25 February 2013

11.6 San Rafael

San Rafael, Cuyo, Argentina Monday, February 25, 2013 Before arriving in San Rafael, I’ll quickly mention the bus journey. It was the most luxurious bus I’ve been on yet. We had two meals, watched films, and I was able to remain fairly horizontal throughout. The conductor even ran a game of Bingo for everyone, but […]

21 February 2013

11.5 Bariloche

Bariloche, Argentina Thursday, February 21, 2013 Bariloche is seen as the city as the gateway to Patagonia. It also seemed similar to Switzerland. The centre was affluent, and there was chocolate, medical centres, and even St Bernhard dogs. The streets were full of craft stores, with local people selling their woodwork and other particulars. There […]

20 February 2013

11.4.1 Cueva de las Manos

Bajo Caracoles, Santa Cruz, Argentina Wednesday, February 20, 2013 To the day, exactly 9,300 years ago*, a man, named Samwell*, placed his left hand on the side of a cave in Pinturas River valley, and began to spit out a dark red paste which he’d been ruminating. He took the bone of a small animal, […]

19 February 2013

11.4 Perito Moreno

Perito Moreno, Patagonia, Argentina Tuesday, February 19, 2013 Travelling up Route 40 deserves mention in itself. This part of my trip is the most unplanned and, to an extent, each day comes as it comes. Not to worry though, furnished with an introduction of Argentinian roads from 11.2, I have studied the propaganda and found […]

16 February 2013

11.3 El Chalten

El Chalten, Patagonia, Argentina Saturday, February 16, 2013 The journey (in relative terms) was a short one across the other end of the National Park of Glaciers, to El Chalten. t sits in the shadows of a mountain range, and being technically within the borders of the Park meant we stopped en route at the […]

15 February 2013

11.2.1 Perito Moreno Glacier

Colonia Francisco Perito Moreno, Santa Cruz, Argentina Friday, February 15, 2013 Part of the National Park of Glaciers in southern Argentina, Perito Moreno is a titanic glacier refusing to shrink, despite the rise in global temperature. For the day, we not only viewed it from afar, but spent around four hours walking on the surface, […]

14 February 2013

11.2 El Calafate

El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina Thursday, February 14, 2013 There were no real surprises from Calafate which wasn’t a bad thing at all. The main street was normal enough: restaurants, banks, clothing outlets. Food was a little pricey, though I may still be adjusting to life away from the $1 dinners of Peru/Bolivia. The hostel I […]

9 February 2013

12.1.1 Torres del Paine

Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile Saturday, February 9, 2013 Torres del Paine (TdP) is a National Park in the south of Chile, and I ended up living on it for 5 days. The scenery was truly stunning. Mountains, glaciers, free-flowing rivers, forests, lakes, wildlife. Though to save many multiples of a thousand words, I’ll let […]

7 February 2013

12.1 Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile Thursday, February 7, 2013 From Ushuaia it was an easy border crossing into Chile and to the town of Puerto Natales. Waking up at 5am in the hostel, I ended up having breakfast with the only other guy up at that hour. Turns out he was making the same journey, but […]

5 February 2013

11.1.1 The Beagle Channel

Almirante Brown, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina Tuesday, February 5, 2013 OK so it was more to the ‘right’ than ‘down’. The Beagle Channel (named after Darwin’s boat) is a passage of water with Argentina to the north and Chile to the south. The boat trip we took was for four hours and completed a good […]