El Calafate and the mighty Perito Moreno Glacier

I arrived at my hostel aptly called the Marco Polo (makes you feel adventurous when you stay in a place called Marco Polo!), settled down for a few minutes, reading the traveller´s bible to figure out what this new place had to offer and how I would go about doing it. This is now my routine.

More than just a touristy small town in the middle of nowhere, El Calafate is the main stopover for anyone wanting to go see the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the few glaciers in this world that is not retreating.


Unfortunately, I have now started to fall asleep almost immediately as soon as I get on a bus or plane so I didn´t actually hear anything of what the guide was jibbering on about while we were making our way to the glacier. I don´t think I missed that much.

As we were driving towards the National Park, I suddenly caught a glimpse of it. It was a little like the first time I saw the pyramids. Sheer surprise. It got even better as we got closer. It was only by standing by the viewpoint that I realised the sheer immensity of this natural beast. You would to if you stood face to face with a wall of ice that is 60m high and that is still advancing. I could actually hear the ice move. I could have spent hours there watching the ice and waiting for the next break (I was lucky enough to see one huge piece of ice fall off and hit the water).


Other than seeing the Perito Moreno, two cool things happened to me on that day both of them being random encounters.

Previous to starting my trip I had done a little research (as you do) mostly to figure out what to pack. I started reading a blog called Cinco Tierras, written by a belgium couple who were embarking on a 5 month trip across five countries in South America. I have sporadically checked their blog along the way but had no idea where they were. Yes, I bumped into them. I actually recognised them as I was walking down the stairs. Incredible...I was so excited I couldn´t resist going up to them and talking to them. Now looking back, I realised it must have been pretty weird for them. But anyone who reads blogs knows that you feel like you know these bloggers. That was a pure random moment. I might not remember names but nobody can say that I am bad with faces.

Story no. 2 is also a good one especially for the francophone. I had started to talk to an old argentinian couple while in the queue (I wish I had taken pictures of all these people!), as we go about the usual introductions (who you are, where you´re from etc..) it so happens that one of their sons lives in Sardinia and that they have family in Nice (sweet eh!). Although this is cool it gets better. As they tell me about their son is Sardinia they mention that they were extras on a french film while they were on holiday visiting their son. Ah, really...which one ? .... none other than Les Bronzes III !!!! These films and the respective actors are a true french institution. I mean how cool is that!!!!