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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 20

    W-Trek Day 1; Torres de Paine Trek

    November 26, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    There is a lot of uphill walking in this part of the W, and we can leave stuff on the minibus (eg, sleeping bags, clothes, etc) as we are with guides today.

    We are dropped off at the visitor centre after the main entrance and, after a while, turn off to head upwards. There are beautiful views of streams, valleys, and mountains. It is steep here, but we are lucky with the weather today; not surprisingly, it gets very windy along Paso de los Vientos! We reach Refugio Chileno, and then it is a difficult ascent to the Mirador base de las Torres; not as bad as that for Monte Fitz Roy, but still hard work. Well worth it, though, as we reach the top for the magnificent view of the granite towers.

    Then it is down - also hard work - and on the minibus again to our overnight at Laguna Amarga Cabins just outside the park. There is food, beer, wine, all included - and well deserved after the 22 km trekked today!    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 21

    W-Trek Day 2; Los Cuernos Trek

    November 27, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    We are dropped off at the visitor centre again and walked the same route as yesterday for a while, but carry on to Los Cuernos instead of upwards to Los Torres. We are lucky with the weather again and enjoy great views in good sunshine. There is quite a lot of up and down, making this quite a hard slog at times, particularly on the approaches both to Refugio Cuernos and Camping Frances; total walking about 15 km today with a fully loaded rucksack! No wonder I was tired.....

    The campsite is in the woods, and all the tents are on stilts, but with a comfortable insert to sleep on; access is not easy, though. The food laid on for our group was nice, and it's an early night. It rained.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 22

    W-Trek Day 3; French Valley Trek

    November 28, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    It's a 6 am breakfast so that we can make the most of the morning. After 30 mins, we reach Camping Italiano, where we can leave the rucksack for the 5.5 km hike up to the Britanico viewpoint. On the way, we see Frances Glacier; there is a lot of noise as avalanches seem to be frequent. The weather is not good today, as it is raining. It is fairly flat for a while, but the ascent / scramble to the Britanico viewpoint is hard work. It's still raining, but it eases off for the descent back to Camping Italiano.

    An early lunch, rucksacks on, and it's 8 km to Pain Grande.... The weather takes a serious turn for the worse; it tips down, it's windy, and it's cold. I was soaked through and had to dig deep. Made it, but shivering.

    Overall, it was about 22 km today. Another big one tomorrow, and then the W-Trek is done!    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 23

    W-Trek Day 4; Grey Trek

    November 29, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    It was rather windy during the night, with several bouts of rainfall. The proposed early start didn't happen, but we were still away by 7:30 am!

    The weather isn't too bad as we head west before north up the valley. We pass the attractive Laguna Los Patos and start climbing. More great views, including the large Grey Lake, and eventually, we reach Mirador Grey for views of the Grey Glacier. Further down is Refugio Grey, but there is not enough time (or inclination?) to go further than the Mirador Grey viewpoint. It is incredibly windy at the Mirador, dangerously so, and the weather is closing in, so we head back to Pain Grande for an early lunch. We covered about 9 km this morning; it's been a good morning, and we have completed the W-Trek!

    Some downtime at Pain Grande before we take the prepaid catamaran to Pudeto for our lift back to Puerto Natales and back to the Garden Domes Hostel. It turned out to be a very long day, as our driver had to wait for the last catamaran to get everybody. Lovely views of lakes on the way back.

    Then it's a pizza party!    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 25–26

    En route to Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego

    December 1, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 9 °C

    We set off after 8 a.m., only 15 people on the truck now as 5 have diverted to Antarctica for 10 days, and others have left to ensure more time in Ushuaia to catch flights. Sun shining at times as we head south on the Ruta del Fin del Mundo ( "Route to the end of the World") towards Tierra del Fuego ("Land of Fire").

    There is steppe on both sides of the road for most of the journey, but as we bypass Punta Arenas, we see the inlet that is connected to the South Pacific Ocean. There is a short ferry crossing at Austral Broom across the Magellan Strait to reach the Chilean part of the province of the island of Tierra del Fuego; a lot of traffic, and we had to wait an hour to board a ferry.

    It is mainly scrubland as we enter Tierra del Fuego, but there is the occasional salt flat here. We have a quick and late (2:45 pm) lunch stop at the small town of Cerro Sombrero before continuing south. We stop off at a small refugio near the coast for our wild/bush camp. It is very windy as we set up camp and prepare food (pasta). It was an early night, but not much sleep due to wind (outside) and cold. On our way before 7:30 to the border crossing at San Sebastian into Argentine Tierra del Fuego. More scrubland as we head south to Ushuaia, skirting the edge of the South Pacific Ocean, where there is the occasional settlement, before cutting across to Ushuaia - hills, trees and mountains in the background. There are valleys and more mountain views as we take the pass to Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 25

    Ushuaia

    December 1, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We walked into town and managed to book tours (thanks, Ant) and had a quick look round, followed by a beer. It's a very interesting place.

    Back at the hostel, Amrit is offering the vodka..... pizza in oven, but it didn't go well (my fault).Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 26

    El Tren del Fin del Mundo

    December 2, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Ushuaia was originally founded as a prison town, with staff in the town and convicts in a prison outside of town; convicts were used to construct the railway from town to the prison. When the prison was closed, the railway went into disrepair, but it was repurposed as a major tourist attraction in 1994 - The Train to the End of the World.

    There are 3 trains per day and we are on the 9:30am departure. The station is really interesting and the trains are authentic. It is very slow, and there are beautiful views, with one stop en route (Macarena). At the end of the line, one hour later, we get off to have a walk in the National Park.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 26

    Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego

    December 2, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    From the train stop, we walk down to the coastal path, where the Post Office at the End of the World is situated; many people send post cards from here, all over the world.

    Once again, there are beautiful views as we walk the 7km coastal path trail, up and down, to access the road and walk back. We are lucky with the weather and get back to the station in good time for the return journey at 4 pm - which is in the rain! Back in Ushuaia, the weather is good, and we stop for a beer - why not? We hook up with the youngsters at the Dublin Irish pub.......... It's been a great day out!

    Then it's back for eggs and toast (with red wine) at the hostel.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 27

    The Beagle Channel

    December 3, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    We are on the Eduardo B catamaran long tour (6 hours) of the Beagle Channel from the port area of Ushuaia and hope to find penguins!

    Our first "stop" is to see Imperial Cormorants on a small island. A little later, it's the famous Ushuaia lighthouse; on the small islands nearby are Rock and Imperial Cormorants - and South American Sea Lions! Then, it is a 1.5 hour journey eastwards along the Beagle Channel to visit a penguin colony on a small island (Isla Martillo) close to Harberton.... En route, we pass Puerta Williams on our right (south), which is in Chile; the Beagle Channel is a border between Argentina and Chile. At one point, we pass through the narrowest part of the Beagle Channel (1 km wide), where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet.

    Then, we find penguins! They are only found in the southern hemisphere, and seeing them in real life, in their natural habitat, was a wonderful experience.

    We are back in Ushuaia at 3 pm and have a walk round again before stopping off for beers and, later, something to eat; it's an early start tomorrow.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia Adventures
    Day 29–30

    En route to Puerto Madryn

    December 5, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    We're going rogue and leaving the Oasis truck for a few days; why? The truck leaves Monday morning at 8am and has 3 nights bush camps, 2 nights camp site, and then 1 more bush camp to reach Buenos Aires next Sunday. By going independently on overnight buses, we can visit Puerto Madryn (the only place worth a visit on the long stretch between Ushuaia and BA, due to whale watching and exploring the Valdes peninsula) and then get to BA a couple of days earlier to do some sightseeing. Most people are flying between the two - only 5 are left on the truck journey to BA (the young girls, the old girls, and Nick)!

    After a nice meal at La Cantina Fueguina de Freddy last night, we set off a few hours later on our first bus at 3 am on Monday morning; the route we travel is from Ushuaia to Rio Gallegos, change bus for Caleta Olivia, then change again for Puerto Madryn due to srrive at 13:20 on Tuesday!

    Ftom Ushuaia, it's the same journey down here in reverse as far as the Austral Broom ferry crossing point over the Magellan Strait into Santa Cruz province, then it's northeast to Rio Gallegos; it's steppe and pampas to, and after the border crossing back into Argentina. We arrive in Rio Gallegos before 3 pm and do some shopping at the Carrefour next door for food, and chill out at the bus station, waiting for the 6 pm departure to Caleta Olivia. Ant does an excellent job of organising tickets for the Puerto Madryn to BA bus and hostel accommodation in the former.

    The flat steppe landscape continues as we head north through SantaCruz province; this is how it is for most of the journey. We're upstairs, and the screens show a bad movie and some episodes of "Heart of Stone" with poor sound (help!). There is a beautiful sunset as we drive west from Puerta Santa Cruz; then it's dark both outside and inside the bus, lights out. We arrive in Caleta Olivia at 4:30 am, and it is soon dawn - it's been a long day!

    We drive along the coast, but it gets more hilly for a while as we enter Chubut province, but then it's flat scrubland again, pretty much all the way. There were a couple of stops close to Puerto Madryn, where we arrived at 1:30 pm. Then it's to the hostel and out to investigate whale watching tours for tomorrow. It's all sorted, so it's time to eat and drink at Nautico Bistro de Mer Fish Restaurant; I had Abadejo en papillote (a fish stew served in silver foil).

    If you've got this far you'll realise we've spent almost 36 hours travelling! Shades of 1978 when Anthony and I travelled in North America together (45 years ago)!    Read more

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