Welcome to Argentina, I mean Chile, I mean Argentina

Sometimes I hear about people who claim to have travelled so much recently that they have trouble remembering what country they are in. In the past I found it hard to believe... and quite annoying. And yet, here I am, waking up in Patagonia day after day not quite sure if its Chile or Argentina. A money belt full of different currencies and surrounded by people just as confused as I am!

In the last week we have travelled from Ushuaia (Arg), across Tierra del Fuego (Arg and Chile) towards Torres del Paine Natl Pk (Chile) and back to Argentina and El Calafate, where I write this. We have 3 more nights in Argentina, as far as I can tell, before crossing into Chile and then shortly thereafter, back to Bariloche which is, of course, in Argentina. I end in Santiago Chile in about 17 days. Dont expect my confusion to be any the less between now and then.

But what I really wanted to share was my experiences of the last week.

In brief... there was the "bush camp" at a ghost town...




The Penguin Colony that was NOT on the itinerary... (thanks Brendan and Kristy)






And Torres del Paine National Park...
Torres del Paine National Park is one of those places that takes the breath away. Our first full day there I hiked 5 hours up a rather large ¨hill¨ to take in the view of the Torres (towers).



Kristy's face as she came over the top... the end of the trail and the view making it all worth while.


Spectacular in every sense of the word, but if I hadnt gotten a second wind (extra large endorphin fix) and skipped half the way down (for another 4 hours), I think I may still be there. It was my largest hike ever.

I opted out of the 7 hour hike the second day and instead hired a horse for the afternoon.



Claire bringing up the rear.

Brendan and the girls.

In the land of no helmets, no waivers and guides that dont speak English, I found myself cantering along a green, green river, completely surrounded by high jagged peaks and about 10 really grotty looking (but friendly) dogs. Loved every minute of it!

Day 3 was back to hiking. The Frances Valley trail. The hike that I was most looking forward to, in fact. This one took 10 hours and began way too early.


It was grueling to say the least and the last hour was done at snails pace with aching feet. I was impressed the next day to have NO aching muscles and feet that looked relatively normal too! The view was worth it and here are the pics to prove it!


Bits of glacier or avalanche or something, as it smashed its way down.