The Power of Nature

3-27

The hostel we are staying at is incredibly nice. Even has heated floors and an amazing breakfast of all you can eat toast, cereal, and even hot chocolate.

In the morning, I had to say a sad goodbye to Tom as he was flying off to Buenos Aires.

I then took the bus to the Southern Part of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares where I boarded a boat first to go have a look at the famous Perito Moreno glacier from the water. We sailed through icebergs before reaching the wall of the glacier. This glacier is famous bc it is one of the very few advancing glaciers left in the world, and it´s also quite massive. Its face where it touches the lake is over 200 feet above the water in places and its width at the lake is nearly a mile and a half. After the boat, I explored the myriad of cat walks that get you up really close and above the glacier for outstanding views. Today was the worst weather day, raining all day, that I have had while doing an activity in patagonia, but it was okay bc it didn´t obstruct the views of the giant glacier. And the clouds might have even helped to bring out the stunning blue of the glacier. The blue colors of the glacier are just so surreal and the ice "sculptures" made by the wind and sun are as amazing as anything humans could do. One of the coolest thing about hanging around the glacier (I was there for 5 hours) is all the noises you hear, from creaks and groans to large cracks and booms like a gun shot when pieces fall off. I got to witness (perhaps bc the rain had lubricated it a bit) some giant ice pieces (as big as small skyscrapers) fall off. A dramatic sight. The splash and tidal wave are humongous and the sound reverberates through the area. And then an hour or so later, the huge chunk would violently resurface, shooting straight up and creating crazy swells and eddies. Back at Calafated, I went to a Parilla grill with Laura, Katta, Leigh, and Anton (from South Africa). Meat, especially steak are famous in Argentina, and Parilla´s where they grill the meat and just keep bringing it out to you in all you can eat fashion are the best ways to eat it. Considering the quality you can and the all you can eat, the price of 15 bucks isn´t too bad.

3-28 The whole gang took the bus back into Chile to Puerto Natales where I will be doing another short trek in Torres del Paine and some grad school thinking and paperwork before I take the 4 night, 3 day Navimag ferry to Puerto Montt on Monday night. It was a relatively clear day today, so it was cool to see the Torres del Paine massif from a distance.