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Published: December 17th 2004
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Now that we were at the end of the world.. we had to go north,
So with a short flight, we arrived in the Argentinian town of El Calafate. This is the heart of prime cattle and sheep grazing land, and was the scene of violent labour uprising in the 20s.. Nowadays, it is a pleasant, touristy little town that attracts visitors primarily because of the Los Glacieres national park nearby, and in particular, the Perito Moreno Glacier.
As we headed West, the arid, barren plains gave way to pine forest, then to the mountains. Then, nestled at the bottom of a huge glacier that decends from the Ice Shelf up in the Andes Plateau, the Moreno Glacier.. it is a stunning sight.. 25 miles long, and 3 miles wide, and as it suddenly ends into an icy lake, 70 metres high. The visitors come for a close up view on boats to see the ice splitting and crashing with a huge roar into the water.. it is quite a site to see hundreds of tonnes of ice calving into the water, and we spent a couple of hours trying to predict which precarious ice tower would collapse first..
That same evening, we took a bus north to the tiny town of El Chalten, which has some great hiking, especially up to the base of the magnificent Mount Fitzroy. Anyway, we did a good 16 miles that day, through some brutal winds, and with Rachael struggling with a cold, she declined the last 400 meter vertical climb.. I wasnt particularly sympathetic, I must admit, and may even have doubted her athletic abilities.. anyway, with her in a huff, and resting in a rangers shelter, I clambered up the steep slope, trying to ignore the 60mph winds, to the glacial lake, and the most amazing view of the mountain.. which was obviously covered in cloud when I got there..
Still, it was a good exercise for our longer hikes to come..
Back to El Calafate for our last night in Argentina, and I celebrated with a quite amazing steak. This has probably been my favourite country so far... it just has everything..
But no time to linger.. early the next morning.. we were off to Chile again..
The depressing town of Puerto Natales, a 5 hour south from El Calafate is the gateway to the Torres Del Paine
National Park. This really is the Yosemite of Patagonia, the postcard vistas, the unspoilt countryside, pretty lakes with towering granite monoliths rising above.. again, real Lord of the Rings stuff.. so much so, that I even summoned the mighty Led Zeppelin on my MP3 player while walking along.. and called up all their songs with references to Tolkein and Viking Gods to add to the mood.
The most popular trek is a 4 or 5 day slog over 60 odd miles, and incorportates glaciers, lakes, and views of the colossul vertical towers that loom, a mile or so over the valleys below..
Our first 2 nights were in refuges... cosy wooden huts and dorm rooms.. Basic, but comfortable enough.. but very expensive. The second lodge actually was the most expensive place we´ve stayed in South America - $27 each for a dorm bed!! You can get a 4 Star hotel in Buenos Aires for that.. We did save a little money by cooking our own food, which I was lugging around in my pack... Anyway, they did give shelter from the weather, which was highly changeable.. 4 seasons in one day is the right cliche here.. And when it
rained or snowed, the walking could be tough going.
For our next 2 nights, the refuges were all full, so we were stuck out in the campsite.. as a concession to this hardship, we decided to buy a hot dinner in the cosy shacks, so at least we were warm on the inside, and to be honest, the food was pretty good, though rather expensive, like most of Chile.
After our 4th day of walking, we were almost done, with just the best view to do.. we set up our tent, dumped our backpacks, and scrambled for a couple of hours up a steep slope to a viewpoint where we could see all 3 of the towers that is "the picture" to take here.. Even though we were both suffering from Mountain fatigue, after 3 weeks in Patagonia, it still had a "Wow" factor to it..
With this done, we really were all mountained out.. you could have stuck everest in front of us, and got very little interest... I did think about going up to the viewpoint again at dawn, but I was actually quite thankful when I checked the weather at 4.30am to find cloud and
Mount Fitzroy.. in the clouds, of course
the frustrations of hiking in the mountains!! rain...
we slept in that morning, and then had a leusirely 2 hour stroll down to another campsite, where a bus picked us up and deposited us back in town.
With aching feet, and tired shoulders from lugging our backpacks, we deserved a decent meal and a beer, but we had to get a bus immediately to Punta Arenas that evening, and so on we headed.. Punta Arenas sits on the Magellen Straight, and is the capital of this part of Chile, and was a very affluent town at the turn of the century, with the big landowners making fortunes from the export of beef and lamb. The town is full of their splendid mansions, and relics of that prosperous age... but at 11.30 at night, I was more interested in finding something to eat...
So with only 9 hours in Punta Arenas, we took the morning flight back up to civilisation, and here I am in Santiago. With 16 hours to kill before our flight to Easter Island tomorrow morning; we are doing all our chores, will catch a movie, and because Santiago is the most expensive city in South America, and we are going to need our
Torres Del Paine
Lord of the Ringsy country pennies for a rather pricey month ahead, we are slumming it and sleeping at the airport tonight!! The website www.sleepinginairports.com has been very helpful in planning this!! Still, it will save us $40, and that will be able to buy a whole sandwich in Tahiti!!
So tomorrow, it is Easter Island..then Tahiti, then Fiji... which I´m really looking forward to. This next 2 weeks across the Pacific is the bit I was most excited about when I planned the trip..
And fairwell South America... it has been a quite amazing 16 weeks. Too many highlights to mention - but thanks for all of them.
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Adrian
non-member comment
This photos `re from Argentina no Chile
Patagonia is a region that is shared by Argentina and Chile, and this photos were token in Argentnina's side.