Excursion to Perito Moreno Glacier

Another sunny morning; we went down for breakfast buffet (bananas at last!) and met a couple from Boston while we were waiting for our coach to the Glacier and discovered that they were on the same trip.  Alison looked out of the lounge window and saw the Bentley Rally passing by on their way to Ushuaia.

The bus arrived and we set off on our scenic drive to the glacier.  We stopped for two scenic views and then arrived at the Park entrance where our entrance tickets were stamped.  We had another stop in the park for our first view of the Glacier and then arrived at the "balconies" where we had approximately 2.5 hours to walk the balconies.

The guide showed us the routes that were feasible in the time allowed and we went down to the second balcony, where we were able  to get close-up views of the glacier and hear the occasional cracking and watch the ice cascading down the face of the Glacier and hitting the lake with a crash.
The face of the Glacier was 50 meters high and extended 130 meters below the surface of the lake.
We went back up to the restaurant, where Alison went our side and waited patiently while Pete went to buy 2 hot chocolates.  He went to the service point, but was told he had to pay elsewhere, so joined the queue for the checkout.  20 minutes later he managed to pay for the drinks (just 60 pesos) and then joined a second queue for service.  By this time Alison was sending out a search party, but probably enjoyed the chance to sit down.

A short browse in the boutique and the back on the bus to the boarding point for the catamaran Victoria Argentina.  The boat was quite full and we were not allowed upstairs until we were under way and the emergency drill had been done.We all dashed upstairs as soon as we were allowed to get the best camera spot, but we should not have worried as the boat spent about a half an hour 300 meters from the face of the glacier.

It was a great trip, we didn't see any big crashes of ice and noticed that the ice was not as blue as the Lago Grey glacier, neither were there no large icebergs in the lake.  So it was very worthwhile to have done both trips as the experiences were different, but we were very fortunate to have had perfect weather each time.

The bus dropped us in town so that we could visit the Cambios, but as it was Saturday they were closed, so we were able to change some money at a cafe next door, which took Euros, Dollars and even Chilean pesos and served local beer.  They called us a taxi which arrived before we had finished our beer!

We returned to the Hotel and were met like long lost friends; we had booked another trip for tomorrow on the bus and the tour company had even phoned the hotel to let them know.

We then relaxed on the decking with a cup of Patagonian fruit tea until the temperature fell so that we had to come indoors.
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For dinner Pete had Patagonian tooth-fish and Alison Patagonian Trout, washed down with Patagonian Chardonnay.  Our pickup for tomorrow is at 10:00 so we will have time to pack up before we leave for our excursion.