The calafate is a typical Patagonian thorny shrub with yellow flowers and purple fruit. It is this plant that gives its name to the wonderful place located south of Lago Argentino in the southwest of Santa Cruz. The distance between the city of El Calafate and the Santa Cruz capital, River Gallegos, is 316 km. The beautiful flora of El Calafate can be seen in the great forests that surround the zone, and is comprised of lengas, sour cherries, ferns, lichen moss, topa-topas, orchids and eye catching shrubs like notro, devil’s sauco and of course, the Calafate. The fauna of El Calafate is also remarkable, and includes huemules, hullines, dwarf deers, guanacos, gray and Patagonia foxes, and an impressive diversity of birds like the small ñandú, black condors, eagles, swans, ducks, humming birds, woodpeckers and southern parrots. Its climate is dry and temperatures vary between a maximum of 18C in summer and averages of -2̊ in winter. The majority of the houses are constructed with double ceilings to support heavy snows. Yet what makes El Calafate most attractive is a trip to Los Glaciares National Park, declared Natural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO.
Los Glaciares National Park
This park was created in 1937 with the objective of preserving continental ice fields and glaciers, and was declared Natural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO in 1981. Its surface extends for 724,000 hectares and is located in the southwest of the Santa Cruz Province. The Park belongs to the ecological regions of Patagonian forest and steppe, and the High Andes. Its hectares are surrounded by forests, mountains, hills and lakes. The most important lakes of Los Glaciares National Park are Lago Argentino and Lake Viedma. Los Glaciares National Park contains 47 large glaciers, for example, Perito Moreno Glacier, Upsala Glacier, Bolado Glacier and Ameghino Glacier. These glaciers are in constant movement and great ice blocks released into the water can be observed. Los Glaciares National Park contains the second greatest continental ice field in the world after Antarctica, and is approximately 2600 km. Two thousand years back, a great part of Los Glaciares National Park was covered by glaciers. In their advance, these ice rivers eroded and gave way to form the landscape, digging steep sloping valleys into the ample mountains. At the same time, like gigantic bull dozers, they fragmented and dragged a great amount of rocks that had accumulated in the front and sides of the glacier, forming small elevations called morrenas. However, a later climatic change, which included a temperature increase, caused a surface ice reduction until having reached its present state. Now, the valley bottoms are occupied by large milky lakes (an aspect due to fine particles in suspension), and their slopes are covered by leafy forests.
Perito Moreno Glacier
The most well-known glacier of
Los Glaciares National Park is an imposing mass of ice, located 88 km from
El Calafate. With a front of 5 kilometers in length and walls of up to 80 meters, it advances on the waters of
Lago Argentino’s Brazo Sur. The
Perito Moreno Glacier is the only glacier in the world which can be climbed on. In addition, it has footbridges on the border of the Magellan Peninsula, from which the glacier can be appreciated from different view points. The geographic position and the high ice wall have allowed it to act as a containing dike with the Magellan Peninsula in eighteen opportunities between 1917 and 2006. According to available information, the
Perito Moreno Glacier was advancing from the end of the XIX century to 1917. Today the
Perito Moreno Glacier is in a stationary state, with registered maximum fluctuations of 500 meters. In contrast to most glaciers of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, which are retreating in the XX century, the
Perito Moreno Glacier is in balance state. This contrasting behavior is the product of different reactions from glaciers to climate change and the complex nature of icebergs in the water. The glacier ends in the lake, and its variations are regulated not only by changes in precipitation and temperature but also by water conditions (temperature, depth, circulation, topography).
Another remarkable aspect of this glacier is the importance of icebergs that fall from the front of the glacier’s ice wall.
The advancing process of the Perito Moreno Glacier
The most important advance of the glacier, which usually happens months or even years before the rupture, happens quickly and is accompanied by great frontal landslides. This crumbling form part of a frontal ice wall. After the advance stage and great loosening, a consolidation of the glacier’s front is produced on the rocky coast of the Magellan peninsula.
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The rupture process of the Perito Moreno Glacier
Brazo Sur and Brazo Rico of Lago Argentino are behind the Magellan Peninsula and their waters flow into the lake through Iceberg Channel. The Perito Moreno Glacier rupture phenomenon takes place when the ice wall of the advancing glacier touches the coast of the Magellan Peninsula, as opposed to the valley of the glaciers. In this way, the front of the glacier forms a dike that obstructs water drainage from Brazo Sur and Brazo Rico towards Iceberg Channel therefore producing a dam. Brazo Sur and Brazo Rico continue receiving snow, rainwater and ice, thus raising the water level within the dam. This behavior causes a temporary level increase of up to 27 meters in Brazo Sur and Brazo Rico. When the water level rises, the pressure on the ice dock due by glacial advance becomes tremendous. The pressure is so strong that the water begins to leak through the cracks of the dike and digs an under glacial tunnel. The two separated parts of the lake communicate through the ice dock formed by glacial advance. At this time, a succession of spectacular glacial loosening happens that can last days, until the arrival of a large nature wonder. The hollow part of the tunnel becomes so great that the "ice bridge" collapses with a later consequent leveling of Lago Argentino. The erosive process is slow, although increased during the summer season. The most probable period for collapse is when summer ends and autumn begins, between the months of March and April. The rupture process cycles of the Perito Moreno Glacier are not exact.
The last glacial breakage was March 13th, 2006 at night when the ice tunnel collapsed, scattering the dike that divided Lago Argentino into two singular river basins, into a thousand pieces
Lago Argentino
Lago Argentino is the largest lake in Argentina, and the third in South America. Its surface is 1600 km 2 , its length 125 km and its width varies between 14 and 20 km. The depths of
Lago Argentino are 35 meters on the south coast and in the center, and 300 meters in front of the Avellaneda Peninsula. Its green color is due to the lake’s glacial milk content; that is to say fine particles in suspension originating from glacial friction against the rocky beds.
Upsala Glacier
50 km long and 10 km wide, the Upsala Glacier is one of the largest; the third in South America. It has a natural view point from which almost 600 km 2 of ice can be seen. The front of the Upsala Glacier reduced 7 km on Lago Argentino between 1963 and 1999, although the greater rate of backward movement took place during last the two decades of the twentieth century. This behavior originated the appearance of new coastal islands and margins that had been previously covered by glacial ice. The Upsala Refuge has existed since 1959, and from there it is possible to admire Cerros Phister and Norte.
Spegazzini Glacier
What mostly calls attention to the Spegazzini Glacier is its frontal height, which is 135 meters in the center. The total surface of the glacier is 66 km 2 and its frontal width is 1,5 km. It can only be climbed by boarding at Puerto Banderas. It has not undergone important frontal changes during the twentieth century.
Walichu Caves
These are located 9 km to the east of El Calafate. They are spongy rock walls, eroded by wind action, that are found on Punta Walichu. These caves are formed of sedimentary rock and steppe vegetation, and original cave paintings and their replicas can be seen here. The main cave has a front of 6 meters, a bottom of 4 meters, and a height of 2.7 meters.
Onelli Bay
Formerly known as Cow Station, because those animals that had escaped from neighboring ranches could commonly be seen here. It consists of a small terrain that divides Brazo Upsala from Onelli Lake. The bay is surrounded by forests and mountains and contains three Glaciers: Onelli, Agassiz and Bolado.
Calafate River
It is a river contained by walls of varying colors, upon which it forms small waves. Cerro Calafate can be observed from here.
Lake Roca
Lake Roca is a beautiful, crystalline water lake, in which swimming is allowed during the summer. It is framed by natural, virgin, Patagonian steppe, in which shrubs abound, and one can fish for brown and rainbow trout, and puyens. Lake Roca offers several touristic options, among them walks to nearby hills like Cerro Crystal with 3000 years of antiquity, and visits to estancias (Anita, Nibepo Aike, Huyliche, Alta Vista, etc.).
Nimes Lagoon
This fauna reserve, in which there are more than 80 species of birds, is located 1 km from the commercial center.
El Chalten
El Chalten is located 220 kilometers from El Calafate on Lago Argentino. A small tourist villa, it borders Cerro Fitz Roy (3,405) and Cerro Torre (3,105) located within Los Glaciares National Park.
El Chalten is the preferred place to do outdoor activities and mountain sports. El Chalten has been declared the National Capital of Trekking in Argentina. From here, excursions to Capri Lagoon can be made on foot, the walk lasting an hour and a half. Continuing on, one can reach the base of Cerro Fitz Roy, a place frequented by andinistas before beginning their climb. In addition, it is possible to trek to the Torre Lagoon, where the hill and glacier of the same name can be seen. Another interesting place is Chorrillo del salto.
35 km from El Chalten, Desert Lake can be visited, where you can go on an hour and a half sail, and also practice sport fishing.
Torres del Paine National Park
Declared Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978, Torres del Paine National Park (located in the XII Region of Magellan, Chile), is internationally recognized as one of the most beautiful and unique places on the planet without contamination. Its greatest attractions are spectacularly prominent, such as lakes, flora and fauna, which turn it into an ideal site for practicing eco-tourism and adventure sports. Doubtlessly one of the park’s greatest attractions, Macizo de Paine is largely formed of granite, and its origin goes back 12 million years. Even greater in height is Mount Paine Grande (3,050 m above sea level). Nevertheless, two of the most famous and representative summits of the park, are called “Horns" and "Towers" of Paine. Both sets have three peaks: the North, Main and East horns (2,400, 2,600 and 2,200 m above sea level, respectively); and the South, Central and North towers (2,850, 2,800 and 2,600 m above sea level, respectively). Torres del Paine National Park presents the opportunity to get to know the southern most glaciers of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Various paths lead to glaciers of remarkable beauty. It is possible to reach this gorgeous Chilean National Park from El Calafate. The distance between the two is 210 km.
Other Activities
Among the multiple activities that El Calafate offers, are SantaTeresita Chapel, El Calafate Municipal Museum, the library and the crafts fair.
Fonts:
Secretaría de Turismo de la Nación
Libro Glaciares de la Patagonia de Guillermo A. Chinni
