One of the best things to do in El Calafate, today you will go on a navigation in front of the Southern wall of the amazing Perito Moreno Glacier, tour through the captivating forest and do the minitrekking over the glacier!
You will be picked up at your hotel and taken to the Bajo de las Sombras quay (port), where you board the ship for the 20-minute ride to cross the arm Rico of Lake Argentino. The ship arrives at a cottage where guides will divide all passengers into groups made up of around 10 people. Each group is assigned two guides, one walks at the front an another at the back.
Together wih your group and guides, you will begin a 20-minute walk towards the glacier that begins on the lake’s shore and once you arrive at the edge of the ice, you wil be provided with crampons and instructions about how you should use them on the ice. The trek over the Glacier lasts about 1 hour and a half during which you will be able to see the crevasses, seracs, drains and small lakes. The walk is slow, as you walk over an uneven but firm and safe ice surface. Guides will give short talks about the flora, fauna and general glaciology facts of the region and also some information about the unique phenomenon that takes place at the Perito Moreno Glacier and eventually produces its breaking-off. When the walk ends, you will return to the cottage walking through the lush magallanic forest.
On its return to the pier the ship navigates through the channel of ice floes and then approaches the glacier’s walls. You will then be able to get to the glacier's viewpoint where you will have the opportunity to walk along the pathways and admire it from different viewpoints for about one hour before returning to El Calafate.
This tour lasts approximately 5 hours (between navigation and trekking)
Recommendations:
a) Age: Due to the level of effort and difficulty required, this excursion is restricted, for pregnant women, people over 65 years of age, minors under 10 years of age, or people that have any kind of difficulty walking.
b) Footwear: Any type of sport footwear, for example running/ tennis shoes or trekking boots. Thick woolen or cotton socks are reccommended. Rubber boots and high heels in women are not admitted. Passengers are only provided with crampons.
c) Clothing: Sportive (long trousers for both sexes). It is advisable to wear a t-shirt, a sweater and a waterproof jacket/coat. Sunglasses, sunblock and gloves are also reccomended as well as a cap or a hat in case it is too cold.
d) Lunch: Passengers must take their lunch boxes and only the groups which take the excursion during the morning have 40 minutes to have lunch at the cottage. Once embarked towards the Glacier, there are no purchasable products. Lunches are easily provided at most hotels, just ask them to prepare this for you.
e) Smoking: It is forbidden to smoke during the excursion; neither on the boat, the forest, or the ice nor at the cottage.
f) Physical state: Normal. Passengers must know that they will walk slowly for approximately three hours through varied and irregular ground such as ice, forest and stones. Pregnant women, people with heart condition or other serious health conditions are not admitted.
g) Difficulty: It is easy, but relatively more complicated for elder people with vertigo or unhealthy physical conditions
Accommodation: Alto Calafate Hotel