This modern town sits besides the vast expanse of glistening blue green water otherwise known as Lago Argentina, one of the largest lakes in South America. El Calafate is a mish-mash of restaurants, cafes, shops and accommodation, all designed to serve its burgeoning tourist industry which has grown massively since the currency was devalued in 2001.

In January and February in particular, when the weather is at its most congenial, is when tourists flock here to marvel at some of the most splendid and spectacular scenery in the world. It takes its name from the ubiquitous box-leaved barberry, referred to here as the calafate bush. The town was once nothing more than a trading post in between estancias and the oil town of Rio Gallegos.

One of the major attractions is the immense Perito Moreno Glacier with its turquoise hue and vast rolling waves of ice, one of only two advancing glaciers in South America. It creaks and cracks and every so often enormous hunks of ice crash down into the milky waters below. The glacier can be observed either by a series of wooden walkways and viewing platforms or by boat, an unforgettable experience.

Perito Moreno glacier is situated at the southern end of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, the second largest park in Argentina. It extends along the Chilean border for almost 200 km and boasts innumerable large glaciers which descend into two great lakes, Lago Argentino in the south, closest to El Calafate, and Lago Viedma and its vast glacier in the north near the fairytale peaks of the Fitzroy massif, where there is some excellent trekking not just in the park but on more glaciers. It is accessible via the small village of El Chalten.