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Fin del mundo: PatagoniaFin del mundo: Patagonia
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Fin del mundo: Patagonia

January - February 2024
Well, I'm not technically going all the way to the "world's end" at Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost part of South America and only a 1100 km from Antarctica. But close enough 😉 Read more
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  • annalovestravelingFin del mundo: Patagonia
    Day 11

    Welcome to the Argentinan way

    January 25 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It's time to have a look at the other side of the border. Again we learn that in Patagonia there's no point in rushing. A girl on our bus when asking if she'll make it to her connection in time is told that there is no point in knowing, because of "la lluvia, el viento, el guanaco".
    And indeed it takes us almost 10 hours to reach our first destination in Argentina: El Chaltén, home to the famous Mount Fitz Roy. Well, at least that's what we are told. Due to bad weather conditions though the only glance we get at it is from the bus. Already at the time we arrive it's much too clouded to possible even see in which direction the mountains are. We spend the night and try hiking the next morning (after several warnings not to go too far, because strong wind and rain are on the agenda today). We return after just an hour of walking (completely soaked) and decide to head towards El Calafate earlier than planned.
    In the meantime we try to get hold of some cash. Though cards are widely accepted, they don't always work especially in remote areas that have as bad an internet connection as El Chaltén (10 MB for the entire town). But our efforts are fruitless: ATMs here give a maximum amount of 40.000 argentinean pesos (around 40€, depending whether calculated by the official exchange rate or the widely used black market "blue" rate), at a charge of ARS 8.000(!), but most German banks will not accept payouts of less than 50€. We soon learn that other places are even worse. Maybe they won't give out more because of the amount of bills required: the largest one available is for ARS 1.000 (~1€). Legend has it that an ARS 2.000 bills exist, but we don't meet anyone who has ever seen one. We also try to change chilean for argentinean pesos, but the currency exchange closes just as we arrive. The reason: "there are no more pesos - probably until next week."    Read more

  • annalovestravelingFin del mundo: Patagonia
    Day 12

    Perito Moreno

    January 26 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Perito Moreno is probably one of the most famous glaciers in the world. This is because due to its vicinity to the Magallanes island it creates a unique growing and breaking process, at every breaking (which happens only once every few years) creating beautiful archways to let the Rico arm of Argentino lake flow through.
    We get the chance to learn a lot about this glacier and even walk on the ice during the so called Minitrekking. It formed because of the strong patagonian wind, which carries clouds loaded with water from the Pacific Ocean towards the Andes, where they unload as snow (in the mountains that appear on the pictures it snows 360 days per year). The snow masses are compressed over many years until they become ice, the spikes showing how the "flows" of snow had to go over stones and through bottlenecks. Although Perito Moreno grows about 2m per day, it is not enough to balance the pace at which it melts. As almost all other glaciers in the world, it is receding ever faster.    Read more

  • annalovestravelingFin del mundo: Patagonia
    Day 15

    (Road) tripping

    January 29 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Our next destination is even more remote than the previous ones. Futaleufú lies in what is called Patagonia Verde (as opposed to the very dry Patagonia Austral) in Chile, just behind the border. Public transport takes 9-12 hours from either Puerto Montt (CL) or Bariloche (AR), running 2-3 times a week.
    To make life a bit easier we fly from El Calafate to Bariloche, avoiding the 35h bus. It would be too late to continue on the same day, so we spend the night. While Bariloche is not a big city, it does have a much more urban vibe than the other places so far. The next day we rent a car and drive down to Futaleufú. The street ("Ruta nacional"!) is not only full of potholes. The last 40 km before the border are gravel. Feels like Argentina doesn't want to make the border crossing too easy. Everyone is very nice, though, especially on the Chilean side, where we joke around with the official while trying to eat some of the fruits we're not allowed to bring to Chile.    Read more

  • annalovestravelingFin del mundo: Patagonia
    Day 18

    Kayak school

    February 1 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    It's time to get onto the river! We book an intensive three days of kayak school with two lessons (i.e. about 5-6 hours on the water) each day. Our instructor is Santiago, the owner of Austral Expediciones. He was recommended to us by friends (and insanely good kayakers) we met in Slovenia and we can only be thankful for this recommendation! Santiago starts right away to analyse our weaknesses on an easy section of Espolón river. During the lessons, we get to work hard on them, improving both our paddling and our eskimo roll. Most lessons take place on a class II section of Espolón, one on Laguna La Paz, where we focus on our rolling.
    At the end of the three days I can barely move. I think I have never been so tired in my entire life.    Read more

  • annalovestravelingFin del mundo: Patagonia
    Day 19

    Río Futaleufú

    February 2 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Finally we get to the actual Futaleufú river. Futaleufú is an indigenous mapungún word and means big ("futa") river ("leufú"), a very adequate name for this world-class beast full of pushy, hard rapids. Most river sections here are class IV to V, i.e. hard to reach for hobby kayakers like Julia and me.
    We spend the morning driving out to some of the harder rapids on another dirt road, trying not to hit any of the dogs or cows that feel like they own the place. We get to watch some kayakers and rafting boats on the Mundaca rapid (V). One of them is Nico, a friend from Slovenia (who like many other Chilean kayakers spends southern hemisphere winters in Europe).
    To at least get to get a feeling for the river, we sign up for a rafting trip in the afternoon. As the river is huge and would carry any swimmers pretty far, all rafts here are always accompanied by safety kayakers and often also katarafts, both of which can rescue people much more easily. The water has such an enormous force that it keeps you too busy paddling and coordinating with the other paddlers to even see many of the huge waves you crash through. You can only imagine how hard it must be to keep a kayak stable in these rapids, even though the safety kayakers make it seem effortless.    Read more

  • annalovestravelingFin del mundo: Patagonia
    Day 25

    Pucón

    February 8 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Our last destination is Pucón, probably the most famous and thus incredibly touristy town in southern Chile. We happen to be visiting right in one of the four most busy weeks of the year: there are tons of people and traffic, getting in and out of town becomes a nightmare. Besides this, however, Pucón seems to be better suited to the tourist masses than is usual vacation home Bovec.
    With weeks (in Julia's case months) of traveling behind us we get kind if lazy. My only activity is three days of kayak school and a spontaneous rafting trip on Trancura Alto (including the Marimán drop) our friend Pato invited us to, Julia joins just for part of the classes. I feel like in just a few classes with Jano, the owner of Pucón Kayak School, I make huge progress and I'm super psyched to be going not only on several sections of Liucura river (class II-III), but also the Trancura Bajo (III), which has several pretty technical drops navigating through rocks and a few enormous waves.
    The rest of the time we hang out at the beach of Lago Villarica, eat ice cream or hang out with friends from back in Slovenia. We cannot bring ourselves to do one of the many great (but looong) hikes in the area and get to see the famous Villarica volcano only from afar. Fun fact: in winter the glacier on top of this active(!) volcano is used for skiing.    Read more

  • annalovestravelingFin del mundo: Patagonia
    Day 27

    Santiago & Colina

    February 10 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    And it's already over 😥. In between the challenging activities and long distances, four weeks passed by incredibly quickly. It is definitely true: "Who hurries in Patagonia waists his time."
    Before we leave, we give ourselves a day in Santiago to organize our things. We go to the airport to finally pick up my luggage - yes, I did not arrive all along. Then we drive to nearby Colina, where Julia left her bike which she has been using for her trip through New Zealand with warmshower host Ale.
    And then it is time to say goodbye Chile, goodbye summer, hello Rosenmontag!    Read more

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