Never have I seen something that looks (and sounds) like this. A gigantic slug of ice, which makes the huge valley it occupies look small and the ice trekkers on it like ants. When I first saw it emerge from behind a twisty Ruta 11 turn, I nearly drove off the road. It’s spectacular.

I imagine a few people are reading that introduction and thinking, “come on Marco, it’s a big ice cube – it can’t be all that”. Well I’m telling you in the flesh it’s a wonder of the world – so much so we went to see it two days running!

The closer you get the more astounding it becomes, the more blue it becomes. We took a boat ride out to get closer and that reveals the veins of twisted ice running through it, blue, turquoise even black. And all the time it’s creeping slowly forward, undetected – like a pantomime villain on to the stage.

It’s addictive to watch. We sat for hours with a hot flask and some nearly English tea listening for the cracks. Listening for the signs that something was going to happen. But where? Suddenly thunderous crashes of huge blocks of ice fall from the face and brake our 5 mile stare, propelling the glacial water metres into the air and creating waves that threaten to treat the nearby tourist boats like toys. It’s so addictive, lets just stay for one more ice fall, one more crack… Just one more…. we’ll go after the next one…