El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina

El Calafate, capital of the Santa Cruz province and one of the hubs of entry to the National Park Los Glaciares, is a picturesque, although quite touristy little town. Nearby is the famous glacier Pinto Moreno, one of the last glaciers in the world to still be advancing. I made a day trip to the glacier, a quite spectacular expanse of ice about the size of Buenos Aires city. The front of the glacier, rising 50-70m vertically out of the lake, is pushed forward at a rate of about 2m per day, causing huge chunks of ice to break off and fall into the water below. The noise was as spectacular as the view of the glacier itself.