Anther popular excursion (which I did not do back in 1997) in El Catafate is to go across Lago Argentino to see the Upsala glacier and/or visit Estanica Cristina. Cristina was once a major sheep-farminng estancia, established by a couple from England in 1914, but today it focuses entirely on tourism. You can stay on the estancia over night, to enjoy rooms and cuisine of high standards. You can also do it as a day trip, and my schedule only permitted the latter.
On route to the estancia, the boat goes into the arm of Lago Argentino into which one of the branches of the Upsala glacier ends, and if you take that option (which I did), they also take you in a 4x4 vehicle to a panorama point where you can see the end of the other branch of the glacier.
Upsala is a receding glacier, but I believe it is still bigger in size than Perito Moreno. However, it is not the same experience, as you cannot get that near to it. In Lago Argentino, boats may not go closer than 10 km, since various downfalls can cause mini-tsunamis which could mean the end of that boat tour.
You may reckon that the name Upsala sounds a bit un-Spanish, and indeed: the original Uppsala is the fourth biggest town in Sweden, just 60 km north of Stockholm.
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