Perito Moreno
Friday January 30, 2015 (Argentina, Patagonia, South America)
A visit to the famed Perito Moreno glacier today. It’s part of Los Glaciares National Park. It’s a massive glacier (about 3 miles along its front face) that exists in a strange kind of equilibrium. It continually pushes forward about 1.7m per day, only to collapse in large sheets at its front where it runs head on into a strong current separating two lakes. As a result, viewers are treated to frequent and massive calvings of the glacier and accompanying cracks and smashes as the glacier disintegrates into the lake below.
On the way to the glacier, the tour stopped off at a ranch so we could visit with some animals! The main purpose is really to stall so that you’re arriving at the glacier a little later than the unwashed masses, but Sandra and I were certainly happy to meet a bunch of goats, foxes, cats, and a guanaco — a cute-as-anything mini alpaca lookalike!