Marci Soifer

We made it to El Calafate, but wow...that was a bus ride. Mollie and I are pretty good at making the best of every experience, keep in mind. So, when it was furiously raining outside and leaking above our seats on the bus, we switched seats. When there was movie at any point in the 36 hour ride, we entertained ourselves with games like MASH (if you do not know about MASH, please ask your local 12-year-old). When we were hungry, we pulled out one of our choice meals---you know, like bread and cheese, cheese and crackers, crackers and jam, jam and apples (fondly referred to as our ¨apple pie¨...oh, the treats on a long bus ride), apples and bananas, and some cookies and chocolate. When we were tired, we got into our sleeping bags and slept. When the bus stopped at a million rest stops and told us that we were braking for twenty minutes and they really meant an hour, we just enjoyed the fresh air and tried to ignore the ¨characters¨ in the bus station at 6 am. And, when the bus had been going for about 32 hours and was finally an hour away from Rio Gallegos (the last stop on the main bus route and the location where Mollie and I needed to catch another connection to El Calafate), AND broke down on the side of the road for three hours, we laughed and ate and did whatever we could to smile (and we were successful).

Anyway, bottom line: I saw pretty much all of southern Argentina from the window of this bus, Mollie and I had some fun but are really eager to stand and move these days, and I think that I could win the sleeping on a bus for the longest duration of time contest. It was fine, really. We were seriously delayed in the end, since we were stuck on the side of the road in the broken bus for so long. Eventually, another bus did come to our rescue, which was great. Mollie and I did miss our connection on Thursday evening to El Calafate, and we had to spend a night at a random hostel to catch the next bus out on Friday morning. But, we got here. El Calafate never looked so good.

The city is interesting. Seemingly, the city is pretty centered around tourism and the Perito Moreno glacier, which is 80 km away. The development feels new, and the faces of the buildings are a charming wood or metal...something that looks sturdy and resembles winter-proof cabins. There are a handful of small, fancy hotels, a few nice restaurants, and a lot more chocolate and gelato stops. The main strip (which is the center of commerce in the small city...6 blocks of storefronts), has a surprisingly nice selection of cafes (which I always appreciate), and has a great deal of Argentine tourists wandering in and out of the mate (the Argentine tea) serving doors. The city is definetely Patagonian, as all views showcase the mountains, sparkling blue lake and lagoon, snow-capped mountains, and a tall, vertically shaped, leafy tree that has changed to yellow in the fall foliage...all features I have come to expect in Patagonia.

Upon our arrival yesterday, we embarked upon the main strip and got accquainted with the features of this place. While still soaking up the relaxed atmosphere, Mollie and I spent today exploring the most popular destination for the Calafate tourists, the Perito Moreno glacier. And, how else to explore this glacier...but, of course, the hike on the glacier excursion. I mean, how many other times in our life would we be able to walk on a glacier, let alone the third largest glacier in the world.

We left the hostel at 7 am, with a nervous feeling, as the rain that haunts my travels had (naturally) soaked the morning. In the monsoon, we loaded into the bus, picked up other tourists around town, and began the trip back into the glacier national park. It was dark, and I was obviously sleeping (being a bus again and all), so I have no idea what the ride looked like. My senses were heightened and fully awoken once we arrived, unloaded from the bus, and got onto a medium-sized motor boat awaiting on a tourquoise-steel colored lake in the midst of red and green (foliage) covered mountains, with snow caps. Your senses are probably heightened just thinking about it.

The boat ride was short, and after about 3 minutes, Mollie and I realized why we had taken the 36 hour, 3 day bus ride. Rounding a range of the mountains, the glacier was just before us. This enormous conglomeration of ice, water, and snow, with deep blue whole and flecks spread across the deep white snow overwhelms the eyes. Partly because it is so enormous, and really all you can see before you for miles, and also because the tall spikes and ridged edges are set into fascinating shapes. And, the eyes are not the only sensory organ this glacier taps into...also the ears. This glacier is almost the most mobile or most active glacier in the world (second place), moving 3 km a day, and as you get closer, the movement is audible. It sounds kind of like a cannon, as Mollie so eloquently put it. The glacier shifts, and either an enormous chunk will slide off into the water, creating a huge wave and dusting of snow and ice, or the glacier will move internally, which will only result in subtly movement of the lake water on the outside. Either way, there is much to watch and to hear. This is a wonder, and we were in such awe that all there was to say as our boat pulled to shore nearby the glacier´s edge was, ¨this is unreal¨.

The rain was settling down at this point, and the sun started to poke through the clouds, bringing on a much warmer and clearer glacier day. With our group and guide, we walked to the immediate side of the glacier, and tied cramp-ons to our boot bottoms. These are spiked claws for the bootom of the shoe, enabling easier walking on snow and ice. After a breif orientation to the world on the cramp-on, which really just consisted of ¨lean back¨ and ¨spread your feet apart¨, we got in a line and started to walk. The cramp-on was awkward at first, and felt strange on the ground. But, once we reached the glacier, I totally understood. The trick was to stamp one foot down, which secured the grip, and then move the second forward in the same motion, forcing small pieces of ice below to scatter. But, with this movement, we could do anything. We could run (we didn´t, but we could have), we could jump (again, not so much), and we could walk up or down any incline (and that, we did lots of). With that, Mollie and I walked on the glacier.

Up, down, around, stopping to take lots of photos, and bend down to touch the ice or marvel at the blue coloring that found a way to the surface or surrounded periodic holes. It was awesome. Two hours of walking. Our guide, Flavio, even grabbed his ice-pick and showed us what it meant to climb a totally vertical ice climb. This was really amazing. And, to top it all off, after two hours of marveling, taking photos of, and walking on the glacier, we ended up at a final spot where the adventure travel agency had set up a table with cups of whiskey for the glacier walkers. We thought it was strange, but figured that they did it because there was such an abundance of ice so, why not? Sure enough, they did fill the glasses with the ice from under the table. We sipped, and enjoyed a little snack, before descending and removing the cramp-ons. It was a fantastic experience.

After enjoying our packed lunch and visiting the glacier viewing gallery a few miles up, on a nearby mountainside, we headed back to Calafate. Mollie and I busily began to prepare for the next phase of our exploration of the south, which is Torres del Paine. This is one of the world´s most famous forrests and national parks, located in Chile. So, with passports in hand, we will get back on buses for some more riding tomorrow. We have cans of food, some granola, and our sleeping bags, and we will see what happens. All will be well...we will stay warm and fed, this I am certain of, but I am really looking forward to what this park has in store for us. We only have a few short days, so whatever happens, I hope that it will happen in the sun. In the meantime, I am still reveling in my experience glacier walking.