My previous "walking on glacier" experience had been at the Columbia Ice Field, in the Canadian Rockies.  While that was interesting (and shocking, to see how quickly that ice has receded), it didn't prepare me for Perito Moreno glacier, in Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina.

Mini-trekking on Perito Moreno glacier, Argentina

Perito Moreno was one of the stops on our Patagonia tour, and our aim for the day was to strap on some crampons, and go out "mini-trekking" on the glacier. We took a boat across Lago Argentina in front of the glacier, and a short walk through the woods, then emerged at the edge of the glacier, where we donned our gear.
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The first surprise was how rugged the surface of the glacier was.  It was all steep hills up and down, with jagged peaks of ice towering over our trail. You can tell from the pictures this is no smooth field of snow!  As we walked along, we passed holes in the ice filled with frigid water and the distinctive blue light of the glacier, and crevasses that went down who knows how far...
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Perito Moreno glacier is one of 48 glaciers connected to the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, high in the Andes mountains of South America. The ice field straddles the border of Chile and Argentina, with glaciers reaching out in both directions. Only three of the glaciers are growing, and Perito Moreno is one of them.

The glacier moves several feet/day, constantly breaking off at the front edge

The glacier is a slow-moving river of ice, advancing several feet per day. At its front end, at Lago Argentina, there's a vertical wall of ice about 200 feet high. Enormous slabs of ice are constantly falling off the front of the glacier, so that the ice keeps moving, but the front stays in pretty much the same place. With this constant shifting of ice, every morning, the glacier guides have to scout out a new route for the day's tours.

The guides are experts, who straddled crevasses cavalierly, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Their stories of off-duty adventure were astonishing.

One guide said the most dangerous thing he ever did was free climb up the face of the glacier. (He said he would never do that one again - unless somebody bet him a lot of money!) This is 200 feet up a wall of ice that's constantly breaking off! We saw numerous huge chunks calve off and crash into the lake while we were there, testament to the constantly shifting nature of Perito Moreno.

Scotch on the (very old) rocks!

But the tale of derring-do that took my breath away was scuba diving in the glacier.  Those holes in the blue ice we passed that were filled with freezing water?  They'd find a large hole that looked promising, and scuba dive into it, following wherever it would lead.  I get shivery and claustrophobic just thinking about it!  And with the ice continuing its relentless forward march, who knows how long the hole you came through will be there?

Ah well, there's a reason they're out there doing glacier diving, while I'm sitting with my laptop writing a blog post about it!

At the end of our Perito Moreno mini-trek, we got a nice surprise - a little scotch on the rocks.  In this case, the rocks were "millennial ice" - glacier ice that's a thousand years old.  Most places the scotch is older then the ice, but not here!

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I'm not sure when we'll be back in Argentina, but the next time we do our women's trip to Patagonia, I definitely want to include Perito Moreno again. It was quite a highlight, and so much fun. Definitely recommended!
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Related posts:

1. Orcas on the beach, Peninsula Valdes, Argentina
2. Giant dinosaur found in fossil ''Lost World''
3. Awesome Argentine Armadillo

About a third of the way down the coast of Argentina, there's a large peninsula that juts out into the South Atlantic Ocean. From an aerial view, it looks like it should have been an island. The thin strip of land that connects it to the mainland is so narrow, that when you drive along it, you can see the sea on both sides. The desert here runs right up to the sea, giving brilliant contrasts of brown and blue. This is Peninsula Valdes, and it's a major wildlife preserve in Argentina.

Peninsula Valdes, on the coast of Patagonia

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The peninsula is home to a number of unusual and endangered species, both land-based and sea-based. On land, you're apt to see herds of guanacos - adorable relatives of llamas, who graze on the scrubby fields and hillsides. Dusty rheas can be hard to spot unless someone points them out. These are flightless birds, that look like small ostriches.
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Maras are relatives of guinea pigs, though they look more like overgrown rabbits. There are Patagonian foxes, and the very odd hairy armadillos. Nearby Punta Tombo is home to the continent's largest penguin rookery, where half a million magellanic penguins congregate each year during breeding season.
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The marine life is equally fascinating. About 43,000 elephant seals come here to breed every year. These are the world's largest seals, and they dive up to 3,000 ft to feed, in the abyss off the edge of the Patagonian shelf.  Southern right whales visit the protected gulfs  to breed.  Sea lions used to be slaughtered by the thousands here for seal oil, a practice that has fortunately ended. The number of sea lions clubbed to death at Peninsula Valdes over a 40-year period, is about the same as the current worldwide population.
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Then there are the orcas, also known as killer whales. Orcas are found in all oceans of the world, but different populations have unique characteristics.  A unique trait of this group is that their hunt for baby seals and sea lions frequently brings the whales right up onto the beach.  They swim straight for the beach, then wiggle their enormous bulky bodies back off the sand, and into the water.
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An excellent book about the region is The Wild Shores of Patagonia, by Jasmine Rossi. The author spent two years here photographing the peninsula and its wildlife, and the results are fabulous. There is a wealth of fascinating information, and the photos are simply spectacular.
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We visit Peninsula Valdes on our Patagonia adventure trip, and we'll be there in just a few weeks! I can't say whether we'll see any orcas swimming up onto the beach or not, but if I was a mommy seal, I'd want to keep my babies away from the water line!
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We also regularly see orca whales on our San Juan Islands trips, but the resident pods there eat only salmon, and stay well off the beaches!
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Related posts:

1. Photo: Ferry boat arriving Orcas Island
2. Mini-trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
3. Awesome Argentine Armadillo

The armadillo gets my vote for most unusual mammal

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Peninsula Valdez in Argentina is a sweeping, open space, where the dusty brown desert stretches right to the sparkling sea. Where else do you see armadillos and elephant seals all on the same walk? Not to mention guanacos and sea lions, killer whales and rheas!

I'd always heard that armadillos were shy, and that we were unlikely to see one. However, this little guy (or girl, for all I can tell!) was so intent on lapping up the drops of water that had spilled on the ground here, that his thirst overcame any fear of people, and we were able to get an excellent close-up view.

From a distance, the armadillo's protective armor looks like a hard shell. How appropriate that the name "armadillo" means "little armored one" in Spanish. As you get closer, you see that it's hairy. In fact, this particular animal is the species Hairy Armadillo -- once again a very appropriate name! Yes, this little armored creature really is a mammal, and one of the most unusual ones anywhere. When you get even closer, it looks like he's wearing an ornate golden headpiece!

Armadillos are omnivores, which must be a useful trait when living in such a harsh environment. They live in burrows, and in desert climates adjust their schedule day or night to take advantage of the best temperatures. Among their more surprising characteristics is an ability to swim, inflating their stomachs & intestines with air to keep themselves afloat. See more at the Wonderful World of Armadillos.

So next time you're hanging out at Peninsula Valdez, keep an eye out for hairy little armored ones, especially around the miniature watering holes.

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We're going back to Argentina for our women's trip to Patagonia in February 2010. It's an exciting trip! Peninsula Valdez is a stop half-way down the coast of Argentina, not far from Punta Tombo (with its hundreds of thousands of nesting penguins). But that's another post!
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Related posts:

1. Orcas on the beach, Peninsula Valdes, Argentina
2. Mini-trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
3. The President's wife

#1 - Eva Peron (Evita) was the 2nd wife of Argentine President Juan Peron. She went from rural poverty, to life as an actress in Buenos Aires, to wife of the president. As first lady, she was hugely poplar and influential. She founded the Eva Peron Foundation, that built homes for the poor and provided free health care. She was a vocal proponent of women’s rights to vote, and helped make that happen. She founded the first large female political party in Argentina, with 500,000 members. She never took the presidency herself, but she was officially named “Spiritual leader of the nation”. When Evita died of cancer in 1952, at the young age of 33, the country went into mourning, and many people around the country still remember her with love.
Power ****, Popularity = *****, Goodness = *****

Evita Peron Website: Evita’s legacy

#2 - Isabel Peron was Juan Peron's 3rd wife. In between wives, he had been deposed in a coup and exiled. Isabel was a nightclub dancer (Juan was obviously a fan of the arts), who met him in Panama. They returned to Argentina in 1973, and Juan Peron was re-elected President, with Isabel as his Vice-President. When Juan died in 1974, she succeeded him, and became Argentina's first woman president. Unlike Evita, Isabel was neither good nor popular. She invested a lot of power in an associate Lopez Riga-- a fortune teller, and founder of the Triple A death squads, and the economy faltered during her time in office. Soon the military removed her in another coup, and exiled her to Spain. In 2007 she was arrested in Spain, charged with the “disappearance” of people in Argentina during her presidency. It is now believed that the Triple A alone murdered at least 600 people.
Power = ***, Popularity = *, Goodness = *

BBC - On this day: 1974: First female president for Argentina
Guardian: Isabel Peron arrested over accusations of human rights abuses

#3 - Cristina Fenandez de Kirchner is the current Argentine President, elected in late 2007 to succeed her husband Nestor Kirchner. He came to power during an economic crisis in Argentina, vowing to bring "a cold wind of change". He restructured the country’s debts, revalued the currency, and realigned their policies, rejecting Free Trade. Though many were skeptical, the country had an economic turnaround. When he decided not to run for re-election, his approval ratings were 60%. His wife Cristina won the election, and Nestor is now First Gentleman in Argentina. How will she do? It’s too early to say, but we do know that just days into her term, investigations began into a potential scandal involving a suitcase full of $800,000 in Venezuelan oil money intended for her campaign. We will be watching with interest.

Wikipedia: Nestor Kirchner
UPI: Argentine president (Cristina) to hit the road

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We’ll be back in Argentina in early 2009 for our women’s trip to Patagonia. Hopefully their latest woman president will be doing a great job. Who knows what will be happening here in the US?
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Related posts:

1. Valentine's thoughts for singles
2. Awesome Argentine Armadillo
3. Giant dinosaur found in fossil ''Lost World''

This massive plant eater was about 4 stories tall (43 ft), with a neck 56 ft long and a tail that stretched 49 ft. One neck vertebra alone was more than 3 ft high, and the excavated spinal column weighed about 9 tons.

The skeleton was found in a region of Patagonia known for its amazing quantity and diversity of fossils. Along side it were fossils of fish, crocodile-like reptiles, a flying pterosaur, and a sickle-clawed meat-eater called a megaraptor.

A member of the research team from Brazil's National Museum said

The accumulation of fish and leaf fossils, as well as other dinosaurs around the find, is just something fantastic. It's like a whole lost world for us."

See the story at
National Geographic: Giant dinosaur in Patagonia, Argentina
See also the photo gallery and video.

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Our Patagonia adventure for women will be back in early 2009, as exciting as ever. I’m always on the lookout for interesting, relevant items, and will post whatever I find in our Patagonia category.

Related posts:

1. Why we travel, and old-world travel advice
2. Awesome Argentine Armadillo
3. Orcas on the beach, Peninsula Valdes, Argentina