Southern Patagonia

Getting off the bus after a near 24 hour stint, feeling the fresh air hitting our faces and being able to see the sea in the distance, we knew we were ready to tackle some good old Mother Nature.

Puerto Madryn was definitely a calm welcome from bustling Buenos, and boy it felt good. We grabbed some pizza, took in the ocean air while watching doggos chase vendors on the beach and felt ready for a day on a promised oasis, Península Valdés. We had hit up tourist information and were ready for the bus journey the following morning, having managed to get all the information with no English required. Finished the day off with a delicious Mexican meal and we felt like we were completely nailing this nomadic life.

The view from across the bay of Puerto Madryn

Of course all good things come to an end and the next morning we woke up with 1 bad belly and 1 missing coat that had been left in Buenos. Fail #1. With an extra fleece in tow, we strolled over to the bus station at a leisurely pace only to be told the one bus of the day had left and there was no other way to get to the whales. Fail #2. We shook it off and decided to have a planning day for the upcoming peaks of Patagonia. 5 minutes into a Google search for Torres del Paine we realised most of the campsites were full until March. Fail #3. At least we’d had all 3 in one morning and even though spirits weren’t high, we had a Diet Coke, soaked in some Wifi and decided to spend the day by the beach. We dipped our toes in the Golfo Nuevo and, to date, it remains one of the nicest afternoons.

The moment it all came crashing down for the Torres del Paine dreams

As promised, we did see the majestic Southern Right Whales, as well as Sea Lions, Dolphins and Penguins on our visit to Península Valdés. Being up close to the whales was completely indescribable and being able to see new mothers with their babies was beyond what we were expecting. After contemplating why we couldn’t all be David Attenborough, we got back to the shore with big smiles, burnt noses (& knees for Cal) and made our way onward to Trelew.

It took a while to find the whales, but when we did we were completely spoilt!

Trelew for us was a bit of a nothing stop. Most tourists swing by en route Punta Tombo (to see the penguins) or to explore the area which is heavily influenced by Welsh settlers. Given we’ve lived next door to Wales for our whole lives and have visited fewer times than the number of coats left in our luggage, you can be sure the only reason we were in this sleepy town was for the free accommodation and to scrimp together some pennies. Our Couchsurfing host was a reason to swing by in itself, and it gave Cal the perfect chance to recover from the bug he seemed to have (he sold his kidney so we could afford Patagonia). We spent a perfect few days chilling out with Nico and his 2 adorable dogs. We drank wine, made empanadas and talked for hours about all our plans for the future. Nico instilled a sense of adventure in us and helped us with our first hitchhiking plan of Patagonia.

Our first couchsurfing host, Nico!

We didn’t even have to wait for 5 cars to pass (or bring the fruit out to juggle) before Nelson the trucker pulled over and agreed to take us. Cal’s Spanish stretched far enough for brief conversation but then turned to Diego to make a star studded appearance in the first few minutes, much to Nelson’s amusement. We shared some maté (a bitter tea famous across Argentina), Nelson pointed out all the local wildlife of the Patagonian Steppewhile singing and tapping along enthusiastically to the radio. Many kilometres and just under 5 hours later, we rolled into Comodoro Rivadavia. A very full heart for big N, who saved us a days budget each and gave us something to write home about.

Another 20 hours later, and having passed through our most southerly point of this trip (Río Gallegos), we made it to El Calafate – home of one of the few glaciers that are still advancing, and our first view of the Southern Patagonian ice field. So began our time in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. The view was unbelievable, the sounds were deafening and the meme possibilities were endless. This was also our first experience of the 4 seasons of Patagonia, as we moved from springtime sun to blizzard winter in one fell swoop. Cue a mismatch of hat and sunglasses, more commonly known as Patagonia chic.

Just about enough ice to fill our mojito glasses

Trying to figure out which is longer – Cal vs Glacier

After a quick stopover, it was onward to El Chaltén – Argentina’s hiking playground. After our setback of Torres del Paine, this was where we were gonna walk until our feet hurt and we had pork-chop calves. We planned to stay for a few days and ended up in this town for nearly a week. Compared to our short-lived skiing careers, being able to amble through the mountains 2 feet on the ground was incredible. Armed with a map, a water bottle and a couple of pals we managed 3 hikes and a some short strolls during our stay. We regularly played hide and seek with the main peaks of the park (Cerro Torre & Cerro Fitz Roy), trying to find a good day to set off for the main hike in the area.

Staying at the base of the Andes for a week was the absolute dream!

After a lot of weather-watching, a handful of us headed up to Laguna de Los Tres to hopefully catch a clear glimpse of Fitz Roy, the highest peak in the park. The day was clear, there was excitement at breakfast and 20km seemed but a short stroll. 5km later through enchanted forests and the Patagonian plains, we were faced with the vertical climb to the top.

The trees in Patagonia have definitely endured more than a light breeze

As Rosh likened it to the approach of Everest, we hoisted ourselves up (sometimes quite literally a bum up for Rosh) until in front of us opened up…another bloody hill. Getting over that last one took some will power, but the reward of the view made it all worthwhile. It took some time to catch our breath from both the view and the climb. Cerro Fitz Roy absolutely delivered and dare I say it, started a (probably healthy) obsession with climbing all we could on this trip. Cal’s Torres woes were long forgotten, the view of Fitz Roy was everything he had wanted out of Patagonia. Wanting to sneak in all the views we could, we even woke up at 5am to catch a sunrise panoramic view, but lucky for us the window from our kitchen told us the view was not noteworthy and we crawled back into bed.

Laguna de Los Tres, and a 5 month pregnant Cal (he blames the wind)

Down the mountains, we also got news of a couple of unknown cheeky bonuses from work and decided we would be able to include our dream trip to the Galapagos in our plans after all. To top it all off, Cal found the dulce de leche donut (a “caramel filled, descendant from above”) and a new love affair was born. Told you it wouldn’t be the last time you’d hear about it.

After the best week, we’re leaving the National Park and are on our way up to the ‘Lake District’ and onward to our fist border crossing. We’re getting to the stage where the food in Argentina is making us want to cry chilli sauce out of our eyes so we can pour it all over the beige plates. Luckily we picked up a bottle of the good stuff in Trelew, and the spices of Chile are within reaching distance.

Top of the props – Long will we thank the decision to get good quality hiking shoes. Feet still intact!

Hostel hit – La Comarca. We got into the swing of being on the road in El Chaltén and managed to work on both our Spanish and fitness in the mix of it all. We also met some great people that made the memories even sweeter. Dinner on the first night with Argentinian Pablo was the perfect welcome, while Cal and Joel formed a budding bromance. Eager for tips and stories for our journey north, we learnt all we could from the travellers heading south (including the art of being a pick up artist and a fly fishing equipment salesman). Safe to say, more adventure awaits.

If you ever let them tell the story, they traversed a glacial river for this photo

What we’re listening to – Between Nico and Nelson, we were introduced to the best of Argentinian radio (particularly National Rock), and we spent a lot of time in Nico’s kitchen enjoying the sun streaming in and tuning the radio until we hit a gem. Secretly hoping they’ve got a online channel…

Love & hugs

Cal & Rosh xxx