Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 21, 2014 Author #151 Share Posted February 21, 2014 More birds to identify! The first one in post #146 (photo copied below) is another Southern Giant Petrel. Thank you once again J-D for your ID of , and information on the "bird in question". Floridiana quote What did we see on our Puerto Madryn excursion? A sea lion colony, a cormorant colony, several species of land birds, a curious guanaco, horses and a sheep shearing demonstration with traditional tools. Our cruise was too late in the season for penguins. We booked it because it went all the way to Florida, but weather and penguinwise, the height of the southern summer is much better. Floridiana We are sorry that you missed the penguins ! But we enjoyed our visit to Chile in November 2007 so much we thought that we would like to return at the same time of year and see the Argentina leg of the trip. The best place to see penguins would be the Falkland Islands with 5 different versions of penguins. Celebrity has a cruise to Antarctica and the Falklands that looks really good ! http://www.cruisesonly.com/sc.do?d=02/01/2015&d2=02/28/2015&i=888921&c=11&v=55&IncludeAlumniRates=true&IncludeSeniorRates=true&zipcode=33470&statecode=&dsc=y ' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 21, 2014 Author #152 Share Posted February 21, 2014 With one last sunrise our cruise was ending Buenos Aries ! Most of the passengers were sleeping in because they had an overnight in BA. But we had a flight to El Calafate at noon for our post - cruise stay. So we took our last look at the ship in Buenos Aires . The Port in Buenos Aires In the final review of the cruise , I can't think of anything that HAL could do to improve their performance . In all respects , they had met and exceeded our expectations !!! :) Next: Post cruise stay in El Calafate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 22, 2014 Author #153 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Our original plan was to spend 4 days post cruise in Buenos Aires . In looking at pictures of the Perito Moreno Glacier we decided that we wanted to spent 3 days there. So after disembarking ship in Buenos Aires , we flew to El Calafate . We snapped a picture of this map at the airport while waiting for luggage. After picking up our rental car , we headed out for the town. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Calafate After a quick stop at the grocery store we made our way up to the place where we would spend 2 nights Our room had a view of Lago Argentino . The wind was ripping just before sunset And the dining room didn't open until 8pm !! So we opted for pizza in the room (very good) , a bottle of wine and a very welcome bath . We want to make an early start for the glacier 78 km away , so we fell asleep (with masks) in the very late sunset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted February 22, 2014 #154 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I am looking forward to this part of your trip. What is the name of the lodge in which you stayed? ... and the rental company? I am seriously planning! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 22, 2014 Author #155 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I am looking forward to this part of your trip. What is the name of the lodge in which you stayed? ... and the rental company? I am seriously planning! :) We used Alamo car rental airport code FTE and Hotel La Cantera . http://www.hotellacanteracalafate.com/en-us/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted February 23, 2014 #156 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 23, 2014 Author #157 Share Posted February 23, 2014 We were up early on Sunday morning for breakfast and to see the glacier about 48 miles away http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier As we were leaving town , West on 11, we made a stop to look at the marshy area near the lake This is part of the Estancia Alice along the way The entrance to the park was closer than we had thought (about 35 minutes) so we had to wait about 20 minutes for them to open Thus giving us time for a couple pictures of the wildlife at the entrance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 23, 2014 Author #158 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Thank you. You're welcome ! This is the view we had while waiting for the park to open Price of admission Traveling through the park was slow going with many twists and turns. There is a very reduced speed limit and the time to the glacier observation point is equal to the drive from the entrance of the park to the town. The road follows the Brazo Rico until you reach the glacier. First view of the glacier Arriving at the parking lot you see a series of catwalks that allow different views of the glacier And the information sign Enlarged for details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-D Posted February 24, 2014 #159 Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) The striking orange and black bird (with white marks on the face) in the last photo of post #157 is a male Long-tailed Meadowlark, Sturnella loyca (in Spanish, Loica). John Edited February 24, 2014 by J-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 24, 2014 Author #160 Share Posted February 24, 2014 The striking orange and black bird (with white marks on the face) in the last photo of post #157 is a male Long-tailed Meadowlark, Sturnella loyca (in Spanish, Loica). John Muchas gracias , Juan ! It's had to imagine just how large the glacier is and even harder to capture it all in photos - but we will try . Perito Moreno glacier is not the largest glacier in the park , but it is the most visited because of it's accessibility . The glacier is 19 miles long , 2.5 miles wide and over 200' tall !! It is HUGE !! Here is a view looking South toward the Brazo Rico . Notice in the center of this photo that the glacier contacts the land. This is the center view And this view faces South where Lago Argentino contacts the glacier And here is another overview in the early morning light Finally , in this video clip you can see a panorama of the glacier As I was looking along the western face at an ice cave I noticed some movement so I started shooting . 2 chunks of ice larger than a truck fell. One of the chunks is pointed by the arrow. Resulting in a huge splash and it's subsequent wave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t60 Posted February 24, 2014 #161 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Stunning pix of the glacier Sandy in Spain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 24, 2014 Author #162 Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) Stunning pix of the glacier Sandy in Spain Thank you Sandy . The lower we descended on the catwalks - the closer to the glacier we got Other people were starting to arrive We were in the center of the glacier now Its hard to explain the sounds that the glacier makes - creaking , cracking and groaning. Sometimes like the sound of distant hunters shooting or other times - like a giant flushing toilet . If you turn up the volume , you can hear some of the sounds on this calving video clip The closer that you get , the more detail you can see Of some of the strange shapes Edited February 24, 2014 by scubacruiserx2 Wrong video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cormike1 Posted February 24, 2014 #163 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Your close-up glacier pictures would make some beautiful "abstract art" for your wall if you had them enlarged and framed. How beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted February 25, 2014 #164 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Now you did it! I HAVE to go there. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 25, 2014 Author #165 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Your close-up glacier pictures would make some beautiful "abstract art" for your wall if you had them enlarged and framed. How beautiful! We hope you have great weather and your cruise(s) are as great as ours were ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 25, 2014 Author #166 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Now you did it! I HAVE to go there. :) We are soooo glad that we went there , but wished we would have stayed longer !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 25, 2014 Author #167 Share Posted February 25, 2014 The light was getting better but it was starting to "get crowded" in the center of the glacier. So we set out toward the Brazo Rico I like the contrast between the dead trees and the "living" glacier As we neared the rupture zone we could see the ice dam at the point where the glacier touches the land. The result is that the water at the red arrow Brazo Rico rises and creates tremendous pressure on the ice dam in an effort to flow toward the blue arrow (Lago Argentina) . When the dam finally ruptures , it is an amazing show like this 2006 video from you tube While we were there , we saw our next event - a trip on a 100 passenger boat to the glacier's face We took one last look as we prepared to leave And we had to stitch 2 photos together in order to show the entire 2 - 1/2 mile face into 1 panorama !! Next : A boat ride to the glacier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 26, 2014 Author #168 Share Posted February 26, 2014 The boat rides to the Brazo Rico arm of the glacier depart from Bajo de las Sombras near the arrow. Here is a clip of the ride out: Soon we were underway and we were allowed to scamper up the stairs to the observation deck Some people got to handle the merchandise And the weather was picture perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 26, 2014 Author #169 Share Posted February 26, 2014 With the back lighting the glacier seemed to glow Just as we were leaving my wife detected movement on the glacier My long zoom was in the backpack so I had to use the short lens . But you can see the shapes of hikers on the glacier. Notice the amazing size of the glacier !! With high winds blowing we quickly returned to the port Perito Moreno is only one of the 47 glaciers contained in Los Glaciares National Park , and it's not the largest , just the most visited and most convenient . http://www.losglaciares.com/en/parque/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted February 27, 2014 #170 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted February 28, 2014 Author #171 Share Posted February 28, 2014 While leaving the park we made several stops along the way: The first stop was at a scenic viewpoint With a last view of the glacier And a soaring condor We saw several snowmelt fed waterfalls and stopped at this one A video clip of the waterfall We saw this huge ( about 1" ) hard - working bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted March 2, 2014 Author #172 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Our last stop was at a picnic area with a bathroom . We had asked the hotel to pack a lunch and it included a sandwich , fruit , water and a dessert and treat . It was great to have because there isn't anything along the way. The ride back was somewhat anticlimactic except for a few photo stops (surprise ) ! We saw some amazing clouds near the lake After arriving back at El Calafate we stopped for a look back picture And at the Laguna Nimez Bird Sanctuary And we found a good reason for the birds to take flight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted March 2, 2014 #173 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Is that a black dog? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted March 2, 2014 Author #174 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Is that a black dog? Yes it is with boundless energy !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted March 3, 2014 Author #175 Share Posted March 3, 2014 After a day of glacier viewing our next big highlight was dinner . We normally eat around 6-7 pm and there are not many options at that time. We didn't want to wait until 8 pm for dinner at the hotel. The pizza was good but we wanted something different. Mc Daniel's ? We wanted a little different dining experience and we had heard about Pura Vida so we went to check them out They opened "early" for dinner at 7:30 pm and had an intriguing menu posted on the door , so we were in DW wanted Hare with vegetables and backed potato and I wanted Lamb pie. They didn't have hare so I went lentil stew and she went lamb pie. The lamb pie was like a pot pie and big enough for both of us @ $92 A.P. And the lentil stew was like chili - perfect comfort food for a cool night. And @ $85 A.P. was a good value . So we both went "home" fat and sassy :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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