Torres del Paine, chilean Patagonia

Here we go again, more pics from wonderful Patagonia. By now we have moved south to Torres del Paine National Park passing the border over the Chile, around 5 h by car from El Chalten. 

Its easy to get around in Torres del Paine - lots of hiking trails, and as you can drive around the area you can 'see' much more. Its famous for its powerful winds and we really enjoyed it one day when it was so blowing that the water was pulled upwards from the lakes to create heavy rain and fog, awesome to experience. Once again we had amazing weather even in the storm that hit the area one of the days. Staying over night in the park is not cheap, starts at around 2500 SEK and well, it doesn't really have an end. The views from the rooms and being close to the park and the trails makes up for it. You can get away a bit cheaper, although then spend minimum 1.5h in the car getting to/from closest city on rather bad dirt roads. As usual, we did loads of day trips and just enjoyed the views. 

One of the 'must' is the hike to the Mirador las Torres, the Three granite pillars, where the hike itself ends at 2000m and the actual peak is just over 3000m. Many do it by night to get the sunrise postcard pictures as the sun rays are hitting the pillars, we did not :)) Have to save something for next time ;))

There is so much more to be said about that place, but it's best experienced. Go there!

                                                           

lake pehoe

cool clouds

rain, sun and iceberg

lago del grey

lago nordenskjöld and the storm

caracara

guanaco

mirador los torres

Chilean flamingos

condor

       

El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina

After spending great few days in Buenos Aires it was time to fly south. 3 h later we landed in El Calafate, Patagonia. 

Already far before landing in El Calafate you see the vast desert and huge grassland. We were here to explore in two weeks as much as possible of the mountain range - The Andes.  It stretches along the border between Chile and Argentina for around 7500km all the way from Kap Horn to the Caribbean Sea of Colombia and Ecuador.
In El Calafate a rent car was waiting for us. Nothing else was booked, but as it was in the end of the season it ended up perfect. We could go where every we wanted and stay as long as needed without the stress of needing to move on or the worst - hotel/beds are awful but still you 'have' to stay..

Since we landed late afternoon, we had only time to explored bit of the town itself by window-shopping and looking for somewhere to relax. 

While driving along beaches of Lago Argentino it was hard not to be amazed by the variety of birds I have only seen on TV. The area is also famous for its Chilean flamingo, although due to the floods they were somewhere else. Anyhow, I got to see the black-necked swan :)

The following morning, we drove west into Los Glacier National Park early to check out the Perito Moreno Glacier which is one of Argentina's biggest attractions.

I have seen and walked on glaciers before, but this was really cool with its frequent calving (big chunks of ice falling straight into the water) and The sound! It's like gunfire.

One amazing fact - Perito Moreno hold the world's third largest reserve of fresh water. 

We walked around there for couple of hours in drizzling rain. Well signed paths of various lengths, think we walked for 10ish km. You could also take a boat ride to get really close to that 70m high wall, but we are saving that for another time :)

Caracara

Black-necked swan