Iceberg Ahead!

Thu, 27 Oct 2022

This was to be another full-day in El Calafate, with a focus on glaciers.  Unlike the day earlier, we awoke to cloudy and threatening skies.  We'd managed to dry all of our gear from the previous day, so we felt well prepared when we reboarded the bus and headed to Glaciers National Park.  This park is on the opposite (east) side of the peninsula across from Perito Merino Glacier, which we'd visited a day earlier, and still on Lago Argentina.  It was raining quite hard and the temperatures kept dropping as we reached a just-completed dock for catamarans conducting tours into the park.  This was the largest exposure to other tourists we would have during the trip, as multiple tour buses of all sizes slowly filed into the parking lot behind us.  There were enough visitors to fill two large catamarans, with ours departing first.  

We sailed across the northern arm of the lake, into the Upsala Channel, which leads -- no surprise -- to Upsala Glacier.  This is the longest glacier in all of South America, at 37 miles long.  It is retreating at a rapid pace, and produces huge icebergs, which make their way down the channel.  Our boat sailed past and through fields of these icebergs, until we eventually reached the glacier.  The rain came and went, but the wind was constant.  The boat slowed multiple times near the icebergs, allowing us to go outside and get pictures, and then retreat inside for a hot drink to warm up.  Because the glacier is retreating so quickly, it is no longer rooted on the lake floor, but rather the entire front section now floats on the water, which makes it too dangerous for ships to approach too closely.  

Look at Boat on Bottom, To Get Idea of Scale!

Jeff and Barbara

As Close as We Could Safely Get to Upsala Glacier

We changed course somewhat, navigated additional ice fields, and then made our way up the Spegazzini Channel, leading to -- you guessed it -- the Spegazzini Glacier.  This is the tallest glacier in the Western Hemisphere, at more than 450 feet.  We were able to get up close and personal with this one, but before we did that, they completed a new cafeteria complex on the shore, close to the face of the glacier.  The facility was accelerated and completed early, during the pandemic.  We docked -- in steady rain -- and walked a short way to a large glass-sided building overlooking the water and glacier, where we took a break and ate the lunches we'd brought with us from the hotel.  Before getting back on board, we attended a very informative lecture (in English) on the history of Patagonia.  Despite having been in the region for more than four days, this was the best and most detailed history we had received.  Once departed again, we got very close to the glacier wall, which allowed for yet more pictures.  Most of us were, however, at this point wet and tired, and almost all of us napped to some extent during the hour-plus cruise back to port.

Spegazzini Glacier (tallest in Western Hemisphere)

View of Our Boat and Spegazzini Glacier

The Lunch Pavilion Opposite Spegazzini

On Our Way Back to Port (Fresh Snow From the Morning)

As happened the day prior, the closer we got to El Calafate, the clearer the weather became, and we again arrived back at the hotel in bright sunshine.  With all of our gear wet again, we retreated to our rooms, changed, warmed up, and hung up our clothes strategically so they would dry overnight.

Katherine and I had walked past an enticing restaurant the day earlier, which had been recommended by our local guide.  It was a little off the main thoroughfare but was very well reviewed.  Four couples from our group decided to head over to a distillery for happy hour after we situated ourselves.  From there, the four of us walked over to the restaurant we had been eying, thinking it wouldn't be a problem to get a table.  We could not tell from the outside, but once inside, it was a very fancy restaurant, and it was already quite full, despite the relatively early hour (about 7:30pm).  Though we didn't have a reservation (turns out, they were "highly recommended"), they took pity on us and after a short wait, we got a table for the four of us.  It was a traditional steak house, though they had meat of any type.  In the center was a so-called Gaucho grill, which is a round woodburning grill, over which spits with entire sides of lamb were grilled.  The kitchen was surrounded by glass, too, and we could watch as the chefs worked a very intricate grill to handle the beef steaks, chicken, and seafood.  This was one of our two favorite meals of the trip, and I put it at the top of my list, for both taste AND value.  As we still had cash with us, we paid dollars for the meal which came to a total of just over $100 for the four of us, including cocktails, wine, appetizers, sides, and main courses.  My steak was simply outstanding and cooked perfectly.  The portions were again obscene, so we ended up with a pretty large doggy bag, which Katherine fed to several dogs during our walk back to the hotel.  It was a perfect end to a truly memorable day.    

Our Amazing Meal at La Tableta in El Calafate