Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Ahoy hoy,
Lots done since the last one of these, and lots to tell. We're now way down deep in Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia, having passed through Puerto Madryn and El Calafate in Argentina and Puerto Natales in Chile. It's cold.
Last couple of days in Bariloche we went for a walk around a foresty bit, and popped up the Teleférico. There were massive dogs and a "gyrating" restaurant at the top. Then we crossed the country to Puerto Madryn from where we could visit Reserva Faunistica Peninsula Valdes. Our campsite was rather sandy, and that combined with the high winds meant we came back the first evening to find our tent full of sand. The airbed was also already punctured (after 3 nights' use). On the plus side, dinner that night was 1/2 kg of ice cream (shared, not each), later followed by melon dipped in dulce de leche (milk caramel), though that was also full of sand.
When we heard the price of the tour to the reserve ($50 per person, plus entrance for a one-day tour), we looked into renting a car. Apparently we wouldn't've needed an international driving permit, and all we were short was a credit card, which was a bit annoying. So we went on a tour, which was a guy driving us round the reserve and occasionally stopping for a cigarette. Not sure where the $50 goes. We did see various stuffs - sheep, guanacos, sealions, penguins and elephant seals, but no armadillos or killer whales. We later had some very overdone steaks.
The bus onto Rio Gallegos (for a connection onto El Calafate) was 90 minutes late leaving and another 2.5 hours late on the journey, making the total journey 18.5 hours (our second longest single bus journey yet). El Calafate on first glance seemed pleasent enough, but after five minutes emersed in nothing but tourists and overpriced restaurants and bars it gets a bit tiring. Incidentally, due to how south we were and that Argentina uses a single time zone for the whole country plus daylight savings, sunset was at midnight, which can be a little odd.
From El Calafate we visited the steptacular Glacier Perito Moreno, which is really cold but looks amazing (if you ignore the hoards of tourists everywhere). For some reason, someone decided to put White Chicks on the TV in the kitchen that night, and as it was too cold to stay in the tent and too expensive to do anything else, we sat through it for the forth time in 6 months. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
Next, back across the border into Chile and on to Puerto Natales. Again, very cold and windy, but pleasant enough. We collected up some supplies and fixed the airbed puncture in preperation for the 4 days of trekking in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (or Towers of Pain, as it later became known). First day there we carried all of our stuff for 8 hours up to the camp. It bloody hurt, but was a nice walk along a completely deserted trail. A can of coke at the refugio, once we arrived, cost us a mere $2.70. We felt we deserved a lie-in the next day, especially as the wind had spent the night battering our tent, leaving it on the verge of collapse in the morning, and the airbed had managed to obtain two new punctures in the space of a day. That afternoon we had a nice 6 hour stroll to Valle del Frances. It was a bit easier. Last full day there we went for a 9 hour hike to Glacier Grey. That was hard, but the views were amazing. There was also a giant cat in a hat in the mountain watching over us the whole time we were there, which is always reassuring. The catamaran over to the bus stop took 30 mins and cost $22, making it about as extortionate as crossing the Solent, but we got a free cup of tea, so all was good.
For Vic's birthday (yes, it was on the 22nd) we moved to a fancy hotel in Puerto Natales and spent an evening in the Southernmost Casino In The World. It were dead fancy, we played Blackjack and Roulette (it had pretty coloured chips), and only lost a few squid. The hotel then undercharged us by a few squid as well, so it balanced out quite nicely.
We're off now, gots to see more penguins this afternoon.
Byesy. Love, Nick and Vic
- comments