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Published: January 20th 2007
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I guess this is why I decided to do this trip. Patagonia has been calling me for a while and it really is a most amazing place. It covers the southern parts of Argentina and Chile, from the Andes Mountains to the west and south and plateaus and low plains to the east. It is roughly the sector below 39°S but this varies as you travel between Chile and Argentina (which we've done several times - accumulating many stamps in our passports!).
I had expected a land full of mountains and glaciers, but hadn't quite appreciated the scale of the vast barren plateaus, which run alongside. As we crossed from Chile into Argentina we were amazed by the change in vegetation. Thousands of monkey-puzzle trees, bright yellow broom bushes and a range of purple and pink lupins growing wild along the roadside instantly surrounded us. The main route south was little more than a dusty, stony track, but round every bend we were rewarded with yet another amazing view of mountains and turquoise glacial lakes.
Our first stop was in the beautiful town of Bariloche. With over 110,000 inhabitants it is the biggest city in the Rio Negro province
and one of the most important tourist centres in the north of Patagonia. It reminded me a lot of Switzerland and even sported many chocolate shops and St. Bernard dogs posing to have their photos taken with gullible tourists! Many rich and famous people have luxurious mountain lodges here and come for regular holidays to escape. In winter, it is a thriving ski resort, but I'm not quite sure how the pistes compare to Europe and North America.
As we continued on our journey south, it's hardly surprising that driving on such poor roads resulted in another spectacular puncture/blow-out or whatever you want to call it. The tyre was completely gone, leaving shreds of rubber discarded along the roadside and coils of wire tangled up in the truck wheels. Thank goodness I didn't have to fix it. I think we'd still be there shivering at the side of the road waiting for the AA if I had been in charge!
The Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province is just so stunningly beautiful and once again the sun was shining for us. With the glaciers and mountains in the distance and a land
filled with wild flowers at this time of year, it was truly breath taking. As we drove towards Perito Moreno we saw several condors soaring above us - some with a wingspan of up to 3 metres. In such a haven for wildlife we also managed to see a Patagonian fox and hare and made friends with several goats when we stopped at a local estancia for a drink. Most people know how much I love hot chocolate and I have to say this was the best one I've ever experienced. Instead of our usual powder or flakes, we were presented with a bowl of hot frothy milk and a whole bar of chocolate plopped inside. As it melted, the flavour got stronger and stronger and I'm now salivating at the thought. Delicious!
Our most amazing experience so far has got to be the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is 30km in length and is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating. It has an average height of 60 meters above the surface of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 meters and it advances at a speed of up to 2 m per day.
As we stood and watched the ice, it constantly creaked and groaned and on several occasions we witnessed huge slabs of ice crash into the water below. (This is known as calving). At one point we were actually in a boat taking a closer look at the ice, when the biggest slice of ice suddenly crashed off the glacier into the lake below. There was an enormous splash and crash, then huge waves chased towards us. Thankfully we were able to move away very quickly and just enjoyed watching the new born calves bobbing in the water!
It was just such an amazing place I could have stayed and stared at it for days. I just couldn't stop taking photos, as every second you see something else even more spectacular. I promise I won't make you look through all the hundreds of pictures when I get home!!
The next day the weather had turned to very strong wind and cold drizzle. Our tent had flapped and billowed all night and just after we got up, it completely collapsed with the force of the wind. Thankfully someone noticed while we were away setting up breakfast and we were able
Main road south
With remnants of our obliterated tyre in the foreground! to salvage it before it completely blew away! It was so hard to put the tent pegs in firmly though as the ground was so dry and stony.
We set off for our trek to the Grey Glacier. This started with a bumpy truck ride to the lake, then we boarded a catamaran to take us across the water. The wind had now become even stronger so the water was splashing right over the top of us and the boat was lurching up and down in the huge waves. I really enjoyed it and thought it was quite funny watching everyone trying to walk around the boat. Many people were feeling quite sick though and they were glad when we finally reached land at the other side.
The walk from the lake to the glacier is about 11 km so we quickly set off in the howling gales. Although it was really cold we soon had to peel off the layers as we were heating up so much with the effort of walking. Unfortunately it was two hours before we reached the glacier when the wind finally won the battle and managed to sweep me off my feet,
resulting in my broken arm. Another girl also injured her ankle so it was a long slog to the end of the trail. We were finally rewarded with the views of the Grey Glacier, but for me it was nowhere near as spectacular as the Perito Merino Glacier. I'm sure it's more amazing if you see it on a blue-sky day though!
Another of my favourite days came two days later while we were still staying in Torres del Paine. It is a stunningly beautiful national park and this seems to be a perfect time of year for flora and fauna - or maybe it's as beautiful as this all year. While some people went off to climb to the Torres peaks, we decided to do a short walk up the hill at the back of our campsite. The entire hillside was just blanketed in wild flowers and we spent the day in glorious sunshine taking pictures of a range of wild orchids and other tiny colourful Patagonian flowers. A truly perfect day!
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Georgie and John
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Hello from BC
Sorry to hear about your arm! Happy to hear you are loving the trip! When do you get back? I almost expect...next year! Karen Peterson had a baby boy...6lbs 11 oz. Cheers