Would you like some ice with that?

We stayed at El Calafate for one night after driving there from El Chalten.
I didn´t think much of El Calafate, it was expensive and situated in the middle of nowhere. We still had to drive 80km to get to the Perito Moreno Glacier.

The drive there was just amazing though. Why could they not have put the town closer?

We got to the glacier, and luckily, since it was only a day since the killer El Chalten hike, we could park right by the viewing platforms.

I have to say that I was just expecting more ice, something like the Glacier Torre, big, but nothing too special.

I was wrong.
We spent more than an hour just staring and watching this massive, huge, enormous hunk of moving ice.

I don´t know what is so thrilling about seeing chunks of ice falling into the water, but I can tell you without a doubt that it is very, very exciting. People would squeal and cheer. I think I even did once or twice.
It was hard to turn away and walk up, or down, the stairs for fear of missing something. The glacier would groan and crack and everyone would look to see if there was going to be another bit falling.


It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
Not only the glacier, but people´s reaction to it. It is heart warming to know that, in this day and age, people can still get excited about something like that.


It was impossible to undertand how large it was. It didn´t look that big until one of two things happened:
1. a bit of ice would break off and fall into the water. It took so long for the sound to reach us after the ice hit the water, you couldn´t help but know how large it is.
2. A boat would get close to view it. Here´s a picture with a boat near it. That is not a small little dingy...

Here are some facts for you:

Once we dragged ourselves away, we headed back to the main road, but stopped at this restaurant for lunch. What a view, and what food.

What a life!

Indi-Nella Jones and the trail of hell

We arrived in El Chalten at about 9 in the morning, to the sight of our first glacier.

We found a hostel, a trek and snacks all in record time. Then set off for one of the most beautiful walks I have ever been on.

The sceneray was just fantastic.

We headed for Lago Torre, which is a glacial lake with Glacier Torre streaming into it. The walk there is estimated to be 3hrs, which is pretty much exactly the time it took us. With a few breaks and photo stops.

We couldn´t make it to the glacier because you need a guide, a permit and the right equipment...

We refilled our water bottles with fresh glacier river water. (All the water in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is drinkable.)

Then we walked back. Aftter an hour, the trail headed off to the west and I decided, in my ?????? induced hystaria, that I would take this extra 2 hour trail. I said goodbye to Tara, who still had two hours of her own to finish, and headed off jauntily.

There are no pictures of the first hour of my detour because it was all, yes ALL, uphill.

Most of the second hour back to the main trail was stunning.

Then I was back on the main trail and I was still 2 hours away from town.

I nearly died.

My left hip was really sore and my feet were killing me (I don´t have the right shoes for this kind of walk.) I only managed to get back to town by jogging - yes you heard me jogging - the last half hour downhill. It was the only thing my hip could take.
Then I realised I still had a 15 minute walk through town to our hostel.

I limped into the hostel 20 minutes later feeling like I could lie down for a century.
So I did.
For an hour.

I have to say that I did not get much sympathy from Tara. She was, according to her, in almost as much pain as I was.
She was not, according to me in the same city, let alone ballpark.
But we were both limping slightly for a few days.

It was a kind of hell at the end, but everything before the pain was so worth it.
And funny enough, I now have a taste for trekking.

Ruta 40

when nell and i got to Bariloche, we looked at different options for getting down into Patagonia and exploring the glaciers. the plan was also to try and get to Ushuaia.

we ended up hiring a car. us girls are rather independent and we like to go our own places in our own time. we got 4500 kms included and took off for 9 days in our Volkswagen Gol (no thats not a typo) who we called Goody. his license plate was GDB - and in memory of our car in England called Bob .. Goody stood for Gooder den Bob.

The Patagonian countryside was both awesome and boring at the same time.

Large flat expanses that were almost desert - large red hills - flamingos ... I could imagine a herd of dinasours running across the long straight (and gravel) roads at any time.

we came across armadillos and horses as well as flamingos .. and sometimes whomever was driving just stopped for some amazing photo opportunities.

we crossed over into Chile just for a night as we knew we were not going to make it to Ushuaia. So Puerto Natales hosted us for just one evening. The next day we drove into the Torres del Paine National Park to have a look at the scenery. There was a lot of mist covering the mountains but we got to see the Milodon Cave. 200 metres deep !!

.. thats Nell in the photo on the right at the enterance to the cave.

in our 9 days away, we got to see alot of places and although we didnt make it the entire way south, we still did nearly 4500 km and this is what Goody looked like at the end of that trip ...