Having given up on climbing Volcan Villarica we headed to Mendoza for some vineyards, wine and bife de chorizo. This meant another crossing of the Andes which true to form didn't disappoint. The weather was typical of the mountains - as we climbed higher the snow got heavier but the sun also sometimes came out, beautiful. Then once more we'd be in mist and cloud, all four seasons in a day, again. This is the land of the Monkey Puzzle tree, there are thousands of them in the parque nacional the road passes through. They really are strange. On the Argentinian [View Full Entry]

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We came to Pucon to hike to the summit of Volcan Villarica and left 3 days later having not done that, or very much else. Once again the weather closed us down - bugger, bugger, bugger. We had nothing but low cloud, rain, fog, wind and even a few flurries of snow. In the same hostel were a group of French guys who'd been waiting a few days for a break in the weather that never came, but in Puerto Varas we met an American couple who'd done it without any waiting, just the luck of the draw. Pucon is a [View Full Entry]

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From Castro we took a bus directly to Peurto Varas, skipping Puerto Montt which is an unattractive place with little to see or do. Happily the weather was being kind to us again, when we arrived it was cold but clear and dry, we can live with that. Like all of the lakes and rivers in this part of the world the water here is beautifully clear and clean, but very cold - although amazingly we did see people paddling and even swimming one day !! they're a lot braver than me. The view across the lake to the perfect cone [View Full Entry]

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At last it's stopped raining and snowing !!!!! Esquel, Futaleufu, Bariloche and the first day on Chiloe were all washed or snowed out - I guess it comes with the territory and explains why it's so green. Chiloe is the island we were trying to get to when we had to turn back from Futaleufu, glad to say the road journey from Bariloche is easier and still includes a short ferry crossing. Chiloe reminds me of Devon or Ireland, rolling green hills, bays and inlets, grazing cows and sheep. It became really beautiful when the sun eventually came out - and [View Full Entry]

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Bariloche is beautiful, like Switzerland - lakes, snow capped mountains, chalets. And as an added bonus we found the best value hostel we've come across so far, less than US$9 per night including breakfast and dinner !!! The only downside was our roommates who had some annoyingly dirty habits, particularly in the bathroom. The crappy weather continued with strong winds, snow and rain - merde but hey ho nothing we can do about it. Most of the time we chilled - having hot chocolate in cafes, reading and generally lazing around. During one of the rain breaks we managed to get [View Full Entry]

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Public transport in much of Patagonia is difficult but once off the beaten track it can become almost impossible. We tried to get from Esquel in Argentina to Chaiten in Chile and then by ferry to the island of Chiloe, it's doable but not practical - at least for us. It all started well, at Esquel we thought we were in luck, the bus to the border runs only on Monday and Friday, it was Friday - result :-) Crossing the border was simple and straightforward (it's not always like that between Argentina and Chile), only when we got to Futaleufu [View Full Entry]

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For the second time in the last few days we've found ourselves experiencing unseasonal snow and cold. First we had blizzard conditions the day we left El Calafate and now the same in Esquel, putain. Maybe Clarkson is right :-) !!! [View Full Entry]

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OK so not actually Wales but most of the towns in Chubut province were established by Welsh settlers in the 19th century, so close enough. We hadn't planned to travel north up the east coast but Ruta 40 is still closed until the end of the month when the snow will be cleared. As luck would have it we hit one of the best months of the year for wildlife on and around Peninsula Valdes :-) The roll call included southern wright whales, sea lions, guanaco, elephant seals, penguins, mara (Patagonian hares), lizards, and tons of different birds. We also had [View Full Entry]

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Another fantastic Patagonian experience - this place is absolutley awesome !!! The Perito Moreno glacier is massive - in area its the same size as Buenos Aires (>250km2), the front face is ~8km long and between 150m and 180m high (40m - 60m above the water). Its also one of the few glaciers in the world to be still adding ice. It advances quite a lot (~2m per day) so is noisy and calves quite a few icebergs. Just looking at it is impressive but you can also ice hike up it - we had to do this. Its a bit [View Full Entry]

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Just back from 5 days hiking the W Trail in the Torres del Paine. My words and pictures can't tell or show how fantastic this place is, its a real wonderland. We were lucky enough to experience the whole range of Patagonian weather - it started sunny, then we had gale force winds (strong enough to blow you off your feet !!!) and a blizzard, then overcast, then 15cm of snow, then complete calm with blue sunny skies and finally clear blue skies and more gale force winds. At times we were in T shirts at others we were in thermals, [View Full Entry]

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