Last stop Santiago...

Santiago's main plaza

The bullet hole beneath the eye from the 1973 coup

My last few days were spent in the Chilean capital of Santiago. I only had time to briefly explore but by far the best thing I did was spend half a day in the museum of memory and human rights.

The beautiful park atop Santa Lucia hill in the city centre

Built to remember and commemorate the victims of the military dictatorship led by Gen. Pinochet from 1973-1990, the museum gave a fascinating view on the events leading up to the 1973 coup d'etat, the time in power, and the vote that eventually peacefully ended the dictatorship in 1990.

An interesting walking tour of the city also pointed out a lot of monuments and remnants from that era, which still divides Chileans today.







A final day spent exploring some of the parks and neighbourhoods, eating 'italianos' (Chilean hothogs with lashings of avacado, tomato and mayo) and lucuma ice cream (Peruvian fruit), visiting the museum of belle artes and buying last minute souvenirs and it was time to pack up my backpack one last time.

My jeans, patched up in Peru but now on their last legs

Taking the bus to the airport to catch my flight to Auckland I had mixed feelings about leaving South America. Looking forward to catching up with my family in NZ over Christmas, relief to not have to sleep in another dorm, wear the same worn-out clothes or plan another day of travelling, sadness at leaving behind a continent, language, and way of life I had grown to love. But overwhelmingly looking forward to coming home.

Valparaiso, Chile

I spent the next four days in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso and absolutely loved it. With no snow, thefts, accidents or money issues, I could just relax and enjoy this small but bustling city with its amazing street art, hills (called cerros) and haphazard buildings.

The view from a cerro

On my first day I took a walking tour of the city that took us around some of the most interesting sites and cerros, whilst giving us a useful insight into 'Porteno' history and culture (the word for born and bred locals). I also had lunch at a 'secret' restaurant recommended by my hostel, knocking on the unmarked red door and receiving a great 3 course vegan meal.

The next day I treated myself to a full day's Chilean cooking class. After getting our fresh fruit, veg, meat and fish at the local market we set about creating our four course menu.

Chilean-style cerviche

We started with cerviche and empanadas, followed by a type of beef and corn pie and custard apples in orange sauce all paired with Chilean wines and fresh pisco sours. Yum!



After several hours of eating and drinking we finished the evening off at an acoustic music session in one of the cerros, with amazing views over the city.

On my final day I booked onto a street art tour of the city. It turned out to be private tour, exploring the work of some of Chile's most talented grafitti artists and learning the meaning of phrases such as 'tags', 'throw-ups' and 'wild-style'. But the best part was probably getting to meet two artists in their home, filled with spray paints of every imaginable colour.

The colourful streets of Valparaiso

After lunch again at the secret restaurant, I spent the afternoon visiting the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's house and riding the crazy outdoor elevators that connect the cerros to the city at sea-level before packing up to leave the next day.

Mendoza, Argentina

After a night and day bus I arrived in the Argentine wine region of Mendoza, baking hot and covered with vines and poplar trees. Having treated myself to a single room after too many dorms I was looking forward to a good night's sleep and to exploring the various vineyards on foot and bike over the next few days.

A traditional asado in the main plaza

Things didn't go quite to plan however when my money transfer failed to come through on time (getting money in Argentina is complex) and I was left with about a tenner to spend for the next three days. Managing to borrow from my hostel but unable to do too much, I spent the next few days just chilling in the parks and plazas of Mendoza.

After three days I was again in the black, so I extended my stay and went wine tasting. I rented a bike and set off for my first two bodegas, Tempus Alba and Mevi.

Enjoying three reserves on the terrace

The setting and wine were great and the steak at Tempus Alba where I had lunch was fantastic. However, after tasting about 7 generously-poured reds between the two vineyards on a very hot day I realised that I was pretty tipsy. Stuck with the bike I decided to return to the rental shop and visit my last planned bodega by bus.

 Over- generous tasting glasses at Bodega Mevi...

A wise course of action but not quite wise enough, on the way back I fell off the bike and was kindly taken back to the bike rental shop by a police pick-up truck that happened to be passing by at the time, grazed, bruised and blood spurting from my elbow. How embarrassing.


All cleaned up I finally made it on a bus to my last boutique bodega, Carinae, where I enjoyed a further 7 wines (but asked for small glasses this time!) before purchasing a couple of bottles of my favourite to take back. What a day! The next day I jumped on a bus back to Chile for the final week of my South American adventure.

     

Pucon, Chile

Villa Rica volcano from my hostel rooftop

Now with a day less than planned in Pucon in the Chilean lake district I decided I had to make it worthwhile and signed up to climb the active Villa Rica volcano.

After a chilled first day in Pucon we set off. The weather was sunny but very cold and windy and I pretty much froze all day, but it was still a great experience.

The view on the way up

The trek up wasn't as tough as I'd expected, partly because using crampons and ice picks meant we took it pretty slow. Halfway up we had to wait out the weather and later discovered we were the only group to make it to the summit that day. At one point we took refuge in an old chairlift that had been destroyed in a previous eruption. Scary.

At the summit

As we neared the summit the climb became tougher with smoke and sulphurous fumes escaping. When we reached the top it was covered in cloud and smoke and we couldn't see anything. But slowly the sides of the crater became visible.

The beautiful crater edge

And the excitement wasn't over there. Instead of a slow trek back down we sledded all the way on plastic trays, at first scary but soon exhilarating. Soaking wet and cold at the base we hopped into the warm bus and returned to Pucon where I was taking a night bus that evening back to Argentina.

The lake district, Bariloche

Bariloche is a small city in the beautiful Argentine lake district. Unfortunately it's also the setting for my bad luck week.

The view from the bus to Bariloche

First, I missed my bus connection. Having waited at the terminal for 3 hours I went to catch my next 28hr bus only to find it had left 30 minutes ago. Cue mad (and expensive) taxi ride to catch it up. I'll never forget the taxi driver pulling over a national bus on an Argentine highway for me to jump on, looking extremely embarrassed.

On my first day I went on a cable car ride and short hike to a beautiful mirador where my camera promptly broke. Lens error. Resorted to camera phone until I worked out how to fix it. But over the next couple of days I did some nice hikes and saw some beautiful lake vistas. Things were looking up.

Stunning views around Bariloche

On my last evening I decided to go for a good meal in the centre of town. A bus and four restaurants later I finally found one that wasn't unexpectedly closed or too full. The food was good, but not great. I finished my meal and took a taxi back to the hostel where I swiftly discovered my mobile phone had gone.

Needless to say I never got it back. After changing my bus ticket to Chile for a day later to give me time to get a police report, I finally left Bariloche feeling pretty down and ready to come home for the first time.

El Calafate, El Chalten

Mistakenly ordering a huge plate of Patagonian lamb each

Back in Argentina I spent a couple of days in El Calafate to recover from the W trek before moving on to the small Patagonian town of El Chalten. Recovery tactics included basically doing nothing and eating really well - Argentinian style.

View on my first day's trek

The best thing about El Chalten is that you can start most hikes right from your doorstep. On my first day I chose to start off easy with a nice 5 hr round hike to Laguna Torres. Although a bit cloudy at the top, the weather was generally pretty good- I even stopped to snooze in the sun on the way back.







The next day however couldn't have been more different. I woke up to find it pouring with rain and with a dilemma on my hands as I'd already booked my bus ticket out for the following day. Deciding to risk it I paid to change my bus ticket and hoped for better weather the following day.

Wild Patagonian landscapes

The next morning looked good, windy but clear, and I set off for the 7 hr hike to Laguna de los tres. However after about 2 hours the weather turned and I found myself hiking in gale force winds and snow. Again.
We could barely see the laguna at the top, let alone Fitzroy mountain, and I could barely feel my fingers with the ice cold wind.

Fitzroy massif on my first day - sadly missing on trek 2

Hiking back to town as quickly as we could I felt decidedly better after a hot shower and a delicious bowl of lamb stew and obligatory glass of red wine. At least that was a big improvement on the W trek.

I felt that perhaps Patagonia and me just weren't meant to be and crossed my fingers for better weather in the lake district. 

The 'W' trek

Day 1

Got the bus into TdP, left our backpacks at the refugio and set off. Although we only had day packs this was still a tough trek with some steep climbs scrambling over rocks and the guys in our group were racing on without breaks. But the weather was pretty good and it all seemed worthwhile when we got to the mirador Torres to find this amazing view.


After a break for a late lunch we set off and arrived back at the campsite around 18.45 in time to set up our tents, get cooking, and even have a hot shower, tired but feeling ok.

Day 2

 We needed to get from the base at Las Torres to campsite Italiano, officially a 7 hour, 16km trek and this time with main backpacks. This is where it started unravelling for me as the extra weight of a tent, food and cold-weather sleeping bag was a real drag and I didn't enjoy the beautiful lake views nearly as much as I should have. The last couple of hours before lunch were particularly tough.

But having made it this far I felt there was no going back and I settled down at our very basic campsite (no hot showers this time!) for hopefully a good nights sleep.

Day 3

 Awoke after a very restless, cold and wet night. We decided to leave the tents up in an attempt to dry them out, left our main packs and set off for a 5 hr round hike in the French Valley. Unfortunately the weather didn't improve and overnight rain turned to strong winds and snow. We could barely see anything of the supposedly amazing views and were getting colder as the day went on. After turning back just before the final mirador I made it back to camp for a late lunch and packed up the tent as we were still 2 hrs away from our next campsite.

Freezing cold in the French Valley

This is where it really went wrong. Getting caught in a snow storm we arrived at the camp at 7pm completely wet and freezing cold. I'd had enough. Enquiring how much it was to stay in the next door refugio myself and one other guy from our group booked ourselves in for a hot meal and a night's stay where we could at least have hot showers, a bed for the night and dry out our soaking wet clothes.

Day 4

The view!

Having effectively split from the rest of the group we awoke not too early, warm, and to reasonably dry clothes, a big improvement. We left our main packs behind and set off for the 6hr round hike to glacier grey. Although it continued to snow on and off all day I almost began to enjoy it, particularly as I was able to have tea and dry off at a refugio halfway through.

A misty Glacier Grey

I arrived back at base camp in time for another hot drink and a quick dry-off before catching a catamaran across the lake and then a connecting bus back to Puerto Natales. I arrived at 10pm, exhausted, and ready to catch an 8am bus the next morning back to Argentina.

Preparing for the 'W' trek

Picture perfect view of 'Las Torres' in Torres del Paine

I had been debating for ages whether to make the 6 hr crossing into Chile to visit Torres del Paine, one of Patagonia's most renowned and beautiful national parks.

When I met a girl at my hostel who had found a small group of interested others I decided to go for it and we made our way to Puerto Natale's in Chile, the nearest town to the park entrance.

The most popular trek in TdP is called the 'W' because of the shape it maps out and it takes 4-5 days to complete. Although there are hostels, called 'refugios' along the way, the high price of these means most people camp and cook for themselves which means renting and carrying tents, camping stoves and food for 4 days.

Me carrying all my gear on the 'W'

Now this sounded suspiciously like DoE to me which 15 years ago I vowed never to do again and the moral of this story is if you know you don't like doing something, don't do it! It definitely surpassed the Inca trail as one of the hardest things I've ever done. Read on with a hot cup of tea to feel really smug...

Perito Moreno glacier, El Calafate

El Calafate is home to the Perito Moreno glacier. One of the most accessible and impressive glaciers in Patagonia, it has a surface area larger than Buenos Aires and is one of the few glaciers that is not receding.

After taking some advice I decided to do the one day mini trek to explore the glacier, which was expensive but worth it. The tour included a couple of hours of free time to explore the various built walkways around the glacier in the morning, followed by a short boat ride and about 1.5 hours walking on the glacier itself.

Following the walkways around the front face of the glacier was pretty impressive and the sound of chunks of ice falling into the waters below was incredible.

But walking on the glacier itself with crampons was fun and gave you a chance to see beautiful blue pools and crevices in the glacier. And having a whisky on the rocks with glacier ice at the end of the day was an added bonus!

Puerto Madryn

Keeping her eggs cosy and safe

I arrived at my hostel knackered after a sleepless night on a freezing bus but was greeted by 3 familiar Dutch faces - a girl from BA and a couple from way back in Bolivia 4 months ago. They were in the midst of planning to rent a car and so of course I said 'I'm in'.

Along with a German girl we spent a great couple of days exploring the surrounding national parks and seeing amazing wildlife. Our first day took us South to a Maggalen penguin colony where mothers to be were patiently sitting on their eggs all around us.

On the way back we stopped at a Welsh village (yes Welsh!)
and picked up some fresh scones, cream and jam for diy afternoon tea for which I was looked to as the resident expert!

A huge male elephant seal flopped on the beach

On our second day we drove to the Valdes Peninsula where we saw more penguins, elephant seals, guanaco and many different types of birds.

 But the absolute highlight was a whale watching tour to see Southern right whales. The boat got so close and the whales (some with young) were happy to swim all around and under us which was incredible.

Getting up close to Southern right whales

After a final day relaxing together in Puerto Madryn it was time for me to venture South again into the real heart of Patagonia.

Buenos Aires

Getting arty on a photo tour of the city

 It feels like cheating to say that BA is my favourite SA city so far because it's so European. Walking through BA feels very much like walking through Barcelona, Paris or even London at times but with a South American twist.

Awesome street art is everywhere in BA

I spent a week in BA, which wasn't nearly enough, but some of my highlights included going to an amazing tango show, eating great steak and browsing in the huge San Telmo Sunday street market with friends I had met at various points on my travels.

Outdoors at 'La Bomba de Tiempo' on Monday night

Essentially we spent our days exploring some of BA's most interesting districts, going to shows, restaurants of all nationalities (eating Thai and Indian for the first time in over 4 months made me so happy!) and of course drinking lots of Argentinian wine.

The next Messi?

Feeling very sad to say goodbye to BA and to friends, I took another stupidly long bus journey South along the coast to Puerto Madryn.

Sushi all for me...mmm...

Iguazu falls

Panorama from the Brazilian side

Awesome. Huge. Spectacular. Just some of the words I might use to describe Iguazu falls. Now included in the seven natural wonders of the world it didn't disappoint and crossing the border to view them from Brazil as well as Argentina was definitely worth it.

I was also lucky to have amazing weather on both days that I visited as I put the day in between with torrential rain to good use by nipping into Paraguay to stock up on US dollars to change on the black market.

I loved both sides of the falls. Brazil offered amazing panoramic views along a single trail which I took with two lovely Spanish speaking guys who even complimented me on my Spanish which made my day!

Soaking wet from the boat trip in Argentina

In Argentina you could get much closer to the falls and I spent the whole day exploring the various trails in the park including taking a boat trip under the falls and swimming in a deserted pool in one of the small falls at the end of a very hot day.

It was then time to move on to Buenos Aires where I was looking forward to meeting various people I'd met along my travels.