Patagonia

Leaving behind all things hotel and comfortable, we headed for the Airport at Calama, returned our hire car, and boarded a plane to El Calafate in the heart of Argentina`s Patagonia. A rather expensive bunny hop into town on arrival, not that we had a lot of choice given that the airport manager informed us that the airport was about to close. We had neither local money nor internet. Informed that all taxis have a means of taking card payment, we were directed to the last taxi available. A £20 taxi ride and 20 mins later we arrived at our little home in El Calafate. We were due to spend one night here, but a series of events and a high jacked day led us to stay put for 2 nights. Such a beautiful place, so no hardship. We did not get the chance to see the town up close this time around but hope to return here for a couple more nights when we return the car. All I can say about our accommodation is that it was warm, really really, really warm. To be surrounded by snow capped mountains but needing to have the front door open to lessen the heat in our `sauna` is proof enough as to the warmth. Granted it was lovely to be so toasty, but not so much in the early hours when you cant exactly fling the door open to cool down. We bought food in the town supermarket, and it was as we expected a little expensive. Mr Bunny and his cooking skills as always prevailed. He really does feed us well on very few ingredients.

Day 2. Our journey today takes us to El Chalten, via the awesome Perito Merino Glacier. Quick note here, there are two places called Perito Merino, which caused said Mr bunny to have a minor meltdown when I showed him the route (whilst still in the UK) , stamping his overly large bunny feet insisting we go to the Glacier. It was on the route, just not where he expected it to be. There are two my bunny friends, a place name, and a glacier of same name, in two very different places. Perito Merino Glacier. Nothing short of spectacular. I admit to feeling a little meh about seeing a glacier, a big wall of ice, where is the fun in that? Nothing could have prepared me for the sight before my eyes. The road we travelled on through the National Park Los Glaciares to the glacier took us along the lake edge. It was there we saw our first iceberg. I felt daft at first pointing out that iceberg, but then it occurred to me, when had I/we ever seen a real one before? We have been to Norway and Sweden but that was Summer, we didn`t see icebergs there, in a land where you would expect to see them, yet here in Patagonia, sat the cutest little iceberg you ever did see, right there in front of our very eyes. An iceberg of the palest blue. If the giddiness of seeing that chunky lump of ice made me smile, it was nothing to witnessing the sheer size and scale of the Perito Merino Glacier. It really is quite breath taking, and far more impressive than I was expecting. Once the shock and awe of the phenomenon you are witnessing passes, you then start to take in the colours. Blues of every colour, the whole blue spectrum from the palest baby blue, to more vivid striking cobalt, deepest turquoise and neon blue. How can white ice be so blue? The Glacier is a visually striking wall of cracked ice, with every crack harnessing its own blue colours. There are so many well constructed paths that lead to and around the glacier in every direction. We chose the easiest path, and meandered down toward the river and the glaciers edge. Every set of stairs that descended increased the grandeur and majesty of this spectacular glacier. At home I thought meh its only ice...in reality, I couldn`t have be less meh if I tried. This ticked one of Mr Bunny`s bucket list items, and it added to mine.

We would have liked to have lingered longer, but the need to push on to our next destination dragged us away. We did have a rather annoying kit kat moment, after we had turned our backs on the glacier for just a few moments, it chose that very time to crack and cascade into the lake with the most deafening rumble. We heard the roar and the resounding splashes, but alas a wall of trees spoilt our view for those crucial seconds. We heard a glacier crack.... but accept some things are not ours to witness first hand.

El Chalten. After 5 hours of the most breath taking scenery, and a whole lot of nothing else, we arrived at the town of El Chalten. When I say a whole lot of nothing, that is quite literal. No people, no house, no towns, no shops, not even a stray dog. Plenty of trees and Guanacos (snooty faced llama type animals), and views beyond compare, but other than that, a whole lotta nothing. Just straight roads of nothingness. The northern parts of Patagonia offers little conversation other than `wow` `wow` and yet more `wow` Sheer raw beauty of nature at its best. We are coming out of winter and heading to spring. Lambs are being born, trees are bare, the land is barren, but it is beyond compare. As the mountain ranges close in and the snow peaks grow ever larger, the peak of the distinctive Fitz Roy mountain comes into view, and the tiny town of El Chalten.

This is quite clearly a town that is developing quickly, and I suspect the land is valuable. The hiking around this area would be enough to keep any seasoned and hardy hiker busy for months, and I would guess that every spare bit of land is being purchased and utilised for the purpose of hiking accommodations. The trails here are many and varied. The houses of the town differ wildly, from wooden lodges, small hotels, converted caravans, large well cladded garden sheds, small concrete housing units, to the one I liked the most, a small rowing boat, upwardly extended in a manner Mr and Mrs Weasley would be quite proud of. The cost of staying in El Chalten is quite steep comparatively, and even at the outer edges of the town we paid just short of double our usual budget. Our little apartment was tiny and cute. Tiny enough to serve a purpose, big enough not to feel crowded. On our first full day, the sun shone brightly, we first drove, then hiked up the easiest hiking trails to be rewarded with yet more awesome views. Patagonia does not disappoint. Our trail was called the Condor Trail and we were rewarded with said birds. There were many condors, soaring and gliding the wind currents high above us. The next trail was the Eagle trail, not convinced we saw the eagles, but then again they are much smaller and harder to spot. The trail ended with yet more views to behold. Back at our `ranch` we enjoyed our home cooked bunny food, before settling in for an evening of Netflix. It snowed this evening, all night long. We knew snow was forecast, but it only mentioned a flurry. Ha!! It snowed big time, and we woke to a blanket of white. This was not a problem for Mrs Bunny who has no hiking desires, but caused quite a stir in the world of two other bunnies who had planned...and still planned, to hike the longest most challenging hike in Patagonia. Today. In the snow. Fully kitted out I hear you say? Nope. Walking trainers, no crampons, no walking poles, no waterproof trousers or gaitors, nothing, nada, zip. So, at 8am, two foolhardy and determined bunnies, dressed to kill in everything warm they could muster, set off to hike Fitz Roy, all 14 miles of it. In the snow. Mrs Bunny settled down with a good cup of tea, a book, warm slippers, and a cat for company. The cat had sat on the windowsill for many minutes staring in at me meowing until I let him/her in. Stalked in like it owned the place, demanded water from the bathroom tap, then casually draped itself on the bed and promptly went to sleep. For 4 hours! It was actually nice having a furry body in the room for company whilst the 2 daft bunnies hiked up a steep and snowy mountain. 11 hours later, my two crazy bunnies arrived home. I had given them the ultimatum of home by 7pm or I send out a search party. They pushed their luck timing their return 6.56 ! The floor definitely had pace marks. Having decided that Laguna 69 (Huaraz) was the most challenging of hikes, they both scoffed and declared that Laguna 69 was actually a mere walk in the park compared to Fitz Roy.

Ushuaia From the first day we watched the Race Across the World, ending in a place called Ushuaia, ( how do you pronounce it and where the heck is it..) the thought of visiting the city at the end of the world was totally on our radar. From El Chalten to Ushuaia is around 18 hours by car, the distances here are quite eye watering. We opted to break up the journey by pausing for a night at Rio Gallegos. I don`t intend to dwell on the past, but this was the port that served the Argentine Naval force during times of conflict in the mid 80s. Not knowing quite how we would be greeted or welcomed in Argentina so close to the islands we chose to avoid the museums and the monuments. Let me add, every sign post and reference points to the Malvinas, the English version is never ever referred to. A muted sore point in the history of Argentina? Our apartment wasn`t quite ready on arrival, so we took a drive to the sea front. It looked like the sea but it is just an inlet. Every part of this ride was Lytham to St Annes. (English seaside towns) Sea wall on your left, beautiful house of every size and shape on your right. One night in the bunny hutch at Rio Gallegos and back in the car. pssst do you want to know how to get from El Chalten to Rio Gallegos? simples, Leave El Chalten on the main road, turn right at the t junction. Turn Left at the next junction, straight on forever and Rio Gallegos will be in front of you. Two turnings we made, in 8 hours!!

The next part of the journey would be long, varied, challenging, boring, wow, two border crossings, Argentina/Chile/Argentina (they nicked our eggs!.....and on the return journey we got in trouble for an onion, so be warned!) and lastly a ferry crossing. Around 8 hours in total. All I can refer to along this early stretch of the journey was the fate of the daft Guanacos. I saw their furry butts so often that I renamed them either Guanacant`s or Guanacans There are many many herds of these beautiful snooty faced animals all along both sides of the fence line that stretches the length of Patagonia. The guanacos/cans/cants graze peacefully on both sides of the fence, the guanacants were the ones who failed to clear the fence and hung pitifully either draped like a furry rug, their sad little fluffy butt tails waving in the wind, or hung by the one trailing leg that didn`t quite clear the 4ft obstacle. Pretty sure these departed animals make for a proper feast for the elusive Pumas and Cougars, not to mention the condors as the number of furry butt tails and dangling bods was numerous. Guanacans troughed the grass on both sides of the fence. Departed guanacos aside, we have seen a number of the other animals/birds that fly/roam the Patagonian plains. Grey Foxes, Eagles and Hawks, a Skunk (alas flattened, but still spotted) wild Horses, Rhea and even a flamboyance (isn`t that a nice word?) of Flamingos. I thought I was seeing things when I saw what I thought were herds of ostrich in the field, but a google search revealed they were wild Rhea. The last leg of our journey took us across the fantastic plains of Tierro del fuego. The original indigenous people used fire to keep warm (what else....?) and passing sailors saw the flames, called it the land of fire, Tierro del Fuego yadda yadda yadda. The wind across the never ending flat plains was quite scary at times, the car shook like the bunny in Fatal Attraction, and Mr bunny`s knuckles were quite white at times from gripping the steering wheel. It is hard to recall at what point the scenery changed, but the change was rapid. From a blank canvas of sandy plains, trees started to appear, first one, then another and suddenly huge forests loomed out of nowhere. Then hills, which grew into mountains, that developed into snow topped mountain ranges. The change in scenery was nothing short of sudden and dramatic. Did I mention the absence of cars? Pretty sure during the entire 8 hour plus journey the number of cars in either direction wouldn`t top 50, if that. If there is only one road to The end of the World, and the number of cars we saw barely made it past 50, just how tiny a town is Ushuaia? Huge, really really huge! We were so surprised to find a town this large. Not London or La Paz huge, but pretty close to Harrogate or Halifax (uk) It would seem that living here is so good, why leave?

Ushuaia. The City at the End of the World. And it is spectacular. I am so so happy to be here, it was worth the very long journey. The town itself is pretty enough, but backed by snow capped mountains, and facing the Beagle channel, the scenery surrounds you on all sides. This is a city in which you can live and breathe. Hiking, fishing, boating, skiing, mountains, nature and wildlife are just some of its many attractions. Tourism is definitely developing quickly here, and the number of cruises to Antarctica doubles year on year. Still this city remains unique. We drove around the streets away from the touristic centre today, and just marvelled and laughed at the huge array of housing. Of course there are a few blocks of same same buildings, but mostly every other single building, be it house or shop is unique. Bungalows, houses, sheds, caravans, wooden lodges, wooden houses, concrete houses, isthatreallya house type houses, ultra modern stands next to original wooden multi storey constructions. Made from chipboard, metal panels, wood or even glass. Single glazed windows, or high tech shutters. Square concrete boxes reside next to triangular oddities. British Building regulations go eat your heart out, take a look at how amazing and functional these houses/homes/one mans castles, are, and get off your silly high horses about 3.5" cladding and 2.3 ft deep drains...boo sucks to you. This is how people should be allowed to live. Practical, functional and personal. Self made and proud to call them home.

Tours. Seriously expensive. This is not a place to come thinking you can do all sorts, at least not on a budget. £50 pp to ride the train, one and half hours, but you must, not optional also purchase the national park ticket @£20pp. Beagle Channel cruise? £135, pp. Some eye watering costs. I am both glad and a little sad about not riding the train, but was it a must or a touristy `you must do this when here` ? I feel the latter. The train whilst cute, is not the original. The journey is painfully slow, the scenery may well be nice, but isn`t the whole of Patagonia pretty awesome without paying to sit on a very slow train that travels just 18km? the station is quite lovely, but it is still a facade for a journey of limited options. Instead we purchased the compulsory park tickets, took a picnic, and hiked our bunny butts around a few of the many walks around this beautiful, peaceful and scenic national park. Bit miffed that we were charged full price when many hikes were still closed, but it is what it is. Our last visit of the day, and something we had each promised ourselves. A visit to the Post Office at the end of the world. Stamp our passports and send a postcard home. Nope. Apparently the Post Office is no longer there, due to some issues about its legalities. Damn you Google, telling us it was open until 4pm daily, grrrrrr. Penguins? closed for refurbishment (the King Penguin sanctuary) Boats rides, expensive and with the channel windy, choppy with white horse tipped waves, probably not running. Patagonia was becoming a challenge. We did have a very nice meal with quite probably one of the best views to date at the Tolkeyen hotel, not overly expensive at all. And coffee and cake the following day at Tanta Sara in the centre of town was just sublime.

Leaving Ushuaia, we just had to pay a visit to the Hotel that ended the Race Across the World. Not exactly certain how the challengers got there, this hotel sits high up above the town, not the gorgeous looking hotel building we could see from our room, the sat nav took us to what we thought was a plain old green factory warehouse perched high on another mountain side. Oh My Goodness, how looks can deceive. The Arakur hotel. Just google it, is all I can say, as words alone cannot do it justice. We were greeted by `the man` the same guy on reception who greeted those tired racers. He welcomed us in and told us to wander freely and admire. And wander we did. Numerous seating areas, all heated, bar, restaurants, private restaurants for intimate dining, and the spa. With an outdoor infinity, heated pool. If anyone fancies getting married, this hotel ticks so many boxes.

From Ushuai we made the long trek northwards again, this time to Punta Arenas. We were supposed to going via Porvenir where the Penguin refuge was , but given that the refuge was closed for a refurb, we opted for the shorter car ferry crossing near Puerto Progreso, the same way that we crossed earlier and ultimately the alternative road to Punta Arenas.

Must say I was expecting a lot more from this town. Quite disappointing to be honest. We visited the few must see places, but given that these included the Plaza de Armas which was closed for maintenance, an old rusting ship that floundered here in 1909, a boat yard of `life size replicas`, not convinced by the life size, they looked rather small to me, and with an entry fee of $7 each, we were not convinced we needed to see them further up close. If you want to see real ships, you are hard pressed to beat Portsmouth (UK)! (been there, done that) The Cemetery ranked by CNN as the most beautiful in the world, (decide for yourself, I have no intentions of defining beauty when it comes to a place of rest) and lastly parts of the town which were decidedly meh. What is good about this place, is our accommodation. A 3 bedroomed log cabin above the town with views over the harbour. We were supposed to be staying in a 2 bedroom log cabin, but some silly female bunny booked 2025 dates instead of 24, so the kind owner sensing the goof gave us the last available 3 bedroom cabin. And it is Warm!! phew, we were told by some guy back at Huachachina that gas is either free or very cheap in Patagonia, and I swear it must be true, as heaters are large and restrictions on usage not applicable. The cabin is very small but very very comfortable. To prove it was a cabin made for us, we have a bunny, a real little bunny living under our cabin. I think he must be a home bunny as we have spotted him 3 times now.

From Punta Arenas to Puerto Natalas, another 3 and half hour drive and another Border crossing in the middle of nowhere. Note to other bunny travellers, for heavens sake if you overstay your welcome either by design or accident, just pay the darn fine and quit bleating about how you have just spent a lot of money as a tourist in their country. We couldn`t believe our bunny ears, as these two loud mouthed foreigners ponced about telling the authorities it was their (the border control) mistake, and why should they pay the $20 fine !! Seriously, $20 for a 4 day illegal stay, and your complaining ?? Note to the more advanced bunny traveller, be careful when or if you hire a car, there is an endless amount of car paperwork that they scrutinise with an 50 x magnification spyglass! Be confident that you have all the correct paperwork before you try to cross the border and don`t even think about smuggling an onion! Puerto Natalas. Quite the contrast to Punta Arenas. This is a very pretty little town, no high rises, just a small town quite spread out, with a lovely sea front. We didn`t quite find the time to walk the sea front, but did managed to take `that` photo, of the old pier at sunset . An Instagram hotspot. Not my favourite past time, recreating the same photo as 1000s of others, but it is a nice place at sundown. We drove to Puerto Natalas via the Cueva del Milodon Cave National Monument. (Mylodon) This is must see tourist attraction that caught my eye as a must see. The remains of a prehistoric sloth bear were found here, with remains of prehistoric man. I personally hope bear ate man for a change. No bones to see, or even a skeleton, but a life size replica sloth bear does greet you at the cave entrance to give you an appreciation of size. Located around 15km out of P.N. we called here on our way to our room. From the road you can see the cave, but just not how big it is. To do that, you must pay (of course) There are many walks around this area, but all we wanted to see was the Milodon replica, and the cave in which it was found. I cannot begin to describe the size of this cave. Huge is an underwhelming word, Think Ginormous, humungous, cathedral sized and you are getting close. I chose to stay near the cave entrance to take photos of my bunny to give an idea of scale. spot him if you can .

Accommodation here is again expensive, and with a needs must budget we nabbed a little wooden cabin, or as little bunny called it, the hutch at the bottom of the garden. I shall breeze over this place. It was clean with comfy beds, but challenging. Bit too small. It served a purpose.

Puerto Natalas

This is the town that sits closest to the Torres del Paine National Park. You only need to look at a map to see how special a place this is. If the bunny budget was a whole lot bigger, we would have chosen to stay within the park boundaries, but as I decline to camp in the cooler months, and 5* hotels not on the radar, Puerto Natalas works just fine. It is however a good 95-105 km/1 and half hours away. First stop in the park took us to two different view points. Well researched hiking trails we quickly learned that `easy hike ` is in comparative to the Mirador Torres del Paine Base definition of `challenging hike` 3 of us made almost to the top of the `easy` hiking trail however we 2 older bunnies, after watching a much younger bunny with hiking poles and crampons sit and shuffle her way down the last part of the walk, decided that this was the perfect place to break out the flasks of coffee, and instead we sent our own little bunny to scout the highest part of the walk. Watching her return like bambi on ice, we knew we made the right choice to stay were we were. The second 6km easy hike proved to be just that, we first walked to the waterfall, then continued onwards to the Mirador Cuernos. A very pleasant walk indeed, and an awe inspiring view at the end as a worthy reward. Day 2. And the day of the biggie. The hugely demanding and very challenging Torres del Paine Base hike. Luckily there was no snow today, we had checked the walking conditions and all was good, the lake was melted at the view point, and crampons were an optional rather than a necessity, (not that we had any). Flasks were made, rucksacks filled, and clothing donned. Woolly socks, hats, gloves, thermal base layers comfortable slippers, favourite t shirt....hmmm, you didn`t actually think Mrs Bunny was quite that daft to even consider this particular hike? Another day off for me, no cat this time, but I am still happy on my own. The two crazy knackered bunnies returned a mere 14 hours later, and once again declared they had upped their hiking game. Mrs Bunny was allowed in mr bunny`s kitchen today to make tea. Mr Bunny did not complain.

One of the many challenges of the national park, are the unmade roads. I had found us a gorgeous route back to El Calafate that traversed the many winding roads of the National Park. However the reality would have been 8 plus hours on a mostly unmade, or if it was made, a deeply rutted potholed road. Now iykyk, but lets just say that my bra wouldn`t quite cut it..... We took the fast route.

Leaving the utterly beautiful and stunning Torres del Paine national park it was with a heavy heart we waved goodbye, and continued once more back to the town of El Calafate and the end of our car hire rental. Dropping the car off, it served us well managing a little over 3000km during our 19 day rental period. Could you see Patagonia by bus or public transport? Yes, you could, but it would be very very challenging. The distances, the speed of the bus, the frequency. Unmade roads, and the off the beaten track destinations that would require taxis or tours. We did see one or two crazy people on bicycles, but when we knew we had a 4 hour journey of nothingness in front of us in a car, what must it look like from a bike perspective? Without personal transport I suggest a very big budget and a whole lot of time and patience. Even with a car we only managed to cover a small area of the incomparable land that is Patagonia. A destination beyond compare.

Our journey through South America is coming to a close. With just one destination left prior to getting on our longest flight to date, this bunny has only one thing to say.

South America. We love you.