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Patagonia Adventures

November - December 2023
Travelling from Santiago (Chile) down through Patagonia to Ushuaia and back up to Buenos Aires (both in Argentina) on an Oasis Overland trip. Read more
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  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 10

    Futaleufu; en route, town and walk

    November 16, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    We set off from the campsite soon after 8 am. for the 360km journey south through Argentina to Futaleufu; this is in Chile, and the border crossing is close to it.

    There are views of the Andes and flatter scrubland as we drive. After a while, we divert through part of the so-called Welsh area, where there are small flags in some gardens. The border crossing was slowish, but we were back in Chile at about 6 pm.

    It's pouring with rain, and rather than camp, the group can have a sleepover in the quinta, the log cabin on the site, but several people choose a hostel alternative. Then it's into the small town of Futaleufu; we get a lift to Bar Madero - beers and a Mechada Madero sandwich beckon. Back later , and it rains hard all night. Apparently, the weather in this area is unusual for this time of year, as it's going to rain for the next 5 days....

    The river is too high for white water rafting (this is one of the top 3 places in the world for this). Ant and I wander into the small town of Futaleufu to see it and then set off on a local walk. According to Ant's digital watch, we walked 10.5 miles today (most of it in the rain).    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 12

    Carretera Austral; Coyhaique

    November 18, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

    After two nights in the log cabin on the campsite at Futaleufu, we leave just after 6 am. for the long journey south to El Chalten and Los Glaciares NP, back in Argentina. The roads are slow and bumpy as we journey south through the Chilean part of Patagonia. There are good views, despite the rain. Then the road improves as we join Carretera Austral, a major Chilean road, and we can make some progress.

    Later on, it's high, slow roads along the valley, and rather misty. Then we see snow on the trees around us as we pass through the Quelat National Park. We enjoy a quick truck lunch (bread, cheese, ham, tomato, cucumber) at a stop on the Carretra Austral and continue south. It starts to get flatter around the Andes foothills. It's all about the scenery in Patagonia; rivers, cliffs, mountains, waterfalls - it's very beautiful.

    We arrive in Coyhaique, and the sun is shining as we arrive at our campsite. Then, a quick exploration of the town as we seek out food and beer.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 13

    Carretera Austral / Lago General Carrera

    November 19, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    We leave Coyhaique for Carretera Austral south again; ideally, we'll cross the border and bush camp in Argentina; if not, it will be in Chile. The flat area gives way to valleys along the mountains.

    It is beautiful as we drive along the Rio Ibanez and El Progresso areas to the Villa Cerrro Castillo area, where there are many mountain peaks, and then it's back down to the valley bottom and due south.

    The Carretra Austral crosses over the Lago General Carrera at the town of Puerto Rio Tranquilo; it is a stunning area, popular with hikers.

    We then travel along the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to head east towards Chile Chico. At times, it's like driving along the side of a coastal cliff.

    This journey today has been exceptional, showing the beauty of Patagonia; my photos can't do it justice.

    After a couple of reccies, Kevin and Claire opt to bush camp by the road west of Chile Chico. It's raining, but tents are put up, and a meal of frankfurters, instant mash, and a vegetarian concoction are prepared; it was all really good. An early night follows...    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    1
    Day 14

    Lago Buenos Aires / Cueva de las Manos

    November 20, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    At 1 am, the wind was phenomenal, and I was scared the tent would blow away! It held firm, but it was quite an experience. Then it poured down!

    Tents down at 6 am, and by 7:15, we are off. We stop to enjoy the view of Laguna Verde and then drive through the small town of Chile Chico and arrive at the first of the border crossings by 8:30; we are in the Santa Cruz region of Argentina at 11 am.

    There is flat scrubland by Lago Buenos Aires - as it is known this side of the border - and beyond as we travel east on good roadls, eventually turning south; it's extremely windy, but the sun is shining. The truck lunch was by a sheltered culvert underneath the road to get out of the wind. It's back to scrubland after and then steppe passing through part of the Parque Patagonia.

    We divert to drive to the gorge of the Pinturas River, to visit the Cueva de las Manos Cave, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; hunter gatherers lived in the caves here over 9,000 years ago, and the guanaco that lived on the steppes were their main source of food.

    We take an obligatory guided tour along a walkway to see the aleros, rocky overhangs en route to the cave itself; there are pre-Colombian paintings of hands (mainly left), guanacos, other animals and hunting scenes formed by chewing and spraying a mixture of gypsum, minerals, etc. from the mouth using hands, etc, as stencils on these aleros. The colours varied over the millenia; a very interesting place.

    Then it's back to the main road and south to find a bush camp site. It's steppe land all the way, and I see two small groups of guanaco as well as a rhea on the journey.

     In the event, we stayed in a hostel / hotel in Bajo Caracoles; bed, shower, food, beer - not in that order.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 15

    En route to, and, El Chalten

    November 21, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    We leave the hostel at 8 am for the 500 km journey to El Chalten, on the northern edge of Los Glaciares National Park. The road is fast, and the scenery is the same most of the way - steppes - as we reach the small town of Gobernador Gregores. The view is similar after the town, and the wind is cold and very strong!

    Soon afterwards, we pass by a beautiful turquoise coloured lake (Lago Cardiel) and unusual flat topped hills. It's so cold and windy, not unusual in Patagonia, we have lunch on the bus. Later, we pass through the town of Tres Lagos. Snow capped mountains appear as we turn off for the final 90 km to El Chalten, and we get our first views of the Monte Fitz Roy and the Cerre Poincenot. We stop for pictures and then reach our campsite at 6:30 pm. It's a nice-looking town and is a trekking centre for this area.

    It's a lovely campsite with facilities, and the vegetarian curry planned for tonight is cooked under cover. It was excellent, then into town for beers and to watch the Brazil v Argentina World Cup qualifer (0-1).    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    1
    12
    Day 16

    El Chalten; Monte Fitz Roy Trek

    November 22, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    The Sendero al Fitz Roy goes from El Chalten up to Laguna de los Tres; it is allegedly 10 km each way, with a lot of uphill.... Captions on the photos describe the trail.

    It's steepish to start with for 3 km, and then it's flatter; lots of good views. 4 km later, we pass through the Poincenot camp site, and then the hard part starts; the ascent to the top is really steep on unstable ground. Fantastic views at the top of the ziggurat shape of Monte Fitz Roy help compensate for the most difficult ascent that I have ever done (last 2 km only). We have seen Monte Fitz Roy ahead of us during the day; granite towers and 3,400 metres high - a truly amazing site. We descend and see Laguna Capri on the other side to the Mirador Fiitz Roy seen on the way up.

    Ant and I really deserved a couple of beers after that walk!

    Then it's back to the campsite and out for food (and more beers).    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 17

    En route to, and, El Calafate

    November 23, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    We leave the campsite just after 8 am to travel to El Calafate, the southern end gateway to Los Glaciares National Park, and stop for pictures of Monte Fitz Roy. We reach the junction with the road south; it's steppe scenery again.

    We stop for views over the lake and again at Parador La Leona, where Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid stayed for 3 nights on their journey south from Bolivia.

    We arrive on El Calafate for midday and have an explore during the afternoon. After a late lunch, Ant's research using Atlas Obscura led us to the Glaciarium and the Glacier Bar. The Glaciarium is a glacier interpretation centre that describes the Patagonia glaciers and their development, etc, in interesting detail. Then we reached a short film narrated br thr Perito Moreno Glacier and its plight; it was rather moving. The Glacier Bar is made from glacial ice and is - 15 C; you get a poncho, and a couple of shots served in ice containers included in the price. 20 minutes max allowed in there; it was quite an experience.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    2
    Day 18

    Perito Moreno Glacier

    November 24, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    We set off from El Calafate on the 80 km trip to Perito Moreno Glacier on a small van (10 people) at 9 am. We drive along Patagonian Steppe by Lago Argentino, the largest in the country; the arms of the lake form several peninsulars at the Andes, including that which enables the Perito Moreno Glacier. The weather is different on either side of the Andes.

    The lake is turquoise due to glacial sediment. Trees appear as we round the peninsula, and we stop at a mirador for our first view of the Glacier.

    We get there and walk along the excellent elevated walkways that are in place; this is a magnificent setting, and, once again, words and pictures can not do Perito Moreno Glacier justice. If you stop at one of the viewing points, after a while, you can see and hear ice and rock falling into the water. Amazing!

    We meet for the boat trip at 2 pm; this is also spectacular, getting up fairly close to the front of the Glacier.

    It has been a truly epic day.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 19

    To Puerto Natales; The W-Trek Gateway

    November 25, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    We eventually set off about 7:30 am for the journey to Puero Natales, back in Chile, to start the W-Trek tomorrow morning. It's a lovely day (in Argentina), and we head south with views of the Andes and Steppe on the west (sometimes Steppe only) and Steppe on the east.

    More hilly as we got south and we passed several small mines - one conveyor belt ran for miles - as we approached the town of Rio Turbio in South West Argentinafor an early lunch stop; the border crossing was shortly after this. The crossing from Argentina into Chile took just over 3 hours it was extremely windy on either side.

    The 12 W-Trekkers are dropped off at the Garden Domes Hostel, Puerto Natales, 130 km from the Torres del Paine National Park, for the W-Trek tomorrow; our hosts are ChileTour Patagonia. What appears to be a lake is actually the end of a fjord connected to the Pacific Ocean.

    This is the plan....

    Day 1. Base of Towers of Paine Trek
    Day 2; Los Cuernos Trek
    Day 3; French Valley Trek
    Day 4; Grey Trail Trek

    I am looking forward to seeing the 2,800m granite peaks soaring above the Patagonian Steppe!

    Then it's out for dinner (included in the price).    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    1
    Day 20

    Puerto Natales to start of W-Trek

    November 26, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    We set off for the 130 km journey to the park entrance by minibus just before 7 a.m.; It's windy, and it rains en route.. Rolling hills, reminiscent of Scotland (apparently), then snow-capped mountains. We stop for pictures at a mirador of the Torres before we reach the park entrance and then our drop-off point.Read more

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