We left at eight to go to Los Glaciares National Park. The bus detoured down to Lake Argentino so we could check if any birds were out in the morning. We saw some flamingos and swans.
We saw a fair variety of wildlife from the bus on the highway to the Perito Moreno glacier. Rhea, a black chested eagle, a large hare, and caracara.
The Perito Moreno glacier is unusual in that you can drive to within a kilometer of the calving line. Most glaciers in the world are remote and far more challenging to access.
Los Glaciares National Park has installed a network of trails on raised platforms so you can walk back and forth across as well as down the hill from the interpretive center to see the glacier from a variety of perspectives.
The glacier advances down the valley at an average rate of about six feet per day so if you wait and watch for a while you’ll most likely see a piece calve off. We heard some while we were behind trees or on the wrong side, but eventually we saw a small chunk fall off.
It was cold (about forty) but we felt lucky it had stopped raining and was not windy.
We stopped a little way from the glacier on the way back to the hotel to sample some calafate liquor - sweet stuff that would be great on ice cream. Then we stopped again about mid-way at a shrine to Gauchito Gil. Gauchito Gil, who lived from the mid-1800’s to 1878, is thought by many people in the area to be a saint, and we saw several shrines for him on our trip. Barby and our local guide told a story about the ill fate of the first test-run of the OAT tour we were on, with a series of unfortunate events blamed on one of the guides who mistreated an offering at one of the shrines. We had a large can of beer that several people used to make offerings at the shrine and our group had really good luck for the rest of the tour.
Once back at the hotel we had a couple hours of free time. The four of us decided to return to the gelato and candy store. We bought some gifts of small chocolate sheep filled with dulce de leche, and we tried our first alfajores. These are cookie sandwiches which can have a variety of middle parts. We got some of the most common type with dulce de leche inside and a chocolate coating - yum!
We dropped our shopping off at the hotel, then walked out toward Lake Argentino. There is a marsh area that is a bird sanctuary. We didn’t have time to go in, but we walked along the road and saw a couple different types of birds.
It rained a bit on the walk back, but not too hard, and we walked past La Fabrica Cerveza, a brewery with a cool sign.
We had dinner at the home of Gabo, a local guy who is involved with the local animal shelter. He made vegetable soup and osso bucco, which is apparently a common dish here, but so ordinary that it is not served in restaurants. The food and wine were very good and the host was friendly and funny.
