What can you imagine when you hear about such a thing as a national park? There are many beautiful and unknown animals and plants, a large area where you can walk for hours, etc. But it's hard to imagine that the Los Glaciares National Park, which is located in Argentina, is one continuous glaciers covering an area of several thousand kilometers that amaze the imagination.
Location
In the southwestern part there is a province like Santa Cruz, which is located on the border with Chile. It is here that the Los Glaciares National Park is located, which means "glaciers" in translation. It consists of two parts: a park in the west and a reserve. The latter occupies the largest part. The reserve consists of three parts, each of which has its own name: Viedma, Roca and Vostok.
History
In 1937, a national park was established through a park program. Today it is the largest reserve in Argentina.
Archaeologists once found bones of dinosaurs and the remains of ancient people here. But at what time did they live, whilenot installed.
In 1981, this place was added to the UNESCO heritage list. However, the area has changed since then. Its area became smaller and smaller, because part of the territory was given for household needs.
The main and first goal of creating the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina was to protect the mountain landscapes in the south of the Andean ecosystem. Mountain ranges reached a height of more than 3 km. Additional tasks that were set before the creators of the park are the protection of the Magellanic and southern beech forests. This was also needed by living creatures that were under the threat of extinction (South Andean deer, duck, rhea (large bird), armadillo, cougar and others). Their numbers are declining, including due to poaching.
One of the main tasks, which follows from the name, besides the protection of animals and plants, is the preservation of continental glaciers.
What to see in the park?
Los Glaciares National Park has been showing tourists all the beautiful corners of Argentina for 80 years. Here you can see forests, lakes, amazing animals and plants, as well as glaciers, each of which is important not only for the country, but also for the world as a reservoir of fresh water.
- Perito Moreno. This is not the largest glacier in the national park, but the most popular among tourists, because you can get closest to it and admire this immense ice floe. Named after the scientist, it is up to 60 meters high, has a surface area of over 257 km2and is over 30 km long.
- Mount Fitzroy. The second popular attraction of the Los Glaciares National Park, it was also discovered by the scientist Francisco Moreno, after whom the glacier was named. You can climb the mountain of different heights along the paths, each of which has its own difficulty. For example, the Laguna de los Tres route, where the journey can take up to 10 hours, but it's worth it. Especially if a person is prepared for hiking and can withstand such a long walk.
- Lake Argentino. To get the best view of this largest lake in Argentina, it is worth booking a tour that starts from the Uppsala Glacier, then the route will pass through Onelli Bay, and along the path you can reach the lake of the same name.
Helpful tips
As mentioned above, Los Glaciares National Park is located in the south of the country. The nearest settlement from which you can get there is called El Calafate.
Each tourist chooses for himself what time of year to go to this place, because it is beautiful here in summer, and in winter, when you can still do winter sports.
The only difficulty is the road. The park can only be reached by air, or rather from the El Calafate airport, take a plane that arrives from Buenos Aires, or fly from Ushuaia to Bariloche by Aerolineas Argentinas.
The distance from Buenos Aires can be covered in 3.5 hours, but it is better to buy tickets in advance. After all, prices are constantly changing and can rise two or more times. The cost of a flight can costUSD 150-200.
Los Glaciares National Park: photos and interesting facts
You can see thousands of photos and videos, but they cannot convey the whole atmosphere. Therefore, when you travel to Argentina, be sure to look at this extraordinary place.
Here you can not only go hiking, but also engage in winter sports, go on a water excursion, climb a mountain and a glacier.
In addition to beautiful landscapes, you can also see the Glacier Museum in the city of El Calafate. Interestingly, this city appeared 10 years before the creation of the park, and it was supposed to process sheep's wool, but thanks to the park, this city has become a popular tourist destination.
Another curious fact is that back in 1900 the Perito Moreno glacier was 750 meters from the coast, but in more than 20 years, when the park was opened, it almost came close to the coast. But sometimes (rarely) it reaches the opposite shore and tears Lake Argentino in half.
