AN ADVENTURE AMONG GLACIERS

El Calafate is a village where the inhabitants have made a religion from hospitality. It is a peaceful and pictorial settlement, a heaven of peace and vegetation, where the Patagonian beauty can be revealed. It is a place where steppes, mountains, lakes, woods and glaciers live in harmony with the rich native flora and fauna.

Inhabited by 5,000 thousand people, El Calafate is sited on the southern bank of Lake Argentino, at the foot of the mountain with the same name, in the southwest of the province of Santa Cruz. El Calafate is the gateway to the renowned Los Glaciares National Park, one of the most amazing parks in Argentina where blocks of thousand-year-old ice float on the lakes.

El Calafate is called after a little bush typical of southern Patagonia, whose fruit (a kind of berry) is very much used in local confectionery, especially for jams. It tastes like blackberries although it is less sour. It is usually the chief ingredient of cakes, pies, drinks and desserts, which are very hard to resist.

According to tradition, he who eats calafate will come back for more. However, reality shows that whoever visits El Calafate does not even want to leave.

The settlement dates from 1913, when a Spanish immigrant, José Pantín, and his family opened a bar, a grocery store and accommodation near the mouth of El Calafate stream.

These amenities became a stage post in the journey between the Cordillera region and Río Gallegos. A few years later, other families followed the pattern and in 1927 El Calafate was formally founded.

At present, it is an important tourist center and has gained both national and international significance since it is there where the glacial circuits start: Viedma Glacier, Upsala Glacier, Onelli Glacier, Spegazzini Glacier, Mayo Glacier, Frías Glacier, and Perito Moreno Glacier known as "the eighth wonders of the world" have been declared World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981.

In Calafate, the main attractions are placed along the main avenue, which is full of picturesque houses, shops, restaurants, hostels, public services and handicraft stores, among others.

If you are setting up to visit the glaciers you cannot avoid this small village and all the magic that its natural attractions offer. You cannot miss the opportunity of crossing the bridge that could join you with the most magic and unknown part of the Patagonian geography. You cannot miss the feeling you are in the warm arms of God, as you come in contact with these breathtaking ice blocks.