Glaciers, and tourism tricks....

So yesterday I walked on a glacier. One of the best things I have seen in my life, despite the glacier not 'calving' at it's usual rate. This glacier (Perito Moreno) is supposed to be one of the fastest in the world, and supposedly calves icebergs daily, but apparently not today (no killer whales here either)... Fucking hell, every cop over here carries an RPG - why not loose a grenade into the face to give us punters a spectacle? It's only ice...

That said it was an awesome sight. Well worth a 20 hour bus ride, and the worst hostel bed (which to their credit they allowed me to change).

Walking on it was also fantastic. Amazingly easy with crampons strapped on, but I still refused to peer down into a 200 foot 'ice cave' to an underground stream. I got a photo of it by lying on the ice with arms outstretched, but actually still missed the big drop. Very hot too - beautiful day with full sun, and I'm wearing thermals, cotton, fleece, and sailing jacket. THEY SAID WEAR LOTS OF LAYERS! Sweated bullets...

Finished the walk with a nip of Jamiesons with glacial ice. Which brings me to my next point. Apparently, as I have now supped on glacial ice for Perito Moreno, it means I shall return some day. Like the Calafate berry I ate in El Calafate? Like the dip in the water I took in Puerto Madryn? Like the Soccer ball kicked at La Boca?? Of all the cheap local tourism marketing gimmicks, this "you shall return if..." palaver seems to be endemic. Where's the scientific proof I say! Show me the research, with dates of original visits and subsequent 'returns'. A million people a year sup glacial ice. If they all returned, the place would be bigger than Buenos Aires. Because I ate a pie floater in Adelaide and I condemned to forever return? A XXXX at the Breakfast Creek hotel will forever bring me back to Brisbane? Enough of this pseudo touristy science! I'll come back when I book a trip on web jet...

Hasta,


The ice hole I was too scared to stand over:
























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Location:El Calafate