Cruising Fjords and Climbing Volcanoes - Puerto Natales to Pucon

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The Moreno Glacier was going to be hard to beat but nevertheless we went on in search of natural wonders and new cultures, Chile did not disappoint.

The drive from El Calafate to Puerto Natales was pretty hairy, over mountains on a snow covered road, at night and in a very small bus. In true South American fashion nothing fazed the driver and we arrived safe and sound to a very cold and quiet Natales. Searching for a hostel was not so easy - most were closed as this was the low season. Eventually we came across Magallania - run by a very laid back guy. It comprised a few bunks, lounge, kitchen and dirty shower. We only stayed one night but the guy was so nice we felt a little bit bad so made up a story that we were heading out of town.

We moved to Erratic Rock - not too disimilar (in my opinion) but freezing aswell. This would be our base for exploring the Torres Del Paine park whilst waiting for our "cruise" ship to leave.

Torres Del Paine is supposed to be one of the most striking natural parks anywhere in the world and it certainly had a mysterious feeling when we arrived. Firstly we visited a cave which was just a cave. Arriving in the park the weather was all over the place, one minute sunshine the next all out blizzard. The parks main feature are three huge granite towers. We did manage to get a glimpse of them as we were leaving but the weather had not been on our side. Also in the park are amazing water falls, glaciers and my favourite - the ice bergs from the glaciers that wash up on the beach. It was a great day and would be a spectacular place to hike, but not in the winter!

We spent the next two days waiting in our freezing hostel for the boat to leave that would take us north through the Chilean Fjords. The Navimag cruise has become popular with backpackers wanting to go north where the roads are not so great. Our ship "Puerto Eden" was really a cargo ship but did have the capacity for over 200 passengers. On arrival we knew Graham and Lynny were going to be there but our other travelling companions consisted of 5 other English backpackers and a few lorry drivers. All in all about 20 people. There were hundreds of cows and horses to make up the numbers.

The ship set off early in the morning so we woke up to amazing views of mountains, sea lions jumping in our wake and pure tranquiliy (apart from all the animal noises from the hold)! The next three days passed in exactly the same way. We would spend time on the bridge with the Captain and crew, learning about navigation and also listening to England beat Ecuador on the HF radio. One night we all got a little tipsy which was a bad idea as the next day we were in the open sea and the flat bottomed ship rolled all over the place. I was sick (but not from the alcohol) and felt awful - maybe it did have a little to do with the cheap Argentinian wine?

For all the negative comments you hear about the Navimag journey I thought it was excellent and would recommend it to anyone. We had one day of awful weather but even so I loved it!

When we docked in Puerto Montt we all (9 of us) headed north a little further to Pucon. Chiles adventure capital and the home of Volcan Villarica. Our aim was to climb this active volcanoe where you can see bubbling lava in the crater at the top, then slide down on your bottom in the snow!

Pucon is a lovely little town with all kinds of activities on offer. We booked the Volcanoe trip for the next morning and prayed for good weather. That night all seemed clear as you could see the glow of the crater from town.

Up early next morning and after waiting for our guides for ages we eventually got kitted up and headed to the start point. The guides were a little unsure about the weather and asked us if we wanted to wait. The general consensus was that we would go for it and hope for the best. It was a real hard slog, walking in snow up a very steep incline. We got to a point where we needed our crampons too but shortly after that we had to turn back as the weather had closed in. Just 400m short of the summit - so close but never mind. Going down was hilarious, sitting on your bum and just sliding. It was so steep you had to use your ice axe as a break - certainly quicker than going up!

To recover from the exhausting climb and descent we all went to some fantastic thermal pools. 6 in all and all differnet temperatures. We were the only ones there so it was a great way to realax in beautiful surroundings and complete silence - apart from the raging river next door.

The first part of Chile was great - heading back into Argentina now and will visit Chile again soon.

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