The Southern Patagonia region is filled with some of the most extraordinary things your eyes will ever witness. Nearly 800,000 km are covered in lakes, mountains, forests, and glaciers. Los Glaciares National Park is no exception so this makes the attraction naturally a bucket list item for many adventure lovers. It’s filled with some of the most powerfully seductive glaciers that will deeply move you in ways you could not have imagined if it doesn’t first take your breath away.
But if that’s not sublime enough for you and you’re someone who craves for next-level experiences in areas where people aren’t generally stampeding on each other, I’d recommend kayaking through the Upsala channel in Lago Argentino (Argentino Lake). You’ll find yourself traversing through icebergs so close you could taste it. The temperature is so refreshingly invigorating that your entire body feels like a pack of Altoids have absorbed into your veins. You’re also the only one besides about 15 others who are there.
The first part of our journey begins with getting up in the wee hours of the morning just before the butt crack of dawn. My eyelids are partial to opening all the way and I have my hoodie sweatshirt propped over my head as I lean against the cold window for support. We are about halfway to our catamaran as I see the mysterious sunrise making its way into Thursday.
It was brilliant in every way as if it mother nature wanted to gift us with a spectacular show illustrating every rich and romantically warm watercolor it could pull from the paint box. So brilliant, in fact, that I wanted to clap once we reached our destination.
It’s time. We are moments away from making our way through Lago Argentino (Lake Argentino), the largest freshwater lake in this region covering over 1,400 km of surface and average depths of 150 meters. Can I get a hell yes?
Over the next 3 hours, I’m seeing these mystical gigantic masses of ice drift at a glacial pace. If these glaciers could tell stories I wonder what would they be? Maybe the icebergs could at least give me the tip of what it’s like to be one of our eternal witnesses of time.
Our three guides give us instruction and we change into our waterproof dry suits as we slowly approach an isolated beach with not a human in sight but the ones who are on this water vessel.
We carry our own kayaks out and make our way into the waters with two hours of unimaginable bliss. The guides were also pretty entertaining with a few kayaking tricks.
We did experience some light drizzling on our way back to shore, but I welcomed it to gently kiss my face.
After we successfully dragged our kayaks out of subzero temperatures and back onto the sandy cove, our guides all asked us to jump into the water. If body language could speak seeing the reactions of the other 12 kayakers, it would easily say, “Are you insane?”. The guides laughed and told us to get in a second time. Nobody wants to be the salmon so we all convincingly jumped in. No hypothermia. Only one good laugh for a group photo.
While the trip itself was a little pricey at 2.700,00 pesos (over $300 USD), it was an experience of a lifetime. And if my story didn’t convince you that kayaking to glaciers is possibly one of the coolest things (literally) you can do in your life then I’ll just have to go again with you.
