From BA we hopped on a short 3 hour flight to El Calafate in the South of Argentina. There are other methods of getting to the south but they take considerably more time, which was a luxury we couldn't afford on this trip.
Upon arrival at this small airport, we arranged transportation to our hostel. There are two main options, either take a personal taxi at $P500 or the airport shuttle bus at $P120 one way or $P180 return.
We opted for the shuttle, which took an extra 10minutes due to other drop offs, but essentially was a great way of transferring into the town.
Our hostel Roble Sur was based 10minutes away from the main town, and was very picturesque with wooden thatching and a very welcoming host family. From the hostel we were able to book onto a few day trips, to make the most of our 3 days here.
Glacier Perito Moreno
Perito Moreno is 90minutes away from the town of El Calafate and most hostels will be able to arrange a day trip. We arrived at the glacier around 10am and were able to take a boat across, so we were just 350m away from it. It is quite common for large chunks of the glacier to sheer off the main body and go thundering into the sea below. The sound even for a smaller block of ice is immense, and during our one hour boat trip we were lucky enough to see three separate falls of various sizes.
This glacier is world famous not because it's the largest nor the eldest but because it is the only iceberg to maintain a steady state, expanding by two metres a day. Therefore despite the tears, it is regularly rebuilding and this is due to the perfect climate at that particular point in the water.
Following the boat trip we walked around the national park area, with its various viewing platforms, each giving a different perspective of the ice. On one particular platform we spent an hour alongside many others, staring at the blue lights reflecting off the glacier and waiting in suspense for another thunderous drop. It dawned upon us, as we sat and drank some maté with some Argentineans locals that this would likely be the most southernly point in the entire world, we would ever see. That in itself gave us a reason to reflect a little longer. The pictures cannot even do justice to the sheer size and presence of the glacier.
Zip Lining at Cerro Frias
Having both previously been zip lining in Chaing Mai (Thailand) and the less luxurious Woburn (UK), another attempt in Argentina on the longest ziplines in South America seemed like the way forward.
The activity consisted of five ziplines in total equalling 2000km. This was different to those previously done however as instead of zipping through forests with high trees and less visibility, this was over completely bare mountains. i.e. we could actually see how high up we were and we had no idea where the other sides landing platform was.
The first line was the highest and each line led on to make their way back down to the meeting hut we had first arrived at. The third was the longest of them all, really allowing you the time to take in the landscape you were zipping across.
I like to think neither of us were too scared and went in with enthusiasm. I was genuinely relieved however, when we finished the last line and had all our belongings still on us and landed in one piece.
The icing on top of that cake was whilst we were enjoying a three course meal and a bottle of wine, we got the great news that one of my Chitter ladies was engaged! That bottle of Malbec ran out pretty quickly after that!
Torres de Paine
Our last and longest trip was to Torres de Paine in Chile. We were collected from our hotel at 7am and drove three hours to the Argentinean/Chilean border. Here we went through some pretty lax control on the Argentinean side and slightly more vigorous controls on the Chilean side. It did mean I got an additional stamp on my passport though (2015 predictions are working in my favour - another story for another day).
Post border control, we drove another hour until our first stop. Again the day consisted of various stops to take in incredible views. The most enjoyable experience
was trekking across to find a lake, where we sat and ate our lunch and watched how the sun moved over the towers, leading to different shades and lighting. Added entertainment was some of the boys skimming rocks on the "mirror" river, despite the guide warning of 7 years bad luck.
We took a ridiculous amount of photos and so many of them look completely different.
Torres de Paine was voted 8th wonder of the world on trip-advisor, and being there really explained why. It is also a world UNESCO site, and in the top 3 of things to be done in Chile.
As we were limited for time, we only managed a day trip, however we met some young Americans who were to stay there for three days and trek across the national park, in the hope of seeing more of this amazing heritage site.
P.S. There are wild animals in the park, the largest being pumas. We were lucky enough to see one during our visit, and the guide told us that in his 1,000 trips there he had only encountered them 5 times. But pre-warning, if you plan on trekking, be prepared to come across pumas, llamas, armadillos and deer.
