Arriving in El Calefate
We left Chile behind to venture across the border into Argentina. Ben had prepared us for the horrors of customs and immigration from his prior trip across this particular border. To our pleasure and surprise Argentina could apparently care less what we brought into their country. Unfortunately we had needlessly ditched our mayo, mustard and peanut butter and I had pointlessly hidden my coffee, chocolate and other foodstuff contraband.
After crossing uneventfully into Argentina we arrived, after several hours on the bus, in El Calafate. This tourist town serves as the gateway to Parque Nacional Los Glaciars and in particular the Perito Merano Glaciar. This massive hunk of ice is still advancing up to 2 meters per day resulting in spectacular displays of calving. This is when huge building size chunks of ice fall off the 180 foot tall glacier and splash into the lake.
To reach this site we would have to navigate the bus terminal, rent a car (it's far cheaper than buying bus tickets from town) and sneak into the national park after dark to avoid paying the entry fee. Camping in the park put us within a stones throw of the glacier for the next morning.