Patagonia

Relaxing in front of the glacier
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We flew to El Calafate in Patagonia as it was the same price as the 42 hour bus journey. It would have been nice to go by bus and stop at places but we're running out of time on our trip.

El Calafate is a pretty little town, that looks like a ski resort, but is not catered towards the budget traveller at all. All the hotels are expensive and most of the resturants are too. Although it was pretty I thought it lacked any real character.

Our first trip was to see the Perito Moreno glacier. It is a huge glacier and people just stand mesmerized watching bits of glacier drop of into the lake. The crash that sounds when a chunk drops off is so loud, it sounds like an explosion. It was quite amazing to see but I really wanted to go and walk on the glacier itself.

The expert rider
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We then went north to El Chalten for a few days. I much preferred this town as although it was only founded in 1985 and is purely for tourism, it seems more friendly and with character. We spent our time here trekking. Our first trek was just past the base camp for Mount Fitz Roy. This was a 22k trek with some really steep bits and at one point we were practically climbing (scrambling) up the hill. It was good fun and we passed through some beautiful scenery but we had to turn back before reaching our destination as the weather turned and we were getting snowed on and there was fog. We had images of appearing on 999!!

Glacier Moreno
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Our 2nd trek was to Lago Torres and was a much easier walk. It was less steep and easier on the legs. When we got there though, we were all surprised to find a lake with another glacier!! We sat eating our sandwiches in the middle of rocks to keep out of the icy wind.