A jet departing El Calafate International Airport (code FTE, 20 km east of town) flies over Lake Argentina in the southern Andes mountains, north towards Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America. Glaciers grind rock finely into glacial flour which flows suspended in water into the lake and creates a bright turquoise color. El Calafate is named from a little bush with yellow flowers and dark blue berries that is very common in Patagonia: the calafate (Berberis buxifolia), Spanish for "caulk". El Calafate is an important tourist hub for Los Glaciares National Park, including Perito Moreno Glacier. The foot of South America is known as Patagonia, a name derived from coastal giants, Patagão or Patagoni, who were reported by Magellan's 1520s voyage circumnavigating the world and were actually native Tehuelche people who averaged 25 cm (or 10 inches) taller than the Spaniards.
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