Advancing Glacier, Perito Moreno and the Town of El Calafate

Glaciar Perito Moreno
Originally uploaded by louise_parmenter.

This is more like it!!! The Glacier Perito Moreno is an awesome sight, so vast, dense and therefore intense blue in places, and very noisy as the it advances, cracking like rifle fire or rumbling like thunder. I could have spent days watching and listening! El Calafate is another expensive town, but so charming and beautifully set surrounded by hills, mountains and two stunning turquoise lakes. I´ve already extended my stay by 2 days and will be sad to leave tomorrow.

Click here for a few photos, none of which do either the glacier or El Calafate justice.

And Now I`m just spoiling you: here`s a video showing the moment when huge piece of the glacier fell away. Unfortunately I can´t rotate it. Sorry .

KM TRAVELED AS A BACKPACKER SINCE USHUAIA: 870KM

Ushuaia aka The End Of The World

Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel
Originally uploaded by louise_parmenter.

So I´m now officially on the road with my home on my back! The beginning of a long journey! And where best to start than The End of the World? Having left the Island of Tierra del Fuego, the Beagle Channel and the Straits of Magallanes I can share these photos with you. I was a little disappointed with Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego: its over-marketed status as the Fin del Mundo and its remoteness made it extremely expensive, very touristy and quite an anticlimax. I spent an afternoon walking up to a viewpoint over the town and Beagle Channel and another day at the Tierra del Fuego National Park and decided to leave alter that. It was attractive, don´t get me wrong, but perhaps not worth the long and complicated journey. My experience would most likely have been a more exciting one had I taken one of the many boat trips, ranging from a 4 hour trip to a nearby island to a week long cruise to the Antarctic, non of which I wanted to take, given that I´ll be on a cruise of the Chilean fjords from this Thursday! I think for me the highlight, albeit a very shortlived one, was seeing a couple of porpoises on the 15minute crossing over the narrowest part of the Straits of Magallanes!


SUMMARY OF KM COVERED IN LATIN AMERICA SO FAR:
57,000km = air travel
12,000km = by car, bus or boat