Perito Moreno Glacier

Located in Los Glaciares National Park in Patagonia, Perito Moreno Glacier is a massive glacier that sits about two hours from the town of El Calafate. On our second day in Patagonia we took a day trip to visit Perito Moreno, the 97 square mile glacier, which is a truly incredible sight. As part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Perito Moreno is part of the second largest extrapolar ice field in the world. Named for Francisco Moreno (”perito” means “expert” in Spanish), an Argentine explorer and academic who studied Patagonia extensively in the 1800’s, the glacier is 19 miles long and about three miles wide. Approximately 240 feet of ice can be seen above water, with another 320 feet of ice below water (total of 560 feet in height). That’s an awful lot of ice.

We arrived in the park and decided to take the optional boat tour to see the glacier up close. It was cold and windy, but incredible. I was expecting the glacier to be white and grey, making photographing it difficult and dull, but there were so many shades of blue in the glacier. The boat trip lasted an hour, and we were outside on the edge of the boat with our mouths agape almost the entire time, amazed at the beauty and size of the glacier. After the boat ride we went to the visitors center where they have an extensive network of pathways where you can walk around and see the glacier from different angles. We took our time, and of course, took a few photos. It was a great day, and a nice way to see such a natural wonder. The name of the national park is “Los Glaciares” which in Spanish means “The Glaciers” (plural) – there are several other glaciers in the area, and two of them are even larger than Perito Moreno.

Details: Day trips to Perito Moreno glacier are offered by several different tour companies. We booked our tour through our hotel. The tour company picked us up at 9:00am at our hotel and dropped us back off at the hotel at 5:00pm. You have to pay the tour company for the tour (150 Argentine pesos per person, includes transportation and information along the way), pay the boat company for the optional boat ride (50 Argentine pesos per person) and pay the entry fee to the National Park (75 Argentine pesos per person) when you arrive. After the boat ride we had almost three hours to ourselves to walk around on our own, get lunch, etc, etc. This was one of the highlights of our trip and I highly recommend a visit to Perito Moreno glacier.