Northern Argentina

Day 73 - 16th February
We got up late for breakfast, which is served until midday at this hostel, mainly to cater for the Buenos Aires party crowd, who seem to stay out until 5 or 6 in the morning.  Today we decided to have a leisurely day and wandered into the centre of town.  BA is huge, with wide streets reminiscent of an American city, but with a distinctly European flavour.  Many of the buildings look more European than South American and the cite feels very modern.  We went to the Congress building, which was apparently modelled on the White House, but looks nothing like it and is in desperate need of some love and attention.  The area outside Congress is a busy road and the park is full of homeless people living under sheets.  We then walked to Casa Rosada, the Presidential palace, from where Eva Peron wowed adoring crowds from the balcony, and after that walked to Puerto Madero, the newly-renovated docks area.   Puerto Madero is lined on one side with converted red-brick warehouses, much like London's Docklands, and with glass skyscrapers on the other side.  There are also several old ships moored in the docks and we went aboard one of them, the iron-hulled frigate ""Presidente Sarmiento", which was a little reminiscent of HMS Warrior but smaller and with more mod-cons.  After that it was back to hostel for pizza night and all you can drink beer in the bar.  We got chatting to some of the other guests staying at the hostel and ended up getting to bed at about 2:00am after getting our money's worth out of the free booze.

Casa Rosada

The docks

Jon having fun aboard the frigate

Day 74 - 17th February

After the excesses of last night we got up very late. Jon seemed to be spared the hangover, but I was suffering. After finally dragging myself out of bed, an obligatory McDonald's was called for! We had high expectations for the burgers, this being Argentina, the home of the world's best beef, but we were very disappointed – it was even worse than in the UK! Feeling much better we went to Confiteria Ideal, a famous old tango venue in central BA to find out about their tango shows and classes. We discovered that it seems mostly aimed at rich tour groups as the show was very pricey. The lessons were much more reasonable and the last one of the evening is followed by a Milonga – a free-for-all tango dance for members of the public. We took down the details and thought we might give it a try tomorrow evening. We decided to head into San Telmo for dinner. This is the area near our hostel and is one of the oldest barrios in the city, famed for its tango shows and cafés. We walked quite a way to two of the tango venues listed in our guidebook, only to find that they were similarly out of our price bracket. With tired feet and rumbling tummies we decided that a tango show was not to be and that we'd treat ourselves to a steak dinner instead – well we are in Argentina! We found a lovely restaurant and tucked into a magnificently tender sirloin steak each, with side dishes and a rather tasty bottle of malbec, all for the bargain price of £20. The steak was everything we'd hoped for – tender, meltingly smooth, plentiful and delicious. We were just about to ask for the bill when some tango music struck up from a room behind us – the restaurant we had picked at random had a tango show on for only 20 pesos (less than £3!). Fate was definitely smiling on us, the show was fantastic and lasted well over an hour, with 2 male singers, a band and a young tango-dancing couple. The skill of the dancers was amazing, I have no idea how they manage to move their feet so quickly and yet remain so gracefully still above the waist. We were now seriously doubting our abilities to cut it at the tango class tomorrow! Full of steak and wine, and happy after our surprise tango show, we headed back to the hostel.

Day 75 - 18th February

today we set out to explore more of Buenos Aires, and walked a very long way. We took the Metro to Recoleta cemetery, in the ritziest part of town, where the great and good of Argentina have been buried for generations. The Cemetery is like no other I've seen – the dead are housed in elaborately decorated granite, stone or marble mausoleums, crammed in next to each other in narrow streets that pack the walled cemetery until it feels like there's no room left – indeed, the more recently deceased are interred in a series of small granite drawers lining one wall of the cemetery, that is if they don't have a family tomb to join. The most famous grave here is that of the Durante family, where Eva Peron (Evita) is buried. The tomb is covered with flowers and various plaques that have been donated from Argentina and beyond, some commemorating her life and some, bizarrely, seeming to relate to productions of Evita! the musical. After spending an hour or so soaking up the tranquillity of the cemetery, we walked up to Palermo to spend some time in the city's largest parks. We spent a little time sitting on the edge of Parque Tres de Febrero, although we were besieged by ants and decided to move on. We wandered into Palermo Viejo, an area with small squares and cobbled streets that now houses some of BA's trendiest bars and shops, and stopped for a couple of beers in the sunshine. Having walked so far our feet were very tired and the evening was really hot, so we decided to give the tango lesson a miss and chill out in the hostel for the evening.

Tomb drawers

Cementario de Recoleta

Evita's tomb

Day 76 - 19th February
We checked out of hotel in the morning and chilled out for a bit checking our e-mails etc.  In the early afternoon we walked into San Telmo to wander around the famous antiques market.  It's a bit like an Argentinian Brick Lane, with street performers, cafes and stalls selling antiques, crafts and bric-a-brac.  There were also free tango shows on in the main square so we stayed to watch a bit of dancing.  After an empanada and a coffee we went back to the hostel to collect our bags before boarding our night bus to Puerto Iguazu.

Tango in San Telmo

Day 77 - 20th February
We arrived at Puerto Iguazu 12:45 after an uneventful night bus.  The buses in Argentina are far more expensive than in the rest of the continent but at least the food served was good.  By coincidence we were to be in Iguazu at the same time as my friend Bethanie from work, who is travelling for exactly the same dates as us and visiting the same places but in the opposite order.  We had found out yesterday that we had booked the same hostel on the same dates and were looking forward to catching up.  We arrived, checked into our dorm and went out for lunch.  Imagine our surprise when we got back to our room to find Bethanie and her sister Claire had been put in the same dorm!  We had a lovely evening with a dip in the pool followed by dinner and beer and a lot of chatting.




Day 78 - 21st February
We all decided to visit the nearby Iguazu Falls together and got up early to catch the bus there, hoping to have at least some time before the tour groups arrived.  We nearly didn't come to the falls as it's a major detour from our planned route but I am so glad we made the effort.  I've never seen anything like them.  The falls straddle the border between Brazil and Argentina, with most of them being in the Argentinian Parque Nacional Iguazu, which has several kilometres of well-marked trails, a small railway and offers boat trips close to the bottom of the falls.  Set in acres of jungle, with many birds, plants, butterflies and monkeys as well as hoards of Coatis, a small animal that looks like a cross between a lemur and a raccoon.  We had been condor-spotting since the start of our trip, catching the odd one or two, but here there were flocks of them swooping and gliding over the falls.  The falls are made up of many individual cascades that fall from the same great river, creating a huge bank of waterfalls that curve majestically round in an almost semi-circle.  The sight of them is spectacular and the noise they generate is incredible, especially when you get close.  The walkways take you right up close to some of the larger falls, from where you get a good drenching in the huge clouds of mist they spray up.  Beth and Claire took the boat ride and said it was brilliant, we decided to save our pennies and ate our sandwiches while watching the falls and waiting for them.

Coati

Iguazu Falls

Me and Beth at the falls 

 Next we followed the lesser-trodden Macuco Trail, away from the main falls, which takes you 3km into the jungle to a smaller secluded waterfall, that empties into a small swimming hole below.  The day was really hot and it was great to swim in the cool water underneath the fall.  After drying off we caught the train to the largest of the falls, the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), which forms the boarder between the two countries.  If we thought the lower falls were spectacular, nothing prepared us for the sheer size and force of this.  We walked for about 15 minutes over bridges spanning the very calm river, spying huge catfish and beautiful birds, with no indication of what was happening to the water just around the corner.  It seemed like some giant had pulled the plug out of the river, as a huge hole had opened up and a seemingly endless amount of water came crashing over the biggest waterfall I have ever seen.  The sheer force of the water sent spray right up to the viewing platforms at the top of the falls, drenching everyone there, and obscured the view of the river below, the sound was almost deafening.  It was one of the most spectacular sights I have ever encountered and made our diversion to Iguazu well worth it!  Soaked but euphoric, we caught the bus back home for another relaxing evening of dinner and beer by the pool, followed by an early night after a very exciting day.

Monkey on the Macuco Trail

Garganta del Diablo

Getting soaked

Day 79 - 22nd February
We checked out of the hostel and hung around with Beth and Claire until our bus at 12:45 to Santa Fe.  This was the first stop on our journey to Mendoza, which would have taken over 36 hours on one bus, so we decided to break the journey half way.  Our 17 hour night bus trip was ok, although there were no blankets or pillows so we didn't sleep as well as we had on other trips.  The bus was so empty (there were only 8 of us on it) that they obviously decided it wasn't worth bringing food along and we were all ushered off the bus at 11:30pm for dinner in restaurant! 




Day 80 - 23rd February
We arrived Santa Fe at 5:40am and spent a good few hours drinking coffee in the bus station cafe until we felt human again.  We headed out to explore the city, which is small and quite attractive, with the usual South American mix of grand colonial buildings, avenues and well-tended plazas.  We found a nice park with some small lakes and lay in the sun reading our books and catching up on last night's sleep.  After lunch in a cafe we went to another of the parks to repeat the morning's activities.  We caught our next bus at 6:00pm - a mere 14 hours to Mendoza.  This one was much better, with a hot meal service, all the waggon wheels we could eat and even a game of bingo (sadly I didn't win the prize of a bottle of chardonnay).  With blankets and pillows we slept well.

The joy of South American bus travel

Day 81 - 24th February
We arrived Mendoza at 8:30 and walked through the city to our hostel.  Mendoza is a small-ish city in central Argentina, surrounded by mountains and the most famous vineyards in the country.  After is was mostly destroyed by an earthquake in the 1860s it was redesigned with wide boulevards and large open spaces to collect any falling debris from future earthquakes.  This makes it a really lovely city to walk around, with tree-lined streets and plazas, and a pedestrianised main street full of pavement cafes.  We had booked a lovely hostel with a vine-covered patio, a small pool with hammocks and a sunny roof terrace.  The hostel was really sociable and we spent the rest of the day relaxing there, using the internet and chatting with other guests.  This evening the hostel put on a free talk - an introduction to mate, the tea-like infusion that all Argentinians seem to drink constantly.  It seems we found a nation that drinks even more tea than us!  The talk was very informative and we learnt all about the complicated social rituals that go alongside sharing a cup of mate in Argentina.  We ended the day drinking wine on the roof terrace - brilliant!




Day 82 - 25th February
It's my birthday!  We celebrated by heading out to Maipu in the Mendoza valley to cycle round some vineyards.  We had been recommended Mr Hugo by other travellers we'd met and he certainly didn't disappoint.  He runs a small company hiring bikes and he provides you with a map of the nearby vineyards.  The best thing about the company is Mr Hugo himself - a larger than life character who plies you with free wine as soon as you set foot in his garden.  We went with 4 other people from the hostel, another English couple and a couple from New Zealand, and we picked up a German girl on the bus, so there were 7 of us in our little group.  It was great fun to share the day with a group of friends and we all had a blast cycling round the valley.  Jon and I hired a tandem, which, after a few glasses of wine at Mr Hugo's before we set off, took a little while to master!  Jon was in charge at the front, which meant that I could relax at the back without having to worry about steering or paying attention to where we were going - this came in handy after our first stop...  We started at an olive grove, where they make delicious olive oil and tapenades as well as balsamic vinegar and fruit marmalades and chutneys.  We paid 20 pesos and tasted a huge array of delicious foods before being given 2 shots each of home-made liqueurs, although being my birthday, I was given four!  After the olives we headed to the wine museum, which was free and included a pretty large glass of wine.  We then cycled onto another few vineyards, one was quite expensive so we decided to give it a miss and went onto the next one.  Here we took a tour of the vineyard before settling down on the terrace overlooking the vines and enjoying a couple of bottles of wine between us.  We had to get the bikes back by 6:30 so we went back to Mr Hugo's and enjoyed more free wine.

Enjoying Mr Hugo's hospitality

Our tandem

Happy wine tasting

We got back to the hostel, where there was a free talk on how to make an Argentinian Asado (bbq), followed by a communal asado with about 20 guests from the hostel and more free wine.  By luck there was a wine tasting festival in the town this weekend and we went down after dinner with some people from the hostel.  Someone gave us their left-over tickets from last night so our drinks were free once more!  After the festival we chilled out in the hammocks in the garden until about 3:30am, all in all a great way to spend my 30th birthday :o)

Day 83 - 26th February

Today we all slept late, missed breakfast and spent most of the day recovering from yesterday's excesses.  As it was Sunday nothing in town was open so our plan to buy food for lunch and dinner was foiled.  Happily the hostel had a pizza evening so we enjoyed a lot of tasty pizza, followed by a relaxed evening in front of the telly watching the Oscars.

Beautiful Patagonia - hiking, camping and glaciars at the end of the world

Day 64 - 7th February
We spent the day in Puerto Natales planning our trip into nearby Parque Nacional de Torres del Paine.  Having spoken to some people about what they did or planned to do, read the books and studied the map, we decided on a 4-day, 3-night camping and hiking trip to take in most but not quite all of the  famous 'w' circuit.  Sadly the Torres has recently been devastated by forest fires - the park was closed until recently and some of the campsites remain closed.  The south-western corner of the park was affected, with the route between Glaciar Grey and the Valle Frances on the 'w' burnt and apparently covered in ash, so we decided to miss that bit, given our time limitations.  We hired camping equipment from our hostel and bought all the dried food the town's supermarket had in stock, packed up our bags and had an early night.

Map of Torres del Paine

Day 65 - 8th February

The bus to Torres del Paine left the hostel at 7:30, after an early breakfast.  We arrived at the park 2 hours later and set off on my first ever multi-day hike and first ever hike carrying equipment.  Jon was very kind and took the tent and cooking equipment, so my bag was quite light with just my clothes, sleeping bag, roll mat and the all-important camera.  Having studied the weather forecasts at the hostel we decided to head straight to the Torres themselves, as visibility was to be at its best for days.  The hike up to the Torres Valley started steeply and climbed for the first hour and a half.  With the backpacks on it was slow-going, especially as we kept stopping to admire the views.  Along the way we met a Canadian couple, Chris and Christina, who we proceeded to leap-frog up the rest of the trail.  Once re reached the top of the hill and began to descend into the valley the walking got much easier, although the famous Patagonian wind picked up.  The valley was beautiful, with a crystal clear river running through and ice-capped mountains on either side.  We stopped for a break at a refugio before continuing 1.5 hours up the hill to Camping Los Torres, a free campsite where we would spend the night.  The campsite was set in a sheltered wood, out of the wind and we found a great spot near the river. After setting up our tent and having a much-needed cuppa, we decided to hike the last hour's stretch to the Torres.  This last section was steep and involved clambering over boulders and moraine in strong winds, but the hike was very much worth it once we reached the incredible sight of the Torres del Paine, the spectacular granite towers, after which the park is named.  The weather was perfect, with 100% visibility, and we were even able to find a spot amongst the rocks to shelter from the wind, where we sat for almost an hour, admiring the amazing view.  

Torres Valley

Tea and cake

Mountains in the Torres Valley

Torres

Torres del Paine

After descending back to our campsite we cooked a hearty meal of soup and re-hydrated pasta and chatted for a while with the Canadians, before turning in for the night.

Day 66 - 9th February

We were up at a very civilised time for breakfast, only to discover that we had left the oats we had planned to use for porridge at the hostel. Luckily we had a plentiful supply of packet soup with rice and vegetables, which served as a hearty stand-in. We packed up our tent and set off on the day's hike. Our original plan was to walk to Camping Italiano, at the foot of the Valle Frances, the middle of the 'w', but that site was closed so we had to go instead to Los Cuernos, a refugio 2.5 hours nearer to us. That was great for today but would make tomorrow's hike into the valley a little tougher.  Along the route out of the valley the wind was so strong that it forced us to stop several times and blew us back onto the cliff face (at least it wasn't blowing the other way!).  We descended to nearly the bottom of the Torres Valley before taking a short-cut to Los Cuernos. This route cut off the steep bottom section of yesterday's trail and took us along the shore of a small lake. Once out of the valley the landscape changed to an undulating path through scrub land and rocky meadows with small lakes and woods. The sun was shining and we happily lost our waterproofs in favour of t-shirts. Along the way we were again playing cat and mouse with Chris and Christina, the Canadian couple, and we bumped into our German friend Birte, heading in the other direction. The initial part of the trail was relatively flat and easy and we made good time, but we reached some steep hills where we had to cross a headland in between two lakes and then the wind started and our progress slowed considerably. People had warned us about the wind in Patagonia and I thought we'd experienced its full force this morning, but nothing compares to the wind we experienced this afternoon. There was a constant strong wind, which was manageable, but the frequent gale-force gusts threw us to the ground or onto the rocks at regular intervals, and we frequently found ourselves crouching on the ground for cover, protecting our faces from the sand and grit that was being whipped around. We both had our sunglasses ripped from our faces and smashed on the rocks above, and below us the water from the lake was being whisked up into huge clouds of spray many metres high. Eventually, after much struggling, we made it to Los Cuernos, a small refugio with camping facilities. As it was the only campsite open in the area it was very crowded and we had to look for a sheltered spot to pitch our tent (not an easy task in that wind!) We found a small hollow surrounded by bushes and secured the tent with as many rocks as we could find. We saw around us that many other tents had been blown down during the day. Once the tent was safely up we took shelter in the refugio, but even in here the wind was shaking the walls and ceiling. We had a tasty dinner of super noodles, cooked inside the tent and settled down to sleep, with fingers crossed that our tent would survive the night.

Lago Nordenskjold

The view from our campsite

Readied against the storm

Day 67 - 10^th February

We woke to a perfectly calm, sunny morning to find that our little tent was still standing and that most of our kit was still dry.  Others on the site weren't so lucky and had had to sleep huddled together in the wind and rain at the back of the refugio after their tents had either collapsed or blown away!  Feeling thankful but tired after a less-than-peaceful night, we packed up our things. Overnight we had decided to cut our losses and end our trip a day early, partly because our tent was now soaking and covered in mud and partly because, with Italiano closed, the day walk into the Valle Frances would now take around 11 hours, and in order to make the midday ferry back the day after we would have to be up at 5:00am. So we had a leisurely morning and set off towards our new destination of Lago Pehoe, where we planned to catch the last boat of the day at 6:30 and be back in Puerto Natales tonight. With the sun shining and the wind confined to memory, it was a lovely walk along the shore of Lago Nordenskjold with views of Glaciar Frances in the distance. We reached Camping Italiano at the foot of the Valle Frances at around 1:30 planning to have a bite to eat and a short walk into the valley before continuing on our journey. Here our plans changed again – we discovered that the campsite was due to open at 5:00 this afternoon so decided to stay for the night, return to our original plan, and do a longer hike in the valley today. We left our bags at the campsite and walked up into Valle Frances, past the foot of the glacier that hugs the mountain on the valley's western side. We clambered over rocks, past a waterfall, over a river and up into the middle section of the valley. The walk was a little steep in places and slow going at times because of the rocky terrain, but without our bags it felt easy! We reached the Glaciar Frances mirador, about 1 hour below the top of the trail and stopped to drink in the amazing view. To the west was the beautiful front of the glacier, snaking its way down the mountain, to the west a bank of imposing granite peaks, to the south beautiful views over the park and lakes below and to the north further up into the valley with yet more snow-capped mountains. As we had started our day so late, not planning to do this hike, we didn't have enough time to get to the top of the trail and back and still be sure of getting a pitch at the campsite so we decided to turn back. At the campsite we were given a pitch in a sheltered spot next to the river, with fantastic views of the valley and glacier just beyond a screen of trees. We washed our muddy tent in the raging river and hung our damp sleeping bags out to dry in a nearby tree. It was a spectacular spot for dinner and a cup of tea, sitting by the river under the watchful gaze of the glacier, and we had a lovely dry, clean tent by the time we turned in for the night.

Lago Scottberg

Glaciar Frances

At Mirador Frances

Valle Frances

Day 68 - 11^th February

We had a very restful night and were up at 7:30 for breakfast and to pack up our tent, grateful that we were able to sleep here, 2.5 hours nearer the ferry, and didn't have to be up at 5:00! This morning we had a lovely gentle walk for 2.5 hours to Refugio Paine Grande, on the shore of Lago Pehoe. Again the sun was shining, the wind was mostly a breeze and we spent time drinking in the beautiful scenery on our last day in this stunning national park. Sadly this was the part that had been burnt in the recent fires and all the trees and plants were black and scorched.  It was a stark contrast to the beautiful green scenery of the last few days.  We reached Paine Grande in good time and ate the last of our food before boarding the 12:30 catamaran across the lake to Pudeta, where we caught the bus out of the park and back to Puerto Natales. We arrived back at our hostel at 4:30, gave back our trusty tent and other equipment, retrieved the rest of our bags and had a much needed shower. We both wanted to rest but we had a bus booked at 8:00 tomorrow morning and needed to sort some things out before then, so we spent the early evening packing and picking up a few things from the shops (I needed a new water bottle after mine was broken on the rocks and we both needed to look for new sunglasses). Errands done we headed to the bar at Erratic Rock, a local hostel and traveller haunt, for a well-earned beer and a bite to eat. We had planned on an early night but got chatting over tasty tacos to two very entertaining French guys, who had travelled down from Buenos Aires on an ancient motorbike, and a couple of other people, and ended up staying a little later than planned.

Burnt trees

The line of the fire stretching up the mountain

Guanaco in the park

Hooray I survived!  The catamaran back

Last view of the park across Lago Pehoe

Day 69 - 12^th February

Although we got to bed a little later than planned last night, we still slept well and woke feeling reasonably refreshed. We had breakfast and boarded the 5-hour bus to El Calafate in Argentina. The boarder crossing was really smooth, with no forms to fill in, although we did pass a big sign at the Argentinian border proclaiming the Malvinas Islands to be Argentinian! We arrived in El Calafate, a small town on the shores of Lago Argentino, and found our hostel easily. El Calafate is the nearest town to Glaciar Perito Moreno, the main reason we had come to this part of Argentina, and we booked some bus tickets to go and see it tomorrow. After a trip to the supermarket to stock up on supplies we spent a lazy evening in the hostel with pizza and wine.

Day 70 - 13^th February

Today we visited the magnificent Perito Moreno glacier, a 1.5 hour bus ride from El Calafate. So that we could have our long-awaited lie-in, we opted for the afternoon bus as we'd heard there would be fewer tourists there later in the day. Perito Moreno is not the largest glacier in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares but it is easily accessible and has one significant draw – unlike most of the other glaciers, which are receding, Perito Moreno is stable and actually advances each day, causing blocks of ice to break off the face of it and crash into the water, to the delight of visitors. It was a drizzly day and very cold, being next to such a huge wall of ice – the glacier is 60m high above the lake and descends 110m below it. It stretches for 30km back through the mountains to the Southern Patagonian ice shelf and is a pretty spectacular sight. We first took a 1-hour boat trip, travelling close to the face of the glacier, sailing amongst small icebergs that had broken off. Several people we know were lucky enough to have blocks of ice fall near their boat, but no such luck for us, although that didn't take away from the beauty of the ice face. After the boat the bus took us up to the mirador area, where the National Park has erected 3km of walkways snaking around in front of the glacier. We wandered them all, marvelling at the huge glacier with its splinters of ice, some of them hanging precariously, waiting to fall at any moment. As we walked we occasionally heard the ice creaking and moaning, and every now and then the sound of a piece falling into the water, but always just out of sight. Having explored all of the walkways we set ourselves up at a balcony to watch the glacier for a while, hoping for a calving – and patience paid off. After about half an hour of watching the same block of ice gradually losing small pieces it eventually came crashing down into the lake below. Tired and freezing but happy and in awe of the spectacular glacier, we caught the bus back to El Calafate.

Enjoying the boat ride

The huge scale of the glacier

The face of the glacier with broken ice

A piece calving from the ice face

Day 71 - 14^th February

Another early morning for the 8:00am bus to the town of El Chalten, in the north of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. We had originally planned to spend a few days in El Chalten, hiking in the nearby mountains, but our schedule has become tighter and we now only had time for a day walk. At the visitors centre, we met Anouk and Giso, our Dutch friends from Pucon, who were planning to stay here for a few days. We had a good catch-up and they decided to come with us on our day walk. Our original plan was to hike to Laguna Capri, around 2 hours away, from where you can get a good view of the famous Cerro Fitzroy, a jagged granite peak and the area's main draw. The hike was relatively easy and we reached the lake after just over an hour. Unfortunately our good weather luck had run out and Fitzroy was shrouded in thick cloud. Having made such good progress we decided to hike on to the next mirador at Poincenot campsite, an hour or so away in the foothills of the Fitzroy range. Again we made good time, arriving just under an hour later, but the weather hadn't improved and Fitzroy was still invisible. Despite not being able to see the main attraction it was still a lovely hike through beautiful valleys and woodland, and it was really nice to spend another day with Anouk and Giso. We made it back to town an hour before our bus was due to leave and were able to take up a recommendation we'd been given about a waffle restaurant there – yum! By the time we made it back to the bus station sod's law was in full swing and the clouds had cleared, giving us our one clear sight of Fitzroy across the town.

Woodpeckers in the park

Our cloudy view of Cerro Fitzroy

Beautiful valley

Day 72 - 15^th February

We spent today relaxing in the hostel, waiting for our evening flight to Buenos Aires. We had hoped to be able to take the bus but the cost wasn't much different and the bus would have taken 3 days!  Our flight was at 9:20 at night and we arrived three hours later in Buenos Aires, where the air was humid and the night a stifling 25 degrees - a dramatic change from the fresh winds and snow-covered mountains we'd left earlier this evening!  After the most terrifying taxi ride of our lives (think police chase video at break-neck speed!) we arrived at our hostel and settled down for a very warm night's sleep.

The long journey south - sailing the Patagonian fjords

Day 60 -3rd February

We travelled by bus to the port town of Puerto Montt, where we were to board the Navimag Ferry that would take us through the Patagonian Fjords four days to Puerto Natales. We checked in and then spent several hours wandering around the town waiting for the ferry to be readied. There's not a lot to do in Puerto Montt and I was glad we decided to stay in nearby Puerto Varas instead of here. We walked around the market at Angelmo to a great fish market. If we weren't getting on the ferry we'd have been very tempted to buy some fish or shellfish for dinner. After a lunch for empanadas, we boarded the ship, although we didn't leave port for another hour or so. We had tried to get the cheapest berths aboard, literally a bunk in the wall of the corridors with a curtain for privacy, but they were all booked so we had to have the next version up. Ours was a 4-berth cabin with 2 bunks on either side and a small gap in between. The beds were comfortable, with fresh towels, privacy curtains and hughe lockers for our bags. We were sharing our cabin with a young German couple, who seemed very nice, if not the most talkative. By the kind of coincidence that I'm now getting used to, Birte, the German girl we know from Pucon and who we spent yesterday with, was in the cabin next door! After wandering round the ship and getting acquainted with our new home, we all assembled in the cafeteria for a briefing from the Captain. The it was time for dinner, which was much nicer than we'd anticipated, followed by beer and playing cards with our cabin-mates, Birte and her cabin-mates, an American called Lindsey (another friend of Birte's) and an Argentinian calle Diego, who we picked up at dinner.

Navimag ferry at Puerto Montt

Hooray!  We're off...

In my bunk

Day 61 - 4th February

We were woken up for breakfast at 8:00 and ate more food than we would usually manage, then settled in to a strenuous morning reading our books, playing games and gazing at the scenery passing by the windows.  The weather was similar to yesterday, hazy and cloudy with strong winds on deck and occasional rain, which meant that although we went out frequently to get a better look at the fjords as we passed, we also spent a lot of time inside relaxing in the bar or cafeteria.  Although the visibility wasn't great, the ship got close enough to land on both sides for us still to get some spectacular views. 

Bueatiful fjords in the mist

Lunchtime

Days on the boat revolve around the three meals, which neatly truncate your reading and sightseeing time into short chunks.  After lunch we went to a lecture on Patagonian fauna, focusing mainly on birds.  The lecture was given by the excitable Percival, the ship's tour guide, who took us enthusiastically through photos of birds and marine wildlife, punctuated with anecdotes.  Our lecture was stopped several times by announcements from the captain that whales had been sighted off the ship, at which point we all rushed outside to get a glimpse.  Having never seen whales in the wild before it was a spine-tingling experience to watch a small group of minky whales diving off the side of the ship.  Unfortunately the wind and their speed made taking a photo impossible, so you're just going to have to believe me.  We also saw penguins and a dolphin, as well as majestic albatrosses gliding alongside us.  That evening we crossed out of the safety of the Fjords into the Golfo de Penas, on the open ocean.  Having worked on the ferries and spent lots of time on the sea, neither Jon nor I are accustomed to getting sea-sick, but these waves were something else!  After an ill-advised glass of wine, which I think negated the positive impact of my travel sickness medication, I gave up and headed to bed.  A handy dose of Diazepam, bought in Bolivia, ensured I slept soundly through the night.  Apparently others on board were not so lucky...

Windy whale watching

Getting rough...

Day 62 - 5th February

By the time we got up for breakfast we were safely back inside the fjords and had left the rough seas behind us.  The morning was full of stories of how everyone had survived the night and some seemed to have fared better than others.  Apparently those in the bunks in the corridors had their sleep disturbed by queasy passengers running to the toilet all night!  Today's weather was  a little better, with sunny spells and brief showers all day.  We spent a good part of the day playing cards with our new friends, in between strolls on deck to appreciate the ever spectacular scenery.  We sailed through many narrow channels, affording great close-up views of the hills on either side, and saw yet more fantastic wildlife - seals, more birds and another shoal of whales - as well as the wreck of a ship which ran aground the 1970s and now serves as a warning to other sailors. Today's highlight was a visit to a glacier (another first for me!).  We were due to visit the Peo 11 glacier, but as visibility was poor, the captain decided to re-route the ship to visit another one, the Iceberg glacier, to which we could get closer.  My first experience of a glacier left me spellbound, the size and scale were immense and the incredible blue colour of the ice was mesmerising.  We spent about half an hour sailing close to the ice face, breathing in the pure icy air and marvelling at the beauty of the landscape.  What a day!  

Wrecked ship Capitan Leonidas

Iceberg Glacier

Enjoying the glacier

Close-up of the ice

Tonight's lecture was on glaciation, a bit of a recap of all those geography lessons, and very enjoyable.  After the lecture we left our friends in the bar playing cards and found a quiet spot to read and look at our photos for a few hours.  When we returned to the bar we found that we had missed the bingo and that our friend Lindsey had won, which seemed to entail getting free drinks and having to dance in front of everyone!  By the time we got to the bar, she and most of the other passengers were very drunk and a South American disco was in full swing.  We drank the rest of our bottle of wine and joined them for a boogie to Chilean music until the early hours of the morning, although when we left the hard-core were still going strong.

Day 63 - 6th February

We were both spared hangovers from last night's party, having gone to bed before many of the others, who weren't so lucky.  Lindsey and Diego, who both stayed til the end were feeling a little the worse for wear.  Sadly all the heavy food served on the boat had started to disagree with me and I decided to skip breakfast in favour of a long lie-in.  As we were now quite a long way south it was decidedly chilly on deck and everyone wrapped up warm in as many layers as they could find.  Today saw the most spectacular scenery, as we sailed past snow-capped mountains on either side.  We also passed through the narrowest point of our journey, the White Narrow, with just 8m clearance on each side of the ship.  We all spent more time on deck today, enjoying the spectacular scenery before our journey came to an end.  

Mountains in the White Narrow

Getting close to the rocks

Mountains near Puerto Natales

We reached our destination, the port town of Puerto Natales, at around 3:00pm, but the famous Patagonian wind was too strong for us to dock so we spent another hour waiting in the bay.  Eventually we were able to dock and had to bid a sad farewell to our trusty ship Evangalista, and also to our new-found friends, most of whom were heading off to various hostels with plans to trek the nearby Torres del Paine at different times.  It was a bit hairy climbing down the stairs on the ship with our backpacks in the howling wind, but somehow we all made it to dry land and walked through the town to our hostels.  I had an amazing time on the Navimag ferry and am so glad we found out about this trip.  It may have cost a little more than we had budgeted but it was well and truly worth the money and a truly sensational way to enter Patagonia.