Another try at Hostel living - on my head be it, Donna said. Calafate Hostel was far different from the hostel we checked in and out of in Mendoza. Big clean and en-suite, choice of two kitchens to cook in, lounge areas, sofas, a balcony with comfy chairs, a quiet garden to sit in and a restaurant / bar . We booked 3 nights here, so for a change we can cook our own dinner instead of eating out - that's the 'Royal' We, meaning Donna can cook for us! Everyone comes to El Calafate to visit the Perito Moreno glacier. We are really lucky with our National Parks in Britain, we access them for free, we hike and cycle for free and often can kayak for free. At Aconcagua we paid £30 per day each to trek, In Bariloche we had to pay £4 environmental tax and to see the Perito Moreno glacier you have to pay the Glacier National Park £18 each. It was however an amazing experience. Here's the geography lesson - The glacier is 5km wide, 30 km long and at the end it varies from 40 to 70 metres tall. It creeps forward at 2 metres per day and house size pieces break off as it edges forward. How spectacular the breakages are depends upon when you are here. The Glacier edges forward until it crosses Lake Argentina effectively cutting the lake into two. The water rises on the one side of the lake and the pressure slowly cuts a tunnel through the end of the glacier forming an arch large enough to boat through (if you dare). The arch gets bigger and bigger but the glacier is still edging forward until eventually a rupture occurs - the arch collapses with hundreds of tonnes of ice plunging into the lake, huge waves are formed and the water rages across the glacier snout from one arm of the lake to the other. This only happens every few years and it we would have had a very long wait to see this. As we were walking to the glacier with only a partial view of it we saw a huge slab break off. It was in the distance though and a headland obscured the view of the ice plunging into the water - oh b*****. When were close enough to inspect the glacier carefully we could see a large overhanging chunk that we were certain would soon break off. We used the walkways and platforms to view the glacier in all it's glory but were determined not to miss the action. We saw plenty of small fractures close up and larger ones way off at the far end of the glacier that we couldn't get to. After four and a half hours this overhanging chunk was still intact and we had to head back to get our bus. Every platform we came to on our way back we lingered a while but time was not on our side. Then it went - crack, whoosh, splash. What a sight, Donna managed to film it on her kindle and I got some stills - if you haven't seen them on Facebook they are also on the video page of our blog. On YouTube you can find some great footage of ruptures that others were lucky enough to witness and film (and hopefully my geography lesson will help you understand what's happening if you watch them). For our second day in El Calafate we decided to have a day off for a change - we are either doing some sort of activity or travelling so this was our first day of rest in our first month in South America. We still didn't get any stamps for the postcards we purchased in El Chalten - not for lack of trying but because we refused to pay £3.40 for stamps for EACH postcard! We will be photographing the postcards and emailing them instead. Another problem to sort out whilst in El calafate is my right foot. I have insoles to combat my pronation and fallen arches but on top of that I now have another complaint - Plantar Fasciitis. Towards the end of a long trek my right heel aches like hell and walking gets more and more difficult. Once the trek is over I can't walk properly until the next morning. I was fortunate enough to get a free consultation with a Polish GP working in Sweden that we met in El Chalten. Her diagnosis was the same as my own, but she was able to advise on what to do about it. In El Calafate we found an orthopaedic shop and obtained some gel insoles. Next plan is to purchase some anti-inflammatory ointment which the Polish Doctor recommended. Hopefully both will help as we plan to do a lot more exploring on foot. We are still being followed by stray dogs - they are everywhere. Actually, some of the dogs have collars and we have discovered are not strays, their owners just let them wander freely. No one seems to use a lead here. We have travelled down Argentina taking in a lot of the famous 'Ruta 40' but we are flying out of here to Ushuaia as it's not much more expensive than bussing it but a fraction of the time.