Blogs from Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America

It’s a cracker of a morning, the sun is just below the clouds low down on the eastern horizon, but it is lighting up the snow capped Andes far to the west. Maximo has just picked me up from the hostel and we are speeding west beside Lago Argentino to a favoured fishing spot. Maximo checks my shoe size and after a “wow” there is a hurried u-turn to get a larger pair of wading boots. We were soon out of town clipping along at around 140kph, hardly seeing another car on the road. Both guides (Sergio and Maximo) had Toyota HiLux’s with big cracks through the windscreens. I joked to Eileen later that a cracked windscreen is a badge of honour for fishing guides and that they probably hit the windscreen with a hammer as ... read more

Patagonien. Seit ich Bruce Chatwin gelesen habe, wusste ich, hier will ich hin. Chatwins Ziel war die Höhle von Milodón (wo Resten von einem Riesenfaultier gefunden wurden). Wir brauchten nicht wie Chatwin 6 Monate um die Höhle zu finden, wir schafften das schon am dritten Tag. Wenn ich 6 Monate dafür unterwegs gewesen wäre, hätte mich die Höhle wohl ein Bisschen enttäuscht. Gut ja, sie ist gross und die Idee, dass hier ein 4m-Faultier gehaust hat, fasziniert - aber ja, das Mylodon ist vor 10'000 Jahren ausgestorben und die Replika beim Eingang der Höhle ist aus Plastik. Aber wir kamen nicht deswegen hierher, sondern wegen der Gletscher, der Berge, der Steppe, der Weite... Und ja, wir wurden fündig! Die Gletscher hier haben mich umgehauen! Vor allem weil sie im Lago Argentino, d.h. im Wasser enden, bekommt ... read more

I left Buenos Aires in the middle of the night to fly south to El Calafate, a small tourist town that was to be my first stop in Patagonia. I barely remember the flight – I crashed out instantly and awoke as we were landing with my untouched food placed kindly next to me. El Calafate airport is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the vast and empty Patagonian steppe, with only a few mountains visible in the distance. I soon realised that the town itself was pretty much the same, a tiny place containing only the airport, some hostels, a few travel agents and lots of hiking equipment shops. I spent the first day exploring the town (didn’t take long) and a nearby Laguna (containing some Flamingos) and then headed back to my hostel ... read more

After visiting the Argentinian side of Iguazu falls myself and Will, a guy from Dublin I'd crossed paths with a few times in Brazil, left Josh and took a bus to Buenos Aires just in time for St. Patrick's day. On arrival we bumped into a few of the guys I'd stayed with in Rio so we all headed out to watch some Six Nations and drink some green beers. The whole world celebrates St Paddy's but Buenos Aires takes it especially seriously. Whole streets in the centre were full of Guinness drinking Argentinians in a party of almost Carnival like proportions. Nightlife in BA is pretty hardcore, no one seems to head out until about 3am and to head home until nearly lunchtime. Being Irish for a day had it's advantages as I quickly realised ... read more

Ok, this is going to be big. I´ve got a week´s worth of stuff to write about so i´ll try to keep it concise. Also i´m dedicating this one to all those who did Geography at school, specifically cold environments people, Mr Lemoine included, as i am now literally THE Big dog of seeing glacial stuff. I was all like "why hello lateral and terminal morraines forming barriers to the corrie lake or tarn that sits infront of the frost shattered back wall covered in scree". Anyways: The week has been amaaaaaaaaaaazing, although the name of this place is slightly decieving in that I have so far not patted any gonias at all. First tings first, Monday. This was the day of the visit to the Perito Moreno Glacier, which when translated means the Glacier of ... read more