Today we are going on a road trip with Wilma. First, breakfast. It’s very healthy – there’s more fruit on the breakfast buffet than I’ve seen in the whole of the past month. The benefit of sharing a hotel with professional sportsmen. We set off for Alta Gracia, a small town 24 miles southwest of Córdoba. It is the home of a 16th century Jesuit ranch (now a museum) and church. After a quick climb of the clock tower for a birds eye view of town, we visit the various Jesuit buildings. On the outskirts of town, is the childhood home of Che Guevara, now a museum. It documents the course of his life with plenty of photographs, original letters and documents. My favourites are letters written by little Ernestito and ‘La Poderosa’ - the motorcycle ... read more

After breakfast we check out of La Posta del Cazador, which is a relief as it’s dark and stuffy and full of dead things (the door handles and light fittings are made of antlers). The bed was so uncomfortable I spent half the night contemplating sleeping in the car. This morning we are returning down the route of 7 lakes to Villa la Angostura. First, a visit to La Pastera Museo del Che. It’s a tenuous link; Che Guevara spent 2 nights in this barn in 1952. But it’s an interesting little museum. We drive south stopping at various viewpoints over lakes and waterfalls along the way, reaching quaint little La Angostura around lunchtime. We check into our hotel; Marinas Alto Manzano. It’s beautiful. We have a huge room overlooking the lake and the bathroom has ... read more

When I get up the old man has disappeared. I wait 40 minutes assuming he can’t have gone far, then find him in the restaurant on his fourth plate of breakfast. A buffet is like playing Russian roulette when you have an allergy. Someone has double dipped in the condiments and there are brown blobs in the cream cheese. After some muttering and an extensive mining operation, I am fairly confident my breakfast isn’t going to kill me. Today we are driving 120 miles north to San Martín de los Andes along the Camino de los 7 Lagos; a road which passes 7 lakes. Each lake has a viewpoint and tourist information. So we wind our way along through the forest stopping to take pictures at each one; Espejo, Corrientoso, Escondido, Villarino, Falkner, Maconico. They’re all ... read more

Today we return to El Calafate for our flight to Bariloche. It’s 125 miles to the airport but Hertz insist the car is returned with a full tank which adds a further 20 miles to our drive. The distance between things is difficult for a Brit to get used to. It’s also 130 miles between toilets. But that’s another story… We set off at 7.15 am. It’s a remote road with nothing except lake one side and pampas on the other. In the first hour we pass 4 cars, 3 guanacos, 2 rhea and a grey fox. We have worked out a way to halve our excess baggage fines. This involves checking a piece of hand luggage and using a bag-for-life for carry on items - the height of sartorial elegance. Sadly, I’ve had to ditch ... read more

Today we drive 136 miles north to the village of El Chalten. The scenery en route is of snow capped mountains, turquoise lakes, rivers with eagles flying overhead and pampas dotted with guanacos (a type of llama). We also spot silver foxes, an armadillo and gauchos herding sheep. We arrive in El Chalten and check in to our cabin. We’ve been upgraded to a 2 storey, 6 bed cabin so space won’t be an issue for the next few nights. We walk through quirky little El Chalten; a hiking centre within Los Glaciares National Park and visit the park visitor centre for details of hiking routes. We select the 6 km ‘Mirador de los Condores y de las Aguilas’ supposedly to viewpoints where condors and eagles soar above the river canyon. It’s very steep and the ... read more