Puerto Rio tranquillo & Los Glaciers

Day 475.

Understandably still in awe by the days drive - cruising along dozens upon dozens of crystal glacial lakes and empty gravel roads, it was easy to miss the tiny turn off for tonight's planned wild camping spot. A small but steep dirt track down to an otherwise totally unaccessible lake was just perfect, not only that we had the place all to ourselves and just in time for the sunset!

Overly chuffed with our find (credit Limbsters find) we wasted no time in setting the standard magnum of vino blanco to chill in the nearby lake, and moved to prepare tonight's feast - this is what camper life is all about.

On the itinery the following day was rumoured as one of the nicest drives on the whole journey, the one way Valle de exploradores. With scorching weather we headed straight out to hit the road and it certainly didn't dissapoint. My day was made even better by the fact that limbster confidently took up the first leg leaving me free to snap away as I very pleased - a rare treat.

A fairly untravelled route meant this was certainly one of the lesser cared for roads, and thus for a rather bumpy journey. Credit to limbster however, after accepting that her eyesight and judgement of distances is all but entirely shot she perfected the simpler approach of just aiming to pass over all big rocks and potholes directly in line with her bum, therefore avoiding jengibres fragile tyres. By some miracle this approach worked, some late swerves yes, but flat tyres - not on her watch, and we arrived unscathed at our glacier lookout spot safe and sound.

What would follow would be up there with one of our best and equally worst moments of this entire trip. Yes - it was an amazing spot for lunch, glacier backdrop, countless waterfalls, crystal clear stream to swim in and yet again we had it all to ourselves. But what the pictures will not show, and what the mere mention of by name now gives limbster the shivers was something evil at work. Not something to have bothered us yet, but something that has a big presence in patagonian summer, the giant, persistent, almost relentless, ravenous horsefly.

No matter how we tried to escape them, into the ice cold river, hiding in the boiling hot car, wailing tea towels continually around our heads - they would not relent. After fending them off post lunch for as long as we could, we broke - and couldn't take it any longer, darting out of the river we packed with speed, with only a particularly entertaining time lapse left to tell the full tale.

Note for limbster going forward, although patagonia is all but empty there is always a chance someone might appear and take you by surprise, or 4 or 5 rangers...

After the horse fly pandemic, (this really is no exaggeration) we cruised back to the safety of a night at our secluded lake spot. Still can't believe we are surrounded by snow and glaciers given its near 30 degrees. Drove back with tops off (except limbster after learning the hard way earlier) and built on that tan.

Although horse fly free back at the lake we were nervous, on edge you could say. The connecting of a swift stroke of a frying pan and Limbsters head therefore was an inevitable, albeit painful incident when I mistakenly leapt to her defence upon the sighting of a mere fly.

The constant frijoling is becoming a slight issue, the staggered 1 Day delay isn't helping maters either and simply extending the nightmare. Need to review our meal plans asap. Snickers however are remaining fixed on the shopping list, a real lakeside treat indeed.

Wrapped up our last evening here stargazing out of the side of the camper. With the clear skies come incredible nights filled with stars and galaxies - the most we've ever seen, and we're certainly going to be making the most of them!Read more