Today we visited another glacier, Perito Moreno, one of the world's few remaining advancing glaciers. The glacier is in Argentina's Los Glaciares National Park and is part of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field. Francisco Moreno, for whom the glacier was named, explored the area, arbitrated boundary disputes between Argentina and Chile, and advocated for the creation of Argentina's national parks. We stopped at a few view points along Lago Argentino before entering the park. Our visit to Perito Moreno glacier included another boat ride to the glacier's edge -- massive walls of ice, much larger than Glaciar Grey. The glacier seemed to be alive. Loud explosion-like noises signaled glacier movement either in its interior or pieces breaking off and falling into the water. It was very impressive. After the boat ride we drove to the north side of the glacier and walked along a series of walkways overlooking the glacier, giving us a better sense of its immense expanse. After our excursion to Perito Moreno we returned to El Calafate for a three hour bus ride to El Chalten, a small town that calls itself the trekking capital of the world. While other mountain areas may refute that distinction, the town is definitely a hiker's paradise. El Chalten is in the northern section of Los Glaciares National Park. A charming town, it has a population of 1,000, which increases to 2,000 during the summer climbing months, and drops to 500 during the winter months. It is surprisingly tourist-friendly for being in the middle of nowhere. It boasts a brew pub, a number of good restaurants, a wine bar with an impressive selection of Patagonian wines and beers, a chocolateria, and several great bakeries, one that specializes in alfajores, a traditional South American sandwich cookie treat. (see Day 7 photos)
Kelly and Rhenee were excellent to work with on planning our trip. The logistics all worked smoothly and everyone was friendly and on time. Our accommodations were very good, particularly the incredible Patagonia Camp in Torres del Paine! Our guides on every excursion were outstanding and made the hikes memorable! Overall we had a wonderful trip with incredible memories!
Scott Gibson
1 day ago
Adventure Life is definitely a first-class safari tour company, and our representative was Franny Friesz. First of all, she responded immediately after we contacted Adventure Life. We told Franny that we had never been on a safari, and she was more than eager to offer a mountain of information about the trip. She informed us fully about all the ups, downs, and all arounds! She even prepared a number of packages for us to review -- even after we made changes to the areas we wanted to explore. Friendly, helpful, professional, and extremely knowledgeable -- these words describe Franny, and what a wonderful trip she prepared! We couldn't have asked for better service than Franny of Adventure Life. We HIGHLY recommend her and her outstanding company! Bon Voyage!
Prima Burke
2 days ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
3 days ago
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week