Patagonia - Day #12

 Patagonia - Day #12 - Wednesday, January 8th

Last full day in Argentina and last day before traveling back to the US.  What a great trip!   Greg and I just had a nice steak dinner at our hotel in El Calafate - rehashing the past couple weeks.  Patagonia lived up to all my expectations - and then some.  We saw a ton of amazing scenery, challenged ourselves with strenuous hikes, and met some incredible people along the way.  I also gained some inspiration on new trips for the future. 

Today’s adventure started slow - but ended on a high note.  We got picked up at our hotel at 8:20am and were shuttled to a boat dock to catch a ferry, which was located about 1-hr from our hotel.  We went on a 4-1/2 hr boat cruise on Lake Argentino.  We had 2 stops where we went for short hikes to some amazing waterfalls.  The last stop brought us to the take-home site of the day - the Perito Moreno Glacier. 

Wow!  We’ve seen a number of glaciers this week - but the Perito Moreno Glacier was easily the most spectacular.  We were able to take the boat within 300 meters of the glacier.  This was amazing itself - but then we were taken to shore to a series of walkways that overlooked the glacier at several points.  Unreal!  We spent 2 hours (1:45pm - 3:45pm) walking around the grounds - finding new views of this massive glacier.  

The Perito Moreno Glacier is the 3rd largest reserve of fresh water in the world.  The glacier is 97 square miles and is 19 miles in length.  The terminus of the glacier (the part we witnessed) is 3.1 miles wide and has a height of 240 ft above Lake Argentino. 

After taking a ton of great pictures, we met our guide for the 1-hr transfer back into El Calafate.  We arrived at our hotel after 5pm.  We got all our gear packed up and ready for departure in the morning - then the night ended with a perfect dinner at the hotel. 

Tomorrow - we start our travel with a 3-hr flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires - departing at 11:30am.  We have a shuttle setup for 9am to take us to the airport. I’ll check in throughout the day tomorrow. 

Good night from Patagonia for the last time!!