Patagonia, Jan 2009

Ushuaia, Argentina. The southern most city in South America. This is the embarking point for cruises to Antarctica. I arrived in total disbelief as I was always curious about coming this far south. If my budget permitted I would be on a cruise to Antarctica - something I looked into but put it out of my mind when I saw the prices. Antarctica would have to wait for another time. I was more anxious to see the famous Torres Towers and Moreno Glacier.

[Jan-23-09] I am now in El Calafate to catch my flight back south to Ushuaia, and on to Buenos Aires next week. The screwy way of how an Air Pass works dictated my stops and so I am headed south again for a few days. In the last 2 weeks I have passed through the towns Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and El Calafate, cruised the Beagle Channel, visited an old Falklands air base memorial, done a ferry crossing on the Magellan Straits, visited a Magellanic penguin colony, seen 3 glaciers, hiked to see the famous Torres towers, kayaked the Rio Gray(near Gray Glacier), camped in wind and rain, and been chilled to the bone from wind.

I arrived in Ushuaia a few days before joining my group which would go from Ushuaia to El Calafate in 2 weeks. Given the time of had and some challenging logistics in getting to the national parks, I opted to join a group. During this time I would exit Argentina and re-enter Chile, so the 30 days allowed in Argentina got reset, no more concerns on my potential overstay. A cold front was present when I arrived and the summer wasn’t quite summer and the temperatures were a chilly wind factor of below 5 C the first few days. Except for the first day which was sunny the following days turned chilly, overcast and cold. I found Ushuaia very touristy. This is not going to be very long entry as I will jump straight to the details of the highlights of my time in Patagonia.

The summer in Patagonia isn’t quite summer. It is cold. Not like hot Santiago or Easter Island. The locals tell me that the summer is usually around 10-15 Celsius, but it has been looking around 2-7 deg C, rainy and overcast. The wind is so strong the windchill make your feet and fingers go numb, unless you keep moving. So out with the layers I packed in the vacuum bag in my backpack. Finally my backpack got lighter. I have been wearing my layers almost daily for the last 2 weeks and cannot wait to get to warmer climate. Patagonia is far south enough where summers aren’t like the summers one thinks off, at least for those with the tropics in mind. The wind and rain made it challenging to do some of the hikes, especially the 19 km grueling uphill to the base of the Torres del Paine. Add this to sliding mud, rocks, a steep vertical, boulders, rain and cold, I was amazed I made it to the top. 19 km is not easy. I had to push myself to get there in order to get the photos I wanted to take. In my group was an elderly Norwegian couple in their 70s, in both directions, they paced faster than me – yeah! 2 days before I had covered 16 km in Tierra del Fuego. I think I have lost some weight, probably around 10 lbs or so. I definitely feel thinner and my pants are looser. Woo hoo! Another 10 to go and I will be back to my normal self.

There are no words to describe the beauty of Patagonia. You just have to be here to see it. The Moreno Glacier is simply unbelievable. The Gray Glacier is also unbelievable but not as magnificent as the famous Moreno. Torres del Paine is a beautiful national park with snow capped tops, glaciers, lakes, and grassy plains. The Torres Towers has a lake below, to get to the base it is a long 19 km grueling uphill hike. The day started sunny and turned rainy on the way back. Along the way I saw quite a few Andean condors saw above the high mountains. I put my raingear to good use. I think the photos[soon to be posted] will tell a better story.