Anecdotes of a Globetrotter: Big Ice Tour on Perito Moreno Glacier

After much contemplation, I decided to do the “Big Ice Tour” on Perito Moreno Glacier. Much contemplation, because it was expensive – the most expensive day tour I have done till date (ARS770, approx. S$240).

However I know that if I don’t choose to to do it now, I will live to regret it much later in life – something I am intending to avoid. And indeed it is a once in a life time experience! Perhaps prices will go up even more in future!

There is only one company (Hielo y Aventura) in El Calafate which offers this trek, and I heard that the prices of the tour had doubled in just 1 year, due to the devaluation of the Argentinian Pesos, which is also pegged to the USD. I guess it is a good thing that the Singapore currency is at one of its high at the moment!

There was also the option of another ice trek, called “Mini-Trekking”, which was slightly cheaper than the “Big Ice”, but between the two, I felt that perhaps “Big Ice” is much better as it allows you to walk closer to the centre of the glacier and probably better views than “Mini Trekking”.

The “Big Ice” Trek started at 7am when they pick me up from my hostel and we subsequently got transferred to a bigger bus. There were about 18 of us on the bigger bus, and as usual, I am the only one from Asia.

We drove past panoramic views of mountains and turquoise sea until we reached the entry to the Los Glaciares National Park at about 8.30am, where we were required to pay our National Park entry of ARS100 (this is not included in the ARS770 Big Ice Trip!). After about 20 minutes, we finally reached the Glacier Viewing Platform, where one is able to view a panoramic view of the Glacier from this point. There were a few routes for this platform, where one can simply spend a couple of hours walking across the various routes.

However as we were on a tight schedule, we only had 30 minutes and the tour guide recommended us the best possible route to get the best view in the shortest time. So everyone quickly made a dash towards the view point and it was stunning! No one else was on the platform except for us so we had the whole place to ourselves for photo taking.

The glaciers stretched for miles, with a bluish tinge in the ice. There was also some loose ice in the water. I was hoping to see some ice break off and crash into the water, but unfortunately it did not happen when we were there. In the next couple of hours we will be trekking on top of that!!!

We quickly made our way back to our bus, where we were next brought to the pier where we will take our boat that departs at 9.45am.

The boat trip took about 20 minutes with more different views of the glaciers, before arriving at the point where we will commence our 1hr trek towards the glaciers.

We were briefed for about 10 minutes about what to expect on the trek and the guide checked our attires (waterproof jacket, trekking shoes, gloves etc.) before making our way.

We trekked through the woods and up various slopes and about half way through, we started seeing the glaciers next to us! Woohoo!

We soon got to our next pit stop, where we will be getting our crampons for walking on ice. Usually this would be worn only when we were on the ice, but as the weather seemed a little uncertain, the guides suggested that we put them on now and walk for the next 100m with crampons.

So we were helped with wearing our crampons and putting on harnesses for the trek on glacier. It felt a little funny with the crampons, as the spikes got stuck in the earth while we were waiting for everyone to be ready.

Once we reached the glaciers, the guides shared with us techniques on walking on the ice with the crampons.

We were also told that we will be exploring a route which the guides have never taken before, and will require our patience from time to time as there could be some waiting while one of the guides explore the safety of the trek ahead.

So we got into a single line and started our 4 hour trek on ice! Yippee!!!

It was cold and windy but we got warmed up very soon from the hike. It was also awe-inspiring to know that I am stepping on one of the largest glaciers in the world.

It took a little while to get used to the crampons on ice, but soon, we were seen jumping across crevices and slopes with confidence.

We walked and saw impressive views of ice formations, blue lagoons, deep crevices and sink holes.

Half way through, it was lunch time, as we set down on the ice next to a lagoon to have our own packed lunch, before continuing our journey back to the pit stop to remove our harness and crampons. It felt funny to be walking on ground without the crampons again.

We slowly made our way back down to the boat pick up point while taking our last pictures of the glaciers.

We were surprised with a glass of whiskey on ice (ice from glacier?) for enjoying our last few minutes of our cruise, while admiring the impressive glacial formations.