In Patagonia

Hello everyone,

Okay, so once again we have left it rather a long time in between blog updates so will try and get everything down without droning on for hours and hours! We are currently in Puerto Natales, Chile, but when we left you in our last blog we were on our way to the end of the world, Ushuaia. So we´ll start from there!

We flew into Ushuaia the Friday before Easter, early in the morning and made our way over to our hostel. Ushuaia holds the title of the southern-most city in the world and certainly cashes in on it! It was pretty cold (unsurprisingly, being the gateway to Antarctica and all!) but also quite bright and so after ditching our bags, and meeting a guy who would turn out to be an infuriating dorm-mate for the next few days, we hopped aboard a small boat to take a trip around the Beagle Channel and some of it's islands. The journey was quite something, we saw some birds which were sold to us as penguins but it turns out are actually just birds that look like penguins - the flying was our clue there! We did catch some seals though and made it to an island right in the middle of the Beagle Channel just as the sun was setting over the panoramic views of both the Argentinian and Chilean landscapes. The tour guide was brilliant and gave us lots of historical information on the area, including the fate of the native people (there's only one left. I think it was a British person's fault. We've found that to be a general rule here for wiping out people - not good!)

The following day we headed up to take a look at a nearby glacier. Tim made it all the way up the scary icy slope to the top whilst Sarah wandered around just below that. Again, it was pretty cold! The mountains were amazing though, and because it is Autumn here the trees had gone the most vibrant shades of amber, gold and burnt orange. Tim also befriended a stray dog, who we swiftly named Mabel. She accompanied Tim down from the scary glacier, and then us most of the way down the mountain. A man's best friend indeed. That evening we went for some seafood with a guy we had met on the boat tour and then headed for some drinks at an Irish pub called Dublin, which claims to be the southern-most Irish pub in the world. Claim to fame. They had green beer and everything, it was quite a night.

This took us, slightly hungover, into Easter Sunday. After a rude awakening at the hands of our charming, divorced, forty-something, control freak dorm-mate (nice fella) we decided to head down to the local church for the Easter service which was lovely and very busy. I can't say we understood all that much but it was still worth a trip! Other than that we cooked brownies, exchanged Easter eggs and spent the afternoon gorging on our feast! This prepared us for our early bus the following day to Puerto Natales. 15 hours worth of bus, delightful, which took us out of Tierra del Fuego across the Magallan Straight and into Chilean Patagonia.

We arrived late on Monday evening to a very wet and windy reception, but made it to our hostel nearby, which it turned out was pretty great. Single beds and duvet covers!!! It's always the simple things in life that get you. We've used Puerto Natales as our base to explore the nearby natural masterpiece that is Torres del Paine National Park. After embarking on a day tour which took us around some of the lakes and to see a waterfall (no Iguacu but the water is SO blue it is unbelievable!), a glacier (ditto on the blue thing!) and most importantly llamas (!), we set about planning for an overnight trip into the park. Tim decided to tackle one leg of the W trek and head up to the Torres del Paine viewpoint, which is arguably one of the most recognisable images of Patagonia, to catch the sunrise glinting off the famous towers. Sarah took a less gravity defying stance and instead stayed closer to the ground and checked out the Lake Nordenskjold and some other surrounding trails at the base of the mountain. After being informed that there hadn't been a completely clear sunrise in the park for a while, we weren't holding out much hope. However, Tim and the other campers were treated to an almost perfectly clear sky for the 'red flash' which occurs just as the rising sun hits the iconic formations. The hair-raising scramble up from the campsite to the top of the mountain in the dark was well worth it, despite it mostly being undertaken without the aid of a functioning torch. Rats were avoided (food has to be hung in trees to defy the wily critters!) and he made it down with all limbs in tact. Win. Meanwhile at the base of the mountain, Sarah made it through the night without being eaten by a puma, which is an achievement in itself. Despite having just finished reading 'The Life of Pi' and feeling that this was education enough when dealing with big cat attacks, it was probably for the best that she had no opportunity to put these new found skills into practice. Maybe next time. The five pound beer at the end of the experience when all were reunited was well worth it, despite being hugely expensive by British standards, let alone Chilean ones!

We hopped on a bus back to the hostel and after a quick rest and a catch up on all of the wedding-related festivities back home, we cooked a tasty roast dinner and chatted to some fellow mountain survivees. Lazy day today sorting out the next leg of our trip, up to El Calafate in Argentina tomorrow to catch another of the world´s natural wonders, the Perito Moreno Glacier. Geographers eat your heart out. Hopefully we will make it out for a few drinks tonight with new found friends. Not too late though - another early bus to catch!

Lots of love

Sarah and Tim xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx