Southern Patagonia - Chile & Argentina

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We arrived in Puerto Natales after a short bust ride with spectacular scenery and one of the best sunsets. We stayed in a dodgy hostel with a lady who acted more like an old aunt than the owner of the place, she was constantly fussing over us... we organized our trip to Torres Del Paine National Park, we took a tent and planned to go for four days, do a bit of hiking and see how we go.

We left for the park at 8am with a couple of Canadians, who were hiking the ¨W¨, and a couple from Scotland and a Frenchman who had the same plans as us. The bus stopped a few times along the way so we could take photos, and catch our first glimpses of the famous peaks. Amazing views.

We hiked for 17kms on the first day to reach the only Refugio that was open in winter, which was situated on Lago Penhoe. The Refugio was nice but was under renovations. We set up our tent in the remaining sunlight and battled gale force winds. It was a horrid night, I woke up many times freezing cold and scared that the wind was going to blow the tent (and us) away. The only other people camping were the two Canadians. Everyone else (the other travellers and the workers) were inside the cosy Refugio. 😞

The next morning we got up nice and early, ate in the dark and hiked to Glaciar Grey lookout. The wind was howling again, it was cold and miserable but we managed to get a look at the glacier (my first ever... it was about time I had seen one, being a geo and all) before the weather went from bad to worse and it started snowing, by the time we got back to the camp and Refugio I was wet, cold and miserable, and the prospect of another night in the cold with wet shoes, clothes and the snow was unappealing. We sat in the entrance to the Refugio, I didn’t want to go back to the tent, it didn’t help that the other three travellers were inside the Refugio, nice and warm.... we (I) wussed out and moved into the Refugio for the night.

Woke up the next day and the weather was terrible, snow and howling winds, but we did attempt to hike to the Valle De Frances... but the weather made us turn back without seeing much at all. On the final day, we hiked back to where we were going to be picked up, a further 17kms in the snow ... but the weather slowly improved and by the time we got back to the road, the sun was out and it was clearing up. Damn... oh well. At least the bus picked us up and took us back to Puerto Natales for a good nights sleep.

We left Puerto Natales the next morning and crossed back over to Argentina to El Calafate, its a cute (but touristy) town. Part of the journey was along the (in)famous Route 40, the road was covered in so much ice and snow, visibility was nothing and you tell the driver was struggling. Anyway from there we did a day trip to get a close look to the Perito Moreno Glaciar, in the Los Glaciares National Park . I must say, I was amazed.... especially watching the big chunks of ice come crashing down... up close it looks nothing like I had ever imagined....

From El Calafate, we were hoping to get to Bariloche in the Lakes District, but unfortunatly (and we weren’t surprised) the Route 40 is closed the rest of the way during winter. So, our options were to take 3 buses over 30hrs, or cross over to Chile and take the boat up the coast (which would take a few days). We decided to take the bus.

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