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"I smell glacier"

just did one of the more touristic things I've done in a while but so worth it! the perito moreno glacier is conviently accessable by bus which means everyone and their mother goes to see this puppy. the viewing area was built for 500 and I hear 1500 a day actually visit. that explains the line for the (only) 4 women's bathrooms. but sheeesh....enough complaining. this place is popular because it's incredible! it really is a tourist directors dream. where else can you guarantee that house sized chunks of ice fall into an azul lake surrounded by breathtaking scenery every single day? guaranteeing everyone goes home happy? pucon certainly didn't deliver with its volcano...

anywhooo, this glacier is pushing down from a range of mountains ending up between 2 lakes. every 6 or 7 years, it cuts one lake off and then finally the water explodes through, the lakes even out, and it starts all over again (like it needed to get any better). the lakes are cut off right now so one looks like a half-drained reservoir (reminded me of dillon!) and it means the glacier is super close.

the best part is just standing there waiting for these chunks to fall. "little" ones (they're probably the size of volkswagons) fall at least every 15 minutes. when you're lucky, a big one lets loose. after a while you notice patterns - the bigs ones are the quietest at first, but then you hear the dull roar. they release from the end of the glacier and slither into the blue, displacing this massive amount of water. the tourist boats have to turn into the waves because they are so big.

the other cool (unexpected) thing was the constant popping from inside the glacier - it was a constant reminder that this massive ice field the size of a city (not a town, a city!) was constantly moving. I guess it takes 200 years for ice at the top to reach the bottom.

so that was the higlight of calafate. I also met juergen from germany ("I smell glacier") on the tour and we celebrated the day with beers and tons-o-food (this may be the argintine theme emerging - I'm SO not loosing the weight I gained at bio bio....). now I'm getting out of here as fast as I can for el chalten - supposed to be a hikers mecca.

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