Dec 8 - Thursday - We got up early, had breakfast, then were picked up for our boat trip on the Lago Argentina to visit the Upsala Glacier. The drive to the boat took about 40 minutes. We had to stop along the way to pick up a few extra passengers.
We were finally at the dock and got on board the Leal.
Our last look at the Upsala Glacier before heading back
We were finally at the dock and got on board the Leal.
Home at the edge of town, with roped horse.
One of these two boats was the Leal. Guess? Not the big one.
We began our journey toward the glacier. The wind was howling away, so sitting outside the cabin wasn't a nice prospect. The waves splashed against the windows in toward the front like something out of a hurricane movie. Water was so splashy that drips fell off the cover in the back like a rainstorm. I did venture out for a few photos, then raced back inside. All the way along our voyage, small ice burgs were floating along the shore.
The crew scooped up one of the littlest ice burgs and brought it to the boat. About 2/3 of it they chopped up for ice for drinks at lunch. The other 1/3 they let us play with.
Lots of people on board to take one another's photos.
The floating ice bergs were wonderful to watch. When the sun shone through them, the color was spectacular.
Another glacier along the way. This was not the Upsala Glacier we had come to watch.
We had lunch just before we got to the main glacier. Our lunch companions were a couple from the Netherlands. The other couple was from Pismo Beach. We finally bumped into "one of those". He announced that he was a nuclear engineer. What he had really been was a nuclear energy plant inspector for the government. When I talked about my students and mentioned that a few were Mexican, he announced that they were illegals. He wouldn't agree that they were legal. He timed the guide to see how long she spoke in Spanish vs. English. The most amazing comment was when he looked through the guest book for the boat. He complained that 8 out of 10 comments were in Spanish. When the Dutch guy said that was because he was in an entire continent of Spanish speaking people, he wouldn't have any of it. He also had watched a show on the History Channel called Hunting Hitler, and he believed every word. Hitler escaped Germany and was somehow alive in South America. Charlie started to tease him. I managed to stop the taunts. When this guy was around I watched the beautiful surroundings. Even a weirdo wasn't going to get in the way of what we were seeing. Fortunately, he was the only one we've met so far. He wife was a nurse and was delightful.
The face of the Upsala Glacier.
Charlie and I, thanks to the crew of photo helpers, in front of the glacier. Soon after this photo was taken, an enormous gust of wind plucked our toques off our heads. Someone caught Charlie's before it flipped off the top of the boat. Mine went past. Amazingly, it didn't land in the water. It whipped around and ended up against the front rail at the front of the boat. I got it back! Hurray. I really like this hat!
While we watched the front of the glacier several pieces calved off the sides. The photos below are of one large piece I managed to get photos of. It made some amazing loud cracking noises before it broke off.
Our last look at the Upsala Glacier before heading back
We took a walk along the beach of a national park. Charlie is standing in front of a califate bush. We tried to eat one of the berries. Sour, not very tasty, but I guess if you're starving......
The Leal seen from our view down the shore. The beach was covered with small pieces of shale. The area had been an ancient sea, and shale is metamorphised sea mud. It is full of fossils. Charlie and I decided left to our own devices we'd sit and play with the pieces looking for fossils. We had to keep walking. Sigh
The bright sunlight through the ice bergs sometimes had the color of neon blue.
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