I decided to have a rest day today. I slept in, loaded the bike and went in town to find a nice coffee shop for breakfast.

After attaining the proper balance of blood in my coffee stream I set off for the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (The Glaciers National Park). Since I wasn't in any particular hurry, I took some unpaved local roads rather than the highway. It was fortunate because I was able to see two South American grey foxes, some Patagonian maras which look like giant jack rabbits, more rheas and several long beaked birds called Bandurria Australs (in English they are called Black-faced Ibis).

It cost $12 for non-residents to enter the National Park but the facilities were very nice. They had constructed an elaborate set of steel walkways and viewing platforms that allowed for stunning views of the massive Perito Moreno glacier. The terminus of the glacier is over 3 miles wide so It took about two hours to follow the walkways around the park. Periodically I could hear a loud boom, like thunder, and watch huge chunks of ice plunge into the water.

I made my way back to EL Calafate to find a place to camp and to do some bike maintenance. The wind was only mildly annoying today so I could sit in the sun and look at maps. I'm closing in on my southern most point and I think I should be able to reach Ushuaia in the next three to four days. I will have to cross back into Chile and then again into Argentina to do so. Crazy borders!