Patagonia + Tierra del Fuego

Group gathering in the capital of Argentina. We meet at a pre-booked hostel in the center of Buenos Aires in the San Telmo area. Arrival time does not matter. If you arrive late, you can walk around the city on the way back.

Early in the morning, fly to Ushuaia - a tiny settlement considered the southernmost city on the planet. There we stay in a hostel and go for a walk around the city (there are literally 3 streets and a port). We look at the ships leaving for Antarctica and quietly envy. If you have time, you can take a boat ride on the Beagle Channel.

We take a bus from Ushuaia to the southernmost post office on Earth. From here starts a short trek through the Tierra del Fuego nature reserve (Terra del Fuego). We walk through quaint forests on the banks of the Lapataia River and near Lake Roka. If we have time, then in the afternoon we will climb to the top of Cerro Guanaco (972 m) and look at Tierra del Fuego from above. Believe me, the view from there is stunning, and in order to get to the mountain in time, it makes sense to skip lunch at a restaurant and limit yourself to a snack on the lake shore. No later than 19:00 we need to return to the post office and leave back to Ushuaia.

Early in the morning we go for a walk to the Martial Glacier, which begins not far from Ushuaia. At first, the path to it generally looks like a park, but in the end you will feel like you are in the mountains.

We return to the city and have lunch. After lunch, we have an excursion to Penguin Island planned and immediately go on an excursion to Penguin Island. We sail on a boat through the Beagle Channel, soaking in the harshness of the southern landscapes. However, as soon as penguins appear on the horizon, all the severity will disappear. They are cute))

We will spend most of the day on the bus. Departure is around 7 am, so we may not have time to have breakfast. But it’s okay - the food on the buses is good. One of the main adventures of the day was a search at the border with Chile (before that we were in Argentina). In Chile it is prohibited to transport any fresh fruits and vegetables, honey and many meat products. All luggage is sniffed by service dogs, after which backpacks are selectively inspected. Then our ferry bus crosses the Strait of Magellan and we move on. Already in the afternoon, in the town of Puerto Arenas we will have a couple of hours to warm up and take a walk. Then we board the next bus and late in the evening we arrive in the city of Puerto Natales, nestled at the foot of the Andes. We spend the night in a hostel.

In the morning, while the instructor is buying more food for the trek, you can go to a local attraction - the Miladona Cave (fossil giant sloth). We then board a bus that will take us to the entrance to Torres del Paine National Park. Before we are released onto the trail, everyone will be read the rules of conduct in the park. It should be noted that everything is very strict here - you can’t make fires, you can’t leave the trail, you can’t go without prior reservation (even with a tent). At the start of the route, it is possible to leave some things for storage - something clean and urban. The service is paid - about 40 dollars for a large bag (where all participants in the hike will throw in excess). The first day is very simple - although we have to walk a lot of kilometers, the terrain is still completely flat and easy to walk. We walk through forests, fields and by evening the distant mountains become much closer. Overnight in tents at the Sharon campsite. Chile has very decent campsites - with hot showers, toilets, cafes and equipped places for tents.

An easy day. We walk along the upper - north side of the O-track, passing Paine Lake. We stop for the night at a beautiful campsite on the shores of Lake Dikson, where glaciers descend directly into its waters.

We walk through a forest with rather exotic trees, and pretend that we are not picking numerous berries (this is a nature reserve, after all). Quite early we arrive at the next campsite. It is located in the forest, near the Perros Lagoon. We put up tents and go on a radial path to the Perros glacier (about 1 hour one way). There are gorgeous ice caves from which rivers flow.

We go to bed early, because tomorrow will be a very long day and we will have to get up before dawn.

The hardest day of hiking in Patagonia. We get up at 4:00, quickly cook oatmeal and go out on the route. We have to climb Gardner Pass. Its height is only 1200 meters, but we will start almost from sea level and it will not seem like much to anyone. In addition, on the approaches to the pass the weather usually deteriorates sharply - a VERY strong and cold wind with rain blows from the Gray Glacier. He can easily rip a person's cloak off or knock him down. The descent from the pass is also not very pleasant - slippery, winding and long. We spend the night in tents at the Gray Lodge campsite.

The trail goes along Gray Lake with minor elevation changes. But a couple of times we have to cross rivers on shaky hanging bridges. Well, you should always be on alert so that a strong wind does not throw you off the narrow path.

We spend the night at a campsite near Lake Pehoe, where strong winds are also common. Trekking in Patagonia requires the most durable and windproof tents!

Most likely we will arrive for the night quite early and in the evening we will be able to go on a radial hike to Gray Lake.

We have finished the “wild” part of the O-track and tomorrow we are heading out to a more crowded section of the route - the so-called W-track.

We get up early, pack the tents, so that by the time the “kitchen” opens (you can’t cook anywhere in this campsite) we will already be packed.

The trail takes us away from the lakes and up the narrow French Valley. We approach the Italian campsite and leave our backpacks there for storage. Then we walk lightly. We climb to an observation deck with stunning views of the highest peak of the Torres del Paine massif - Mount Paine Grande. This is one of the key (i.e. most beautiful) moments of trekking in Patagonia. Therefore, everyone must go to this radial.

On the way back we pick up our things and have lunch at an Italian campsite. And then we go down to the lakes. We pass a beautiful pebble beach, where you can swim if you wish (the water is cold, of course). We spend the night in Frances campzone. In this campsite, tents are not placed on the ground, but on special shields. It won't be possible to hammer pegs into them, so to prevent the wind from blowing you away at night, it would be a good idea to take a dozen self-tapping screws with you and use them to attach the guy wires to the shield. In addition, not only fires are prohibited here, but also burners. Therefore, we will have dinner at the camping restaurant.

We walk along the lake for a long, long time and eventually end up at the campsite from which 6 days ago we started the trek around Torres del Paine. There is an inexpensive store here, you can treat yourself to something delicious and go to bed early - tomorrow we are going to watch the sunrise at the Torres Towers.

The culmination of the trek through the Chilean Andes. We get up long before dawn, have breakfast and, without packing the tent, set off lightly for the radial route to the Torres Towers. The towers are such incredibly beautiful rocks, photographs of which you have probably seen many times. The idea is to meet the dawn at their foot, and to do this you need to leave the camp no later than 6 am.

We will return to camp after 13:00. We'll have a quick lunch and go to the bus that will take us back to Argentina. We spend the night in a hostel in the town of El Calafate.

The first half of the day we just sleep and relax after trekking. After lunch we take a taxi to Lake Argentino. The incredibly sized Perito Moreno glacier “flows” into it. In the afternoon, the ice melts and the glacier wall begins to collapse. Whole icebergs separate from the glacier and fall into the lake with incredible noise. There are numerous paths along the shores of the lake, allowing you to view the glacier from all angles. After walking around, we return to the hostel in El Calafate.

Replenishing supplies food for a short trek in Argentina. We take a bus to El Chaltén, where the trek to Mount Fitzroy begins. It is located in the Los Glaciares National Park. The rules in Argentinean national parks are much less strict than in Chile. Today we have a very short trek ahead - first through thickets of unusual trees we approach Lake Capri, and then we climb even further - to the Poincenot campsite, where we will spend the night in tents in the middle of a forest of miniature birches.

We get up at 3:30 in the morning, drink tea and already at 4:00, without breakfast, we move into the radial to the lakes at the foot of Fitzroy. Our goal is to catch the dawn, when the mountain turns purple (another “postcard” scene). And to do this, you need to have time to get up to the observation deck no later than 5:45.

Once all possible angles of Fitzroy have been captured, we return to the campsite, have breakfast and sleep for a couple of hours. Then we pack up the camp and move to the Agostini campsite.

Again the morning begins with a radial. We go to the Maestri viewpoint to admire the inaccessible cliffs of Cerro Torre surrounded by glaciers plunging into the waters of a harsh lake.

We go back down to the tents, break up camp and go to El Chaltén. There we take a bus and go to El Calafate (a city near the Perito Moreno glacier). Overnight in a hostel.

In the morning we fly from El Calafate to Buenos Aires. There we immediately go to our hostel to pick up our things from the storage room. In principle, our trek through Patagonia has come to an end and we can stop there (fly home).

But if you have a couple more days of time, you can spend them at Iguazu Falls. Have you heard about the Devil's Throat? These waterfalls are located in the tropics (just right after the cold and harsh Patagonia) on the border of Argentina and Brazil.

So, if you are ready to continue the adventure, then this evening we will board a comfortable overnight bus heading to the tropics. The drive takes about 18 hours. Therefore, you can consider another option - air travel. It costs about $100 (2 times more expensive than a bus), but saves a lot of time and effort.

If we fly to Iguazu by plane, we can go to the waterfalls in the morning. There are numerous suspended observation paths along the steep banks. You can wander there for hours, watching the incredible power of the waterfall and enjoying the riot of colors of the tropical paradise. Approach (or swim) to the Devil's Throat, play with the noses, or just take a walk.

However, if we take the bus, we will arrive at the waterfalls just a couple of hours before the park closes and won’t really see anything. In this case, it is better to spend one more day on the waterfalls.

We take a taxi and go to Brazil to look at their version of Iguazu. The waterfall seems to be the same, but the views are completely different. And the views are magical! So you definitely need to go. In addition to the waterfalls themselves, in those parts you can see butterflies, tropical birds and crocodiles.

If you go back to Buenos Aires by bus, you will have to start this evening. And if we choose a plane, we will spend another night in a town near the waterfall. We live, as always, in a hostel.

One way or another, we return to the capital of Argentina. You can fly home or continue exploring South America. For example, go to a carnival)