The South American leg of my trip covered 11 days visiting Argentina and Chile with the majority of my time in the Patagonia Region. When I first booked this legs activities I was really focusing on the next stage i.e. visiting Antarctica. This lead to quite a lot of pleasant and unexpected surprises.
This leg started with the $100 USD entry fee to Argentina. While I understand they are just doing what Australia does to their citizens I always think anything that discourages travel is wrong so both countries should reconsider.
I was glad I was able to complete all the hikes. They were tough for a range of issues but you get to see some remarkable sights. I particularly liked hiking while snowing and trekking on a glacier 🙂
Journal entries:
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Day 30 – Madrid to Buenos Aires. Highlights: Business class experience
Day 31 – Buenos Aires. Highlights: Tango Show
Day 32 – Buenos Aires. Highlights: Bike tour of Buenos Aires, Recoletas cemetery, Botanical Gardens
Day 33 – Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. Highlights: The snow capped mountains of Ushuaia
Day 34 – Ushuaia to El Chaltén. Highlights: Picturesque El Chaltén, Drive to El Chaltén
Day 35 – El Chaltén. Highlights: Nine hour hike to Laguna de Los Tres
Day 36 – El Chaltén to El Calafate. Highlights: Ice trekking on Viedma Glacier.
Day 37 – El Calafate. Highlights: Perito Moreno Glacier
Day 38 – El Calafate to Puerto Natales. Highlights: Border Crossing, Car Rally
Day 39 – Torres del Paine National Park. Highlights: Three granite Towers, Camping
Day 40 – Torres del Paine National Park. Highlights: Hike up the French Valley, Avalanche spectacular, boat crossing.
Day 41 – Torres del Paine National Park. Highlights: Grey’s Glacier, Farewell to half the group.
Day 42 – Puerto Natales to Ushuaia. Highlights: 13 hour bus ride and border crossing.