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South America

Glacial sights in South America

  1. Canal de los Témpanos

    Visiting Glaciar Moreno is no less an auditory than a visual experience, as huge icebergs on the glacier's face calve and collapse into the Canal de los Témpanos. This natural-born tourist attraction is ideally located at Península de Magallanes - close enough to guarantee great views, but far enough away to be safe. A series of recently improved catwalks and vantage points allow visitors to see, hear and photograph the glacier.

    Sun hits its face in the morning and the glacier's appearance changes as the day progresses and shadows shift.

    reviewed

  2. Glaciar Perito Moreno

    Among the Earth's most dynamic and accessible ice fields, Glaciar Perito Moreno is the stunning centerpiece of the southern sector of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Locally referred to as Glaciar Moreno, it measures 30km long, 5km wide and 60m high, but what makes it exceptional in the world of ice is its constant advance - up to 2m per day, causing building-sized icebergs to calve from its face.

    In some ways, watching the glacier is a very sedentary park experience, but it manages to nonetheless be thrilling.

    reviewed

  3. Glaciar Martial

    A good hike from downtown leads up to Glaciar Martial, where you can enjoy views of Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel; in fact, the views are possibly more impressive than the actual glacier. Catch a taxi up the hill or, if you're up for an all-day hike, follow San Martín west and keep ascending as it zigzags (there are many hiker shortcuts) to the ski run. At this point, either take the Aerosilla chairlift or walk another two hours into town.

    reviewed

  4. Parque Nacional Los Glaciares

    The centerpiece of the southern sector of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is, without a doubt, the breathtaking Glaciar Perito Moreno, one of earth's most dynamic and accessible ice fields. A low gap in the Andes allows moisture-laden Pacific storms to drop their loads east of the divide, where they accumulate as snow. Over millennia, under tremendous weight, this snow has recrystallized into ice and flowed slowly eastward.

    Visiting the Moreno Glacier is no less an auditory experience than a visual one, as huge icebergs on the glacier's face cave and collapse into the Canal de los Témpanos (Iceberg Channel). From a series of catwalks and vantage points on the Península de…

    reviewed