Description:
El Calafate is a Patagonian town of 4000 people which borders Lago Argentino in the Argentine Province of Santa Cruz. It gains its notoriety from being the locality closest to the Glaciers National Park (Parque Nacional Los Glaciares), and as such is the gateway to the famous Perito Moreno Glacier, and Mount Fitz Roy (also known as Mount Chaltén).
Perito Moreno is one of the most famous glaciers in the park. The Patagonian Continental Ice region covers an area of 17,000 kilometers, and is one of the most important sweet water reserves in the world after The Antarctic and Greenland. 90% of the world’s drinkable water reserves lie in the glaciers. Through the different seasons, the glacier grows and shrinks. The most impressive time to see the glacier, is when it melts, often with colossal portions of the mountain of ice falling into the lake, to the thunderous applause of the crowds gathered there to see it.