The Motorcycle Diaries: El Calafate & Glacier Moreno

After returning from Fireland I found my girlfriend Morena in best conditions and spirits. My friend Juan at the hotel Santa Cruz in Rio Gallegos had taken good care of her. After some restful and contemplative days in the Fireland mountains I decided to name my motorcycle: “Morena” not only because it conveys well the theme of my Latin American travels as morena represents the tanned skin color of America’s indigenous population but more so because after burning on the first day of travel my Kawasaki’s “skin” looks very tanned indeed, and this experience has created a strong bond between us, hence “Morena.” Plus, since we are spending so much time together, it makes traveling a lot more personable.

I set off, for the first time on a motorcycle alone, towards the Andes northwest and El Calafate in particular. Hopefully not an omen for further travel, the 3 hour ride was by far the most windy and coldest I have done so far and only the beautiful scenery kept my spirits high. The town of Calafate is quite touristy but still has a quaint atmosphere but what makes the trip worth while is the breathtaking Moreno glacier. With its huge size of 257 square km and cliffs that drop off 60m into Lake Argentina, Moreno Glacier is the largest fresh water reservoir in Argentina and the most spectacular glacier I have ever seen. It is not only its size that makes it awesome, but its heavy activity (movement of 2 meters per day make for spectacular displays of tons of ice crashing into the lake), its mysterious shining ice and the picturesque setting surrounded by mountains, forests, and lakes.

It is truly magical to stand in front of this glacier watching its activity, observing the crackling and breaking of ice sometimes making eerie sounds as if treading on an ice covered pond with a thin layer that is about the break, sometimes collapsing in massive blocks causing thundering noise and huge waves as the lake swallows the ice.