A most Patagonian adventure

As we mentioned we decided to semi blow the budget and head down to El Calafate to the National Park of Glaciers. I have to say it was worth every penny. In El Calafate is the Perito Moreno Glacier that is an active advancing glacier 5 km wide and 60m tall. We took a walk and a boat to get up close to the glacier as it carved icebergs into the lake. It was a spectacular and beautiful sight that was only slightly spoilt by constant drizzle and extreme cold! The photos and video are pretty great (Maura takes the scenery shots I do the animals) so hopefully we´ll get them available to view soon.

The next day, after an evening of entertainment with 6 Irish lads, we decided to try our hand at bird watching and headed for a walk to a near by lake to watch halks ducks and flamingos. The highlight was later in the day when all the flamingos flew in from far away places and we got to watch a steady stream of them coming in to land as the sun set behind them.

We then headed into the national park to a town called El Chalten, this town is in the shadow of the well-known Fitz Roy mountain part of the Cerro Torres mountain range. It is surrounded by glaciers and snow capped mountains. We ended up doing two monster hikes that left my feet and legs battered but they were seriously lovely walks. I would highly recommend it! We attempted to summit one of the mountains but were turned back by snow, rain, gales and the fact that our wet weather gear was over 300km away in El Calafate (idiots!). Still a super time.

We have now arrived in Buenos Aires, with only a couple of minor hick ups on the way (the fact I had two very sharp kitchen knives in my hand luggage going through security was one). We are staying in a very budget part of town but it hasn´t stopped us enjoying this beautiful city. Maura will update you on all of that in the next post.

Thanks very much for reading and have a very Happy Christmas and a crazy New Years!