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Patagonia? No it's the way my trousers hang! The Perito Moreno glacier, a cool place to hang out in Los Glaciares National Park, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, November 2005.

Vast, barren and windswept, south Argentina's Patagonia nevertheless offers travellers four areas of interest: gaucho horseplay and life on a pampered estancia [ranch], excellent marine wildlife watching on Peninsula Valdes, superb climbing and hiking in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, and the amazing, creaking, grinding Perito Moreno glacier [not to be confused with Perito Moreno town that is in a totally different place].
Flying into the untidy little boomtown of El Calafate [pop. 16,000], a tourist could be excused for thinking they would rather be in Switzerland. Calafate is a messy frontier town patrolled by ratty cars, 263 free-pooing dogs and too many loud, excitable Italian tourist groups, but Calafate does have a new airport, some excellent restaurants and, strangely, four ice-cream parlours - in spite of a winter temperature of -15C. Calafate also has proximity to several of the world's largest glaciers, including the magnificent Perito Moreno, which is the sole reason for the town's existence.

Perito Moreno is about 80kms [50 miles] from Calafate, in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and activities in the vicinity range from basic gawping at the ice from varied viewpoints [known as balconies] on the cliff face opposite the glacier's end, to boat rides and expensive but worthwhile glacier treks.
There is one very expensive hotel within view of the glacier and a couple of campsites about 8kms [5 miles] away.

Why is the glacier blue?
White light travels on a long wavelength, blue on a short wavelength. Air bubbles in ice or snow absorb white light, thus appearing white, but the weight of this glacier, however, squeezes all the air out of lower levels, so white light cannot enter, only short wavelength blue. The more compact the ice, the bluer it gets; the cloudier the day the bluer too.

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