Outings and excursions · El Calafate
Navigation to Watch the Perito Moreno
Text: Pablo Etchevers · Photos: Jorge González
In the Bay called Under the Shadows, there lies a catamaran waiting to take visitors as close as possible to the walls of the Perito Moreno Glacier. A tour suitable for all audiences.
The Perito Moreno Glacier does not cease to impress viewers and the chances to enjoy it are plentiful. They range from the hiking tours for professionals or beginners that lead adventurers across the ice floes and even train them in climbing some of its walls, to the tours in which beholding the glacier is a prize itself.
The Perito Moreno boat tour at a glance
The Nautical Safari
That is how we resolved to go on the tour named Nautical Safari, which gives passengers the feeling of standing almost next to the great mass of white ice on board a catamaran. The colors, cracks and even some of its deafening calvings may be appreciated from that privileged location.
On board one of the catamarans owned by the company “Hielo y Aventura”, we went on a navigation tour around the Rico Arm of Lake Argentino to approach and admire the real dimension of the ice walls.
From Bajo las Sombras
For such purpose, we entered Los Glaciares National Park and headed for the viewpoint where an embarking point was awaiting at the bay known as Under the Shadows. The Nautical Safari excursion, as well as other tours, start there.
As the catamaran set sail, passengers could observe the ice floes floating adrift on the water surface. Everyone was amazed at the small calvings of the glacier, anticipated by a kind of blast that immediately made everyone feel alert to look for the place where it was going to happen.
Facing the ice wall
As the boat moved toward the southern end of the Ice-floes Channel, it stopped at a prudent distance right in front of the glacier and started to cover it all along. At this point, most visitors were on deck trying to capture part of the spectacle with their photograph cameras and camcorders. Silence and expectation for a calving took hold of the moment.
All the magnitude of the fantastic blue hues and the whimsical shapes of the Perito Moreno are discovered during this lake tour suitable for the entire family.
Walking on the glacier
And for those who dare to go farther, the real chance to walk on the glaciers may be experienced through any of the excursions organized by Hielo y Aventura.
Whether visitors choose the Big Ice or the mini-trekking, they will both be enjoyed inside these giants of ice.
