Home Journey Writings Photos Talkback Wedding
About Us About the Site Credits

El Calafate and Perito Merino Glacier   1 | 2 | 3 

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the picture. When viewing the full-size pictures, you can also view the remaining pictures "slideshow-style" by clicking on the "Prev" or "Next" buttons.

Sunrise in El Calafate — An early-morning start to visit the Perito Moreno glacier provides us with this distant, yet colorful view of the sun rising over the mountains.
Morning Mist — Some 80 kilometers west of El Calafate, a faint rainbow peers through the mist in the mountains surrouding the great glaciers.
Perito Moreno Glacier — Keith and Erin, posing in front of the Perito Moreno glacier. You'd never know it, but Keith is just recovering from a sleepless night of stomach ailment. Not a bad coverup, eh?
Glacier at a Distance — The glacier is approached from several hundred meters away, giving us a good sense of how expansive it is. In the early morning, the wind blows from the direction of the glacier itself, carrying brisk icy winds that require several layers of warm clothing.
Glacial Front — The front of the glacier stretches for five kilometers, and continues to advance by as much as one to two meters per day.
Zona de Endicamiento — A thin waterway is all that connects the distant lake, Brazo Rico, with the Canal de los Tempanos (Canal of Noises) in front of the glacier. Every several years, the glacier advances to completely covered this waterway. When that happens, the Brazo Rico rises and the pressure against the ice builds until it crashes through in an enormous explosion. This cycle last completed in 1988.
Calafate Berries — The name of the nearby town, El Calafate, is derived from these berries, which share the town's name. They're actually quite flavorful, tasting like fresh cranberries, only slightly sweeter. We tried some from this very bush, and miraculously neither of us got sick (or, at least, no sicker than we already were).
Cold Finch — A small finch looks around for fallen berries, and probably someplace out of the frigid winds.

Next page...  

Copyright © 2002
Last updated: 14 May 2002 13:04:10