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 Estimated reading time: 3 min. |
  Marcelo Sola |
In Los Glaciares National Park, you can go on an excursion combining a lake outing, a 4x4 vehicle drive, hiking or horse riding, sightseeing and tasting regional dishes on your visit to Upsala Glacier.
This excursion is hired in tourits agencies, where you will receive all the necessary information to enjoy your tour.
Early in the morning you will be transferred from your hotel to Puerto Bandera, 45 km. from El Calafate, on the northern branch of Lake Argentino, where the ship will be waiting for you.
During the first part of the navigation you will be served breakfast, which we recommend you have, not only for its calories, but also because you have a long day ahead, and when you see Upsala glacier you will even forget to eat.
After the Northern Branch, the ship will navigate the Upsala Branch to Upsala Glacier. You will cross the Icebergs Channel with its big blocks of bluish ice detached from the glacier. |
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When the ship slows down you will be allowed to go out and start taking pictures. It will even stop for you to take the best pictures.
Upsala Glacier forms a 50 km. long, 10 km. wide and several hundred meters thick ice stripe. In its central part you will observe a dark sector, the central moraine, where rocks, sand and clay transported by minor glaciers tributaries of the Upsala are deposited. |
This glacier of an intense white colour reaches the line of the horizon.
After some minutes the ship takes Branch Cristina to the end of the bay where Estancia Cristina is situated.
When you land there, some Mercedes Benz unimogs will be waiting for you. These four wheel-drive trucks were developed during the Second World War to cross the most hostile terrains.
In these trucks you will travel around the region, cross the swamp to the panoramic point from where you can observe Cristina Bay, Lake Tanhauser de Oeste and all the area influenced by the Estancia. |
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Then you will cross the fossils valley, where you will see oysters and other fossils which evidence the presence of the sea in those lands millions of years ago.
On the unimogs you will go to the Scientific Base of Instituto del Hielo Continental Patagónico, Upsala shelter, and the glaciers Upsala, Murallón, Cono and Condors Nest, where you can access to the shelter, see old radios and kitchen ornaments and then go to Upsala viewpoint and marvel at another perspective of this endless glacier. |
Silence will probably invade you, and you will observe every detail of this immense glacier of an endless white natural perfection.
Then you will go to the restaurant in the old "quincho" of the Estancia and enjoy lunch, a typical lamb with salad, home-made bread and traditional cakes, all of which is included in the price of the excursion.
Those passengers who wish to go for a horse ride in the estancia instead of travelling in the unimog should say so when they hire the excursion. |
After lunch, you can go for an optional walk around the area with the guides who will tell you the history and legends of the people of the estancia, British colonists who lived a hard life at the beginning of the XX century.
Then you will go back to the port to set out to Puerto Bandera. |
On board during the last part of your navigation you will be served tea and be able to speak about the anecdotes of that day with the other passengers.
This excursion takes all day, and finishes at about 21:00 hs. |
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Estancia Cristina
9 de Julio 69 (9405) El Calafate - Santa Cruz - Argentina
Tel: +54 2902 49-1133 / 1034
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