El Calafate was our base for a few days. It was easy to enjoy lamb and Malbec wine, but guanaco stew was not a favorite for me. I’ll post a food blog for this trip eventually.

We drove shy of a couple of hours to Los Glacieres National Park. I was returning here after 12 years and worried whether I would see no or less glacier field than my last visit. The glacier Perito Moreno is the 4th largest glacier in the southern Patagonian ice field and the 6th largest in South America. When I last visited the glacier, I saw it from the boat-view only. We had the unique opportunity to see it calving. The newly-formed icebergs I understand now have been known to block waterways and disrupt navigation.

Timelapse photos since 2020 show the glacier is retreating. More observations will report exactly what’s happening, I’m sure.

This visit we had a few different trails to walk and see the glacier from different viewpoints. The glacier is named after Francisco Pascasio Moreno (1852-1919). Perito means “specialist, expert”, thus the glacier was called Perito Moreno. He helped determine the boundary between Chile and Argentina with all the ice fields and mountains. Also was an explorer and anthropologist. He collected fossils, plant and animal species, and cultural items from Patagonian tribes. It was finally in 1988 the La Plata Natural Sciences Museum was opened to the public. Moreno would refer to it as the “first museum to follow the theory of evolution”. Moreno’s scientific generation is about 40 years after Darwin being in Patagonia.

We’re flying from El Calafate’s airport to Buenos Aires, then to Puerto Iguazú. An interesting point where 3 countries meet and there is the “8th natural wonder of the world”. I’ll be back in a few days. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!