HISTORY OF EL CALAFATE AND
PERITO MORENO GLACIER AREA

PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS OF PERITO MORENO GLACIERS AREA

Some 13,000 years ago, the predecessors of the Tehuelche indians arrived from the north. They were first sighted by the expedition led by Hernando de Magallanes, who called them "Patagones" which originated the region's current name.
The white man was welcomed as a friend. He penetrated the privacy of the Tehuelche tent causing changes, deteriorating their life styles and provoking a long regressive period. Of these former dwellers, nothing is left, but their rupestrian paintings and limited extent their crossbred descendants.

SETTLING IN EL CALAFATE AND PERITO MORENO GLACIER AREA

In the early 20th Century, The Patagonian trails had wagon stops every three leagues, the average distance covered in a day's journey by an ox driven wagon.
The road from Río Gallegos to Argentino Lake, forked at a ford on the Santa Cruz River, where Charles Fhur had settled down at the beginning of the century.
There were other fords that had to be crossed along the southern road. These inevitable stops were named by the wagon drivers: "El Bote", "El Calafate" and "El Centinela".
The name "El Calafate" comes from the dense calafate (berberis genus) shrubbery that grew on this alluvial plain.
On April 23, 1913, the family of José Pantín, an immigrant from La Coruña, set up a bar, a general store and an inn. This became the first staging post on the road to the Andes. As more families settled around the Calafate stream, the town grew. On December 7, 1927, El Calafate was officially declared a town, by a decree of the central government.

DAY 1 - Arrival to El Calafate Airport and transfer to hotel. 03 nts of accommodation with breakfast

DAY 2 - Excursion to the incredible Perito Moreno Glacier

DAY 3 - Boat Excursion to Los Glaciares National Park to enjoy three amazing glaciers: Upsala, Onelli and Spegazzini

DAY 4 - Transfer to airport

This is a basic program to visit El Calafate Area. Please visit our tour list to see more tours combining this area and others place in Argentina and Chile

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Perito Moreno Area: See our El Calafate Interactive Map	See our El Chaltén Interactive Map	Perito Moreno Glacier Navigation
Mayo-Moreno Glaciers Excursion	Upsala Glacier Excursion	Bahía Cristina Excursion
Upsala - Onelli Glaciers Excursion	Los Glaciares National Park i-Map	The Perito Moreno Glacier Area: What is a Glacier? Interactivity
Perito Moreno Glacier Area: Alice self-guided nature trail	Perito Moreno Glacier Area: Estancia Alice Birds of Steppe	Perito Moreno Glacier Area: Estancia Alice Waterflow
Province of Santa Cruz Interactive Map	Province of Santa Cruz, Perito Moreno Glacier and El Calafate General Information

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