married and bright: Chile Honeymoon: Day 8 -- Glacier Tour

Thursday, October 16th, 2014

For our second excursion in Patagonia, we were treated to a boat ride down the fjords to Serrano Glacier. It was bitterly cold and wet in the morning, but that didn't stop me from spending most of the ride on the deck being whipped by the wind. Maybe one can tell by Alex's face how cold it really was?

When we arrived at Serrano Glacier, we took a short hike up to get close to it. Our guide told us that when she visited the glacier for the first time thirty years ago, you could touch it from where I was standing on that rock. (Also, note the alpaca mitten that we picked up in Punta Arenas. They came in very handy!)

The glacier was as stunning blue, and absolutely breathtaking in size. Photos just don't do it justice. It was sprinkling the entire time we were up at the glacier, but it would turn out that that would be all the rain we'd see the entire trip. I didn't have a hood or hat, so I made a head covering with my scarf and headband... Kinda looks of Lawrence of Arabia.

As we were sailing away from Serrano Glacier, we were served pisco sours with glacier ice. I don't know if it was the alcohol or the weather, but it seemed to warm up and we were able to spend some time comfortably on the observation deck without our jackets on. I was glad I dressed in layers: long sleeve striped tee, under a chambray short sleeve tee, under a sweater, all under my coat!

Behind us is Balmaceda Glacier. Though smaller than Serrano, it was quite impressive in the way it just hung off the edge of the mountain and seemed to go so far up as to disappear into the sky.