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i had been really excited to go to patagonia - it´s not somewhere i thought i´d make it to [officially i leave argentina before the "season" starts] and i was expecting it to be really different to everything else i´ve seen in south america. in that respect, i wasn´t disappointed. being short of time, i cheated on argentinian buses with a flight down to el calafate. this, for some reason, went via ushuaia [350 miles south of el calafate] but when we landed there i was glad it did - the views were the most stunning thing i´ve ever seen through an aeroplane window! el calafate is a strange little town. it has been set up purely for its proximity to the ´perito moreno´ glaciar, and so is super-touristy - full of shops selling "north face" hiking gear and postcards of penguins. this did mean, however, that there were also some very good touristy restaurants, in which i sampled plenty of patagonian lamb [a meat notable for its absence elsewhere in south america] and had a couple of winey nights with chantal, a lovely dutch lady i met on the plane! the glaciar was amazing - there are viewpoints set up so you can watch [and, more strikingly, hear] the huge pieces of ice falling off the glaciar into the lake below. even better than this, we did a four hour hike on the ice itself, which was truly incredible. we got decked out in crampons, which took a bit of getting used to, and then our guides took us across the glaciar, passing slightly scary crevasses and unbelievably blue pools of water. it was only slightly spoiled by the horrendous weather we had from the moment we started - i was wet through to my knickers, and i certainly learnt how cold patagonian winds can be! still, we decided it made it all the more hard-core, and certainly felt like we´d earned the whisky we were offered upon returning!
from el calafate chantal and i took the bus to el chalten, a smaller, slightly less touristy place, surrounded by a couple of mountain ranges and their accompanying beautiful hikes. unfortunately, el chalten is famous for its changeable weather, and from blue skies in the morning, we had snow in the evening. lots of snow. enough for some canadians to teach me how to make a proper snowman. also enough to make hiking the next day completely out of the question. though i tossed up the idea of staying in el chalten to "ride out" the weather [as many people were] i decided instead to head onwards to chile and to the torres del paine national park, and to return to el chalten if i had the time afterwards. and boy was i glad i did that, because it meant that for the five-day hike i did in torres del paine, i had pretty much perfect weather. before leaving puerto natales [the closest town to the national park] i´d met people who had returned after only two days hiking, because the weather had been so awful. in five days, i probably had 10 minutes of rain, very little wind, and, most importantly, clear skies to see the "torres" on the last day. because of this great weather, the hike itself was wonderful. tough going, yes, but with astounding views around every corner, and crystal clear rivers everywhere, which you could drink straight from...just lovely!
the weather angels, it would seem, followed me from chile back over the border to argentina, for when i returned to el chalten it was to clear skies. in order to make the most of it i did a mini-hike in the morning up to one [fabulous] viewpoint, and then powered on that afternoon on the second hike - up to see the fitzroy mountain range. this one involved a very dodgy path up to the top, but it meant seeing some of that pesky snow from the week before, which was covering the mountains still. i think because i don´t ski i found this all the more amazing - it was certainly a pretty wonderful place to take a break and take it all in. that night i camped near the mountain range, in order to do a little more walking the next day before returning to the town and getting my bus on to el calafate.
this time round i spent only a few hours in el calafate, for i had a charmingly-timed [3am!] bus to my final patagonian destination - puerto madryn, which is famous for its wildlife. seeing as i needed to get up to buenos aires [and the mother!] quickly, i had only two days in puerto madryn. the first day was partially spent recovering from my [penultimate] ridiculously long bus, and partially spent visiting gaiman, a nearby village set up by welsh settlers. a very odd place indeed, i was there for a "welsh tea", which was a pot of real tea [with milk!] and a huge pile of cakes, all served in a teahouse packed full of peculiar welsh memorabilia, which played loud welsh folk music and was owned by a woman who could take my order in either spanish or welsh! the next day, however, was the really special one. i took a tour of the peninsula valdes, where we saw lots of lovely wild penguins, and elephant seals, which are, it turns out, the ugliest, fattest, most ridiculously huge things you´ll ever see. this was all great, but the real reason people come to the peninsula valdes is for whale-watching - the southern right whales swim up from antarctica to have their calves, and they´re known for being particularly inquisitive. we took a boat out at about 5 in the evening, and within minutes we saw a whale pretty close by. very cool. then we saw a whale off in the distance, repeatedly smashing the surface of the water with its tale. our very skilled captain managed to get us over to the whale without disturbing it, and we watched it playing for ten minutes or so. very cool. then, we had out real stroke of luck - a mother and a calf approached our boat [and i mean REALLY approached it] to suss us out. first it was the calf, who was so close you could really appreciate how big it was. then the mother, who made the calf look small! they swam around and under the boat, looking at us [and so letting us have a really close look at them!] and getting us wet with the spray from their blow-holes! unbelievably cool. on the way back i asked the captain if they always came so close, and he said it wasn´t like that, and that we´d been really lucky. and i did feel very lucky - i never thought i´d see such an impressive creature so close up, and i´d certainly count it upon one of the most remarkable experiences of my life.
from puerto madryn i took my very last night bus to buenos aires, where my solo south american adventures came to a close. now i´m with my wonderful mother, doing wonderful things, drinking plenty of wonderful wine, and just generally enjoying her company. she´s excited by the prospect of appearing on the blog, so i´ll be sure to get a few photos of her up in the next couple of days. but other than that, this is pretty much the end of this blog. i´ll be home in no time at all, and can bore you with all my stories in person. i really can´t wait to see you all, and catch up on everything that i´ve missed this year. and on x-factor, of course!
until then,
all my love xxx
- comments
Suzie's Dad Glad to see you're still having a ball but even happier that you'll be home soon. Love Dadxxx
Harriet JEALOUS JEALOUS JEALOUS JEALOUS. The whales sound phenomenal. Oh and it all looks so beautiful. And I miss the hiking! I really think that I should be in these pictures. I am grumpy.
Chris Stokes wow, thats amazing! South America is my next holiday after Europe and Asia. I cant wait! have you got any more plans for travelling?