno and it’s brothers and sisters is by bus from El Calafate. The 80 kilometer trip to the park takes you through the beautiful and deserted land of Patagonia. A constantly changing scenery which takes your breath away.

boattrip parque los glaciares argentina @ journeylism.nlFor instance at the vista point you reach after about 90 comfortable minutes. In the distance you see a bright kind of blue. The amazing thing about it, is that this is not the sky but an ice mass which is harnessed by two mountains.

fairy tale world parque los glaciares argentina @ journeylism.nlEvery turn you make in the next kilometers of windy road, brings you closer to this miracle. At about 20 kilometers from the glaciers front wall, you have a perfect view on it. The blue of the ice is in perfect contrast with the grey of the mineral rich glacier water. Blue sky and grey clouds, but different. In front of the massive ‘Game of Thrones like’ wall float icebergs.

The park’s lake(s) and glaciers can be discovered by boat as well. High in the Andes, surrounded by icebergs in many shaped and colors, you feel like a character in a Tolkien novel, under a spell of magic ice.

tolkien shaped icebergs parque los glaciares argentina @ journeylism.nlPerito Moreno
Parque los Glaciares
Santa Cruz Province