070220 - On the gringo trail

El Calafate, ARG - Next stop en route was El Calafate, a four hour drive from El Chalten, the gateway to the big glaciars. There's not really much more to do here than go to the glaciars. So I went. Hey, I mean, I really wanted them to see. Especially Glaciar Perito Moreno, one of the rare glaciars that is still growing. And it was impressive. But even more was the boat tour I did the next day. You spend all day on a boat with a bunch of people, but I got to meet three really nice ones from Poland who happened to stay at the same hostel.
As the boat got closer to the first one we sighted big chunks of icebergs floating in the lake. As high as three storey buildings. Maybe taller. And don't forget, what you see is only 10 percent. Getting close to the glaciars give you a really good impression of how big they are. Some of them stood 110meters tall, rising from the lake.

How is a glaciar being formed? Well, there is the so-called accumulation centre. A snowflakes fall from the sky, gets compressed in this accumulation centre, and as the snow keeps on falling, the "ice" keeps rainsing. Out initial snowflake is then pushed to the side, and eventually, after apprx. 10,000 years falls as part of a big chunk with a lot of noise into the water. *roaahh*