The largest continental ice-shelf - Los Glaciares National Park 145
What and Why
Los Glaciares National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Los Glaciares) is a massive national park in Patagonia, Argentina that houses the gigantic ice-cap in continental land. The entire park is around 7,000 km2, which is more than six Hong Kong packed together. These massive ice-caps are the largest outside of Antarctica, Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat) and Iceland, and the park has 47 of these large glaciers. Almost all other glaciers of the world are located or start at a height of at least 2,500 m above sea level, but due to the size of the Los Glaciares ice cap, these glaciers begin at only 1,500 m and is one of the lowest-altitudes in the world.
Toponymy
Calafate is Spanish for caulk, the local animal.
See
Perito Moreno
The most famous of these glaciated ice-caps is the Perito Moreno, which is named after the explorer Francisco Moreno. The massive 250 km2 ice formation, 30 km in length and 60 m in average height, is one of 48 glaciers fed from the Andes shared with Chile towards Lago Argentino. Just the front face where most visitors will pay tribute is around 5 km in width. This ice field is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water. The bluish hue of the glacier reflects the purity of the freshwater, and is a signature of this particular glacier. More importantly, especially to me, this is one of the major physical indicators of global climate change.
The glacier can be seen close up from the series of well-managed boardwalks from the carpark. One of the more peculiar features of this particular glacier is that it is growing, against almost every other glaciers which are retreating. It is also important to note that glaciers grow and retreat with respect to temperature of the season. During the time we were there, it was summer and it is not surprising that one would witness the occasional collapse of some glacier pieces. The glacier would grow much bigger during winter, and overall this glacier actually grows over time. Hence while one should be concerned about climate change, the cracking sound is not something to be alarmed about, at least not this glacier.
The boardwalks provide large number of great photospots. One can actually do a trekking on Perito Moreno by walking through this ice-bridge, or you can do a boating to go near to the ice-cap.
Upsala
The glacier is a large valley glacier higher up the Park. The glacier terminus is at Upsala channel of Lago Argentino. The Upsala Glacier is well known for its rapid retreat, which many see as evidence for global warming. As a matter of fact, Upsala has retreated to such degree that it no longer constrains its tributary Bertacchi Glacier and is a very alarming sign to planet Earth. The glacier is named after the researchers from Uppsala University (Swedish: Uppsala Universitet) of Sweden, who came to conduct research on this glacier. Access to this part of the glacier is, however, difficult and there is no tourist facilities. A special guided tour has to be organised to explore this area.
El Calafate
El Calafate is extremely small but has a very cozy Swiss town feel in it to be honest.
Buy and Do
One of the main buy of the town is marmalade, especially with the local berry.
Eat and Drink
Yerba Mate
One cannot claim to have been to South America if one has not tried the iconic beverage yerba mate, pronounced /ˈʝeɾβa ˈmate/. The infusion tea, called mate in Spanish-speaking countries is prepared by filling a small fist-size container with dry leaves and twigs of the mate plant, and filling it up with hot water. The muddy tea is sucked through a spoon-like metal straw called bombilla. The drink is supposed to be shared amongst friends, refilling and passing to the next person after finishing the few mouthfuls of the beverage and this is a common social practice in South America.
Yerba mate is THE drink in South America and one can see loads of people carrying the mate and a thermal flask under their arms. The flavour of brewed tea, in my opinion, resembles bad bitter trash grass or hay and I have to say it is really not 'my cup of tea'. Apparently this drink has a lot of health claims.
Asado
We also had an asado dinner at MAKO Fuegos y Vinos. Asado is literally the barbecue party of Argentina during which you are served with a variety of barbecued meat together with salads and condiments. An asado usually consists of beef, pork, chicken, chorizo, and morcilla cooked on an open-fire grill, called parrilla.
Almost in all Argentinian asado restaurant, the parilla is shown for this purpose.
Stay
We stayed in a timber country-house type hotel named Tremun Kau Yatun Hotel de Campo. Very good country-feel. The only regret we had was that we arrived one day late due to the national airline strike and our stay was cut short.
Getting There and Around
El Calafate is around 20 km away from Los Glaciares National Park, and one can reach there by a taxi. The entrance fee to the park is USD $30. A full-day exploration is good, especially if one chooses to trek up the glacier.
UNESCO Inscription
The Los Glaciares National Park is an area of exceptional natural beauty, with rugged, towering mountains and numerous glacial lakes, including Lake Argentino, which is 160 km long. At its farthest end, three glaciers meet to dump their effluvia into the milky grey glacial water, launching massive igloo icebergs into the lake with thunderous splashes.
References
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