Lake Argentino- Excursion to Glacier Perito Moreno

The trip from El Calafate to Glacier Perito Moreno takes you 80 kilometers over gravel roads before entering the Los Glaciares National Park. From the beginning, the trip presents pleasant surprises. Leaving El Calafate and to the right, you can see Lake Argentino and its Bahía Redonda. Here, one can observe an important variety of birds, in particular the black-necked swans, the flamingos, wild ducks, and coots among others. The yellow color of the fields also calls your attention, being composed of broom sedge (coiron)--grasses that offer this peculiar color.

During the first 40 kilometers, you cross the Patagonian plains. Entering the National Park, one observes how the vegetation is now formed principally of different types of trees: ñires, guindos, and lengas (nothofagus); a few cinnamon trees, and different colored flowers of which the notro, of an intense red color, stands out; this is a typical flower of the Patagonian Andes Forest.

Near the Glacier, you can find two restaurants and a snack bar.

Duration: The Entire Day

One of the most interesting activities at the Glacier is the excursion that starts at 10:00 a.m. in the Bay "Bajo de las Sombras" 8 kilometers before arriving to the Glacier. There you board a boat to cross the Brazo Rico in a period of approximately 20 minutes navigating in front of the Glacier. You get off on the opposite shore, where you walk for 30 minutes to arrive to the Glacier itself. Once having put on crampons, the participants start walking over the ice during an hour and a half.

This walk is particularly attractive due to the contact one can have with the glacier ice, its peaks and its small interior lagoons of a one-of-a-kind blue. It also offers a stupendous visit to the wall of the glacier and the lake.

Later, one walks half an hour through an exuberant Magellenic forest until reaching the shelter, where you will have approximately one hour to have lunch. At 4:00 p.m., you board again to return to "Bajo de las Sombras".

Duration: The Entire Day

This excursion starts at the pier of "Bajo de las Sombras". You navigate through the Brazo Rico approximately 300 meters in front of the lateral wall of the Glacier; here you can enjoy the Glacier Perito Moreno at the level of the water, allowing you to see the true hight of its peaks and towers (60 meters over the level of the lake). The navigation in front of the Glacier doesn't include docking on the glacier.

Duration: The Entire Day

Leaving the port of Punta Bandera, 50 kilometers from El Calafate, you navigate the Brazo Norte of Lake Argentino.

This takes place among spectacular and enormous icebergs of different forms. You will be able to observe the Uspala and Spegazzini glaciers, the biggest and the tallest, respectively, among the glaciers of the National Park. The boat normally docks in Bahía Onelly, a small mirror of water with a countless number of icebergs that break off of the glaciers that converge there: Onelly, Bolado, and Agazzis. There is a restaurant in Bahía Onelly and the boats also provide a food service. You return to the port at the end of the afternoon.

Duration: Half a Day

Eight kilometers from El Calafate, the Cuevas del Gualicho and Punta Bonita are retrospective in time. These are important archeological sites where the first rupestrian paintings were found in the province and have now been recreated to better appreciate them. In addition to their archeological value, the caves at the banks of Lake Argentino surprise you with the beauty of the landscape and fantasy climate.

Email: patagonia@aonikenk.com.ar
Telephone/Fax: Country Code 54 Area Code 297 Numbers 446-6768 or 446-1363
Rawson 1190 - Comodoro Rivadavia (9000)- Chubut - Argentina
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