El Chaltén, Argentina

From El Calafate it was a pretty quick 3.5 hour bus ride up to El Chaltén, the village that marks the north end of Los Glaciares National Park and is known as the National Capital of Trekking in Argentina. Why? Well, walk in just about any direction from town and you are on the free trails to amazing views of the Andes, glaciers, rivers, lakes, and so much more. It's definitely the "high season" in Patagonia and even though we booked a long time ago, we were only able to get four nights in a place that met our needs/budget. No worries--we skipped school and made this a hiking/birthday celebration vacation! Given our bus timetables, we were actually able to work in five solid days of hiking along with ample rest. Our home base at El Chaltén Aparts was perfect--space for everyone, very comfy beds, fabulous shower for post-hike recovery, a small yet functional kitchen, a short walk to groceries, and the most amazing daily breakfast that was so big, it also provided our daily trail snacks! So how did we spend our time?

The area we focused on for hikes around El Chaltén.

Day 1: Check in, check out the grocery situation, hike! We opted for a short hike (6km round-trip) to Chorillo del Salto, a nearby waterfall. We were going to go to the "Condor View" hill, but we saw condors right from town so opted not to! The walk was hot and dusty as part of it was along the gravel road, but the waterfall was spectacular. It was also super crowded! This is definitely one of the stops for the day-tour buses so the crowd ebbs and flows if you just hang out. It was also a beautiful Sunday afternoon and many locals were there enjoying yerba mate. But the best part?  On the way back to town we saw a flock of Austral Conures (parakeets)! Frank has been wanting to see them in the wild and we finally did!

Just a nice afternoon at a waterfall, with a bonus bird sighting!

Day 2: Loma del Pliegue Tumbado. On the recommendation of our apartment host (who is also a mountain guide), we set out on the Loma del Pliegue Tumbado trail. The draw? Rather than being at the edge of Laguna Torre, this trail leads you to a viewpoint over the laguna more at the level of the mountains. It was labeled as a "hard" trail, 24km round-trip, and should take us 7-8 hours. It ended up being a hot, hard hike! There were a few nice, wooded sections, but most of the climb was done out in the open under the full sun. Add in tons of horse flies and uneven, rocky terrain, and it was definitely a tough one. Unfortunately, Cerro Torre remained covered in clouds the whole day, but Fitz Roy made some nice appearances! The best part of the trail was getting to see down into Laguna and Glacier Torre, with a clear view of where Frank and I hiked and did ice climbing on the glacier 16 years ago. The glacier is definitely smaller now, and it doesn't seem that they are doing the climbing there anymore, but it was still fun to show the kids how we made it through the valley from the viewpoint above. But oh, the heat and the flies! 

Not so easy on a hot day and Cerro Torre remained shrouded in that cloud to the left.

Day 3: Recovery/Birthday at Laguna Capri! After those first two hikes we laid out a plan for our remaining time and decided that we would sleep in, do a "moderate" hike, relax, and celebrate Frank! Our chosen hike was Laguna Capri, a beautiful lake that has great views of Fitz Roy when the weather cooperates, and we had a FABULOUS weather day! It was hot again, but the climb out of town on this trail is shaded in the woods so that helped. We opted for the full loop of Laguna Capri, putting us around 9km on the trail for the day, and also putting us face-to-face with another of Frank's target bird species, the Magellanic Woodpecker! We had such a great view of two stunning, red-headed males and a female and lingered for several minutes. It was a perfect birthday present for our guy! We found a peaceful spot on the shore of the lagoon to enjoy our lunch and then found a geocache in honor of Frank's mom on his birthday--she is a serious geocacher! We left the lagoon just as a large group showed up (this is also a usual day-tour trail) and enjoyed a fairly peaceful hike down. Then Frank and I enjoyed a beer at La Cervecería Chaltén which we are 99% certain is where we first connected with our guide, Pedro Fina, 16 years ago! (We happily learned from our host that Pedro is still in the area with his family!)

I really enjoyed this hike and celebrating Frank!

Day 4: The long loop--Río Eléctrico - Piedras Blancas - Fitz Roy view - Laguna Madre y Hija - Cerro Torre view. It took some time on the trails, some wine, and a trail map to figure out what Frank and I had done the last time we were here. We are pretty sure this is the path we followed, staying at Camps Poincenot and D'Agostini, but also doing the full treks to Laguna de los Tres and Laguna Torre. We opted to do the loop without those treks to the lagoons and ended up having a wonderful day with spectacular views and lots of good memories! We started out by getting a ride up to the Río Eléctrico bridge, 15km outside of town. We definitely remembered that bridge! The hike began along the Río Blanco valley, passing Laguna and Glaciar Piedras Blancas with great views of Cerro Fitz Roy. The second third of the hike took us south for a lunch with stunning views of Fitz Roy and then along the shores of Lagunas Madre y Hija. It was fun to visit this area with my hija! We chatted with a couple from Maryland along the way and saw more Magellanic Woodpeckers. As we approached the junction that would take us on the final third of the trail and back to town, we instead opted to head up toward Cerro Torre for a bit. The views continued to amaze us, but after getting distracted by a low-flying condor for a solid 10 minutes, we opted to take our tiring feet back down the trail and toward town. Besides, it was one of only two days a week that the Mexican restaurant is open and we needed our Mex fix! The trail back to town was rockier and harder than I expected, but it was probably just because we were tiring. 2/3 of the day's trails had been advertised as "moderate" and as we went over the 20km point I think we were all feeling it. 

Río Eléctrico to Laguna y Glaciar Piedras Blancas. 

Great views of Cerro Fitz Roy all morning led us to a nice lunch spot near the junction of the trails.

Madre y Hija!

Madre y Hija connector trail between Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre (and our first great view of Cerro Torre!).

Cerro Torre was simply stunning that day!

Day 5: Check out, hike, depart! We slept in, packed up, and slowly made our way back to Chorrillo del Salto for a lazy afternoon at the waterfall. We spent about two hours there having lunch, chilling our feet in the water, and watching the hordes of people come and go. It was super hot that day so we made our way back to town for ice cream, a little shopping, and finally settled in to La Vineria for drinks, dinner, and games before getting cleaned up and boarding our overnight, 24-hour bus.

One last trip to the waterfall!

Snacks, games, and our final look at Southern Patagonia from the bus.

This stop was almost all that the parents dreamed of, and was enjoyed by at least one kid! We definitely adjusted our plans as we went to account for the health and happiness of the crews. Did I want to hike the lagoons? Yes. Did I want a happy daughter? Also, yes!

At the risk of making this a ridiculously long post, the following are Katreina's reviews of the hikes we did. We showed her the funny U.S. National Parks reviews and sometimes would make them up for the trails we were on to try to lighten the mood. I am pleased to offer her contribution to the blog and really hope you enjoy it!

These hikes have been rated as if they are out of five stars--keep in mind I am not a huge fan of hikes. ~Katreina 

Chorrillo del Salto, 4/5: This hike was definitely not bad, very flat and a short hike (one hour). Once you find a good rock, it's very easy to spend hours looking at the waterfall. However, it's often busy with tour buses coming in and out, several people running around for photo ops and often times you end up staring at someone's arse instead of the waterfall. Not to mention for about 0.5km you are walking on the dusty road, which is very unpleasant with cars speeding by. This can all be looked over though once you have some quiet time with few people at the waterfall.

Loma del Pliegue Tumbado, 1/5: This hike is 12km going up for 4hrs to a lookout of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy. The entire hike is a gradual uphill, which got tiring after the first hour. Upon reaching the 3hr mark, we were able to see Fitz Roy from where we were, which was good enough for me (it was very pretty at this point).

BUT my loving family decided that we would keep going, there was a lake that we would see at the lookout, creating the perfect scene. Thus we moved up into fly hell. Horseflies were on us as if we WERE horses, I had had it. I was screaming every five seconds as one entered between by eyes and glasses. My parents asked if I want to go back, I said "I mean we've already seen it, I'm good." But we continued. There was a steep increase, my legs were dead and walking along a bunch of tiny rocks was horrible. We got to the viewpoint, seeing the lagoon, which I had hoped would look better considering the difficulty to get there. Overall, it was a nice view but it did to outweigh the flies, steepness, and rough terrain (near the end). 

Laguna Capri, 2/5: The hike wasn't bad, but there was a lot of uphill at the beginning. It's also one of the busiest trails, making it hard to maneuver around other people. The lake was very pretty, and we saw interesting birds along the way. However, what was really horrible about this trail was the amount of poop you find on the trail--human poop. When we got to the lake we found a nice little spot to have lunch, but the mood was ruined when right behind us we saw a large turd with toilet paper right next to it on a rock--needless to say, we moved. The amount of poop just ruined the vibe and even at lookouts it was hard to enjoy because right next to us we would find poo. The lake is beautiful, but it's ruined by those who pass by. 

Cerro Fitz Roy (Piedras Blancas to Torre trail), 3/5: This hike also wasn't too bad in terms of steepness, it was just long. We got to see Cerro Torre, which was pretty, along with Fitz Roy. However, the viewpoints I really likes (Mirador Piedras Blancas and just on the Cerro Torre trail) were either near the beginning or end of our hike. It's easy for a long hike, but it seems like I could've seen the same views in less than ~7hrs. That being said, there were less horseflies and poop (great success!).

We love you, kiddo, even if you don't love all the activities we do!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma (and apparently over-hiker to good views 😁)

El Calafate, Argentina

The next stop for us along our Patagonia adventure was El Calafate, a town (or at least an airport) we remembered from our previous travels yet almost immediately didn't recognize. Having arrived by bus, we opted for a taxi to our AirBnB since it was over a 20-minute walk away and learned from our driver that the town was four times bigger now than it was when we had previously visited! Seems that airport, which had been new when we were here last, really opened the area up to more tourism.

Our plan for El Calafate was simple--do school and see ICE! El Calafate is known as the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park and specifically, access to Perito Moreno, Spegazzini, and Upsala glaciers. There are other things to do in the area (estancias, a petrified forest, day trips to El Chaltén), but the glaciers are the main draw and you can see them from boats, catwalks, or treks onto the ice. And having fond memories of our previous trek on Perito Moreno, we booked the Mini-Trekking expedition for our family (there is another trek, Big Ice, but the kids were just shy of the age minimum for it)! The expedition began with a walk along the (very crowded) catwalks. This is a great feature of Perito Moreno, really letting people get up close to the face of glacier without a ton of physical effort. Our guide provided information about the lifecycle of the glacier and led us to the catwalks with views of the north face--the most active area of the glacier--where we saw several calving events! We ate lunch watching this spectacle and just listening to the creaking and cracking of the this massive, active, glacier. 

Perito Moreno Glacier, as viewed from the catwalks. Stunning!

From there, we headed to the port, boarded a catamaran, and sailed along the south face of the glacier on our way to the trekking portion. We hiked through the woods and along the beach for about an hour before arriving to the outfitting area where we were fitted with crampons and helmets. And then, we were off! Our guides led us over the glacier, around forming crevasses, through old crevasses, and up to a "peak" to get a good view. The kids loved it! And then we wound our way back down to happy hour! THIS is a part of the experience I definitely remember--whiskey on glacier rocks! The guides chipped away fresh ice and served up drinks and bon-a-bons (and I realized that THIS is where I first had one of those tasty little treats--love them!). While water was available, our entire crew had whiskey because, well, why not? How often in life will the kids really get the chance to sip whiskey over glacier ice? We wrapped up the experience with another hike through the woods, a return boat and bus trip, and our first night dining out in a while--pizza! What an amazing day. I'm just so thrilled that we could do this with our kids and even more thrilled that they really enjoyed it!

Trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier with the whole family was EPIC!

As for the rest of our time in El Calafate, it was mostly low-key. We walked around town, shopped various local grocery stores, watched lots of fútbol, went bird-watching along the lakefront (flamingos!), completed a puzzle at our AirBnB, and worked on school. But we also had an awesome surprise--we got to hang out with some of my former coworkers (fellow retired Navy METOC's and super world travelers!). Thanks to the joys of social media, my friend Amy and I realized they would be passing through town on their way to Antarctica while we were there so we made plans to meet up. Amy, her husband John, and our family passed a lovely evening at a local cerveceria catching up and swapping travel stories. It was great to meet up with familiar, like-minded people and the evening really filled my "happy" cup!

Hanging out around El Calafate was pretty fun! And we made a cute friend while bird-watching!

So happy that we got to spend time with Amy & John!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

It is not all planes, trains, and automobiles!

Planes, trains, and automobiles? More like buses, cabs, ferries, and feet! Since we started our land travel over four months ago we have used planes three times--when we first flew to Peru, to Santiago from the Atacama Desert, and to Puerto Natales from Santiago. We've rented a car once in the Atacama Desert. Otherwise, we have relied solely on buses (both local and long-haul), remís/taxis/Uber, and our own feet. Has it always gone smoothly? No! But we have learned a lot, collected plenty of "remember that one bus/taxi" stories, saved some money, traveled with the locals, and seen some amazing scenery. 

The planes, the one rental care, and that bus/van ride in the desert that we will ALL remember! 

Taxis aren't just for getting around town down here. In Peru, we took a two-hour taxi ride to Ollantaytambo, and another several hour ride back to Cusco that included a few hours touring some ruins while our driver hung out. And at less than $50 each those trips were a steal for our family! Even the smallest towns we've been in have taxis or remís (like a private taxi/chauffeur), but we don't use them much. We tend to take taxis/Uber anytime our stay is more than a 15-minute walk from the transportation terminal. We can each handle our backpacks just fine, but we (Frank) also carry a 15kg of school books--need I say more? Those rides usually only cost us around $5.

That cute bag has 15-16kg of books in it! Taxi drivers are always a little surprised! Our taxi experiences have all been pretty awesome so far.

Peru was definitely where we learned that long-haul bus schedules weren't to be trusted when it came to arrival times! Road work and traffic often had us arriving later than planned, but only once so far has a bus delay caused us to miss a connection and a night of booked accommodations and required me to cancel/buy bus tickets, book a hotel, change border crossing plans, and cancel/book a rental car! That one experience has led us to take our slow travel even slower, intentionally adding an overnight stay between bus connections rather than trusting a five-hour layover. This also gives us time in towns that we would have otherwise skipped (like Rio Gallegos, Argentina, where locals really liked hearing about where we were from and what we were doing in their town!). 

#buslife can sometimes mean a lot of traffic delays, patiently waiting for hours between buses, and getting coffee as soon as the cafe opens, but the crew is holding up well! Our rides have been a mix of boring, fun, and oh so memorable. #whatisthatsmell 

Peru is also where we learned about the seat options! While some short routes only have "classic" seats that recline a smidge, most routes we have been on have at least semi-cama (semi-bed) seats and the really nice ones are full cama (bed)! The semi-cama seats usually recline somewhere between 120 and 140 degrees and have some sort of footrest. The full cama recline a full 180 degrees with a footrest that extends the full bed even further! We have decided that full cama is pretty much always worth the extra money, and pretty much a requirement for any route over 12 hours. It's like you have your own little cocoon! And since I travel with an eye mask and earplugs, I have actually been enjoying these bus rides. We also get to see so much of the country, including lots of animals that some people pay for tours to go see (I mean, we have seen LOTS of llamas, alpaca, guanaco, and ñandu!).

While the semi-camas are fine (top), the full cama (bottom) has spoiled us!

We have crossed four international borders via bus so far and each was done a little differently based on the customs and immigration procedures, but one thing has been consistent--the bus drivers are PROS at moving people along and helping direct everyone (including international travelers) through the process. Sometimes they basically go to the counter, get a window cordoned off just for the bus, then we all skip a huge line of other people crossing. That's helpful! Our most recent border crossings in Patagonia added a new dimension--ferries! Twice we crossed the Strait of Magellan while riding a bus. The bus just drives onto the ferry and off we go! We can get off the bus and enjoy the fresh air during the crossing, too (really appreciated on the "hella hot" bus). And being boaters and having lived in Seattle, we always enjoy a ferry ride. 

"We're on a boat!" Crossing the Strait of Magellan via ferry at Bahia Azul.

While in Cusco we took the local bus quite a bit, but haven't really had a need to since then. I think that will change as we head to more cities in northern Argentina, so that will be fun to learn! You can also take "collectivos" in some towns, where a mini bus fills up with people and heads along a route. We actually used a collectivo for our border crossing between Peru and Chile and it worked out really well. 

And...we walk! Once we check in to a new place we head out and grab some food or groceries and get the lay of the land. Everywhere we have stayed has had a supermarket or bodega within a five minute walk. When we need something, we just go grab it! I love that there are so many small stores serving the communities so that the streets don't have to be full of cars heading off to big-box stores. Do they have those? In some places, yes, but they have so much more, too. Let's take our current place in El Calafate, Argentina as an example. The home is across the street from a park and two blocks off the main tourist street. Within a less than five-minute walk I can get to a grocery store, two different fruiteria/verdulerias, a panaderia, a school supply store, a sex toy shop, a hardware store, two barbers, a few pharmacies, a candy store, a health food store...and that's all without even stepping foot on the main tourist street that is full of shops and restaurants. 

Ok, it looks like a lot when piled on the ground together, but for four people it's not bad! When we make a move we each have our big backpack, at this point we each use a purse/daypack for "other" stuff, we have a computer bag, Frank carries the book bag, and I usually have a bag that we use for our lunch/food for the journey. As crazy as it seems, we are some of the lightest-loaded tourists we see!

I guess there is one other way we get around and that's tourist transportation. When we've booked tours (like Rainbow Mountain, the Inca Trail, Nazca flight, penguin tours, etc.) we've either been picked up at our lodgings or at a meeting point and taken buses/boats to the sites. Some places won't pick you up from an AirBnB so we just walk to the nearest hotel, but otherwise all of the tour pickups have been easy since we are usually staying right in town. 

Ok, I think that covers the "how the heck are they getting around South America" question! But if I've left something out, just leave us a comment or hit me up on Instagram and I'll get back to you!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

El Fin Del Mundo--Ushuaia, Argentina

We executed our second border crossing via bus (which included a ferry ride across the Strait of Magellan) and successfully landed at "El Fin Del Mundo," Ushuaia, Argentina. This is our first time in Tierra del Fuego so we were all pretty excited. Why did we come here, the main departure point for cruises to Antarctica, if we weren't taking a cruise to Antarctica? Because...why not?!?! Tierra del Fuego is known for its natural beauty and fantastic hiking, and we thought it would be neat to spend New Year's as far south as you can go in South America (ok, you can go the wilderness a little further south in Chile, or visit Puerto Williams, Chile, but Ushuaia is regarded as the southernmost city in the world!). 

Ushuaia (oosh-why-ah)! Love the spring flowers here!

After a 10-hour bus ride we arrived around 7pm and settled into our AirBnB, giddy with joy at our view of Beagle Channel! Looking for an easy evening, we stumbled upon Cerveceria Grut '84 and had a great night of games, beers, and delicious food! The next day we settled into life--school, groceries, laundry--and were treated to a stunning rainbow over the channel. It really lifted my spirits!

My super perky crew handled the border crossing and long ride in a semi-coma (almost lie-flat) seat well! A stunning view of the Beagle Channel and a cerveceria at the end of the ride certainly helps...

My AirBnB selection was highly influenced by this balcony and the views of the Beagle Channel from it! We got to see several stunning rainbows during out stay.

We skipped school for a day, hopped on the local shuttle, and headed to Tierra del Fuego National Park. We started our day of hiking at the old Post Office, hiked for three hours along the Beagle Channel and through the woods, and had lunch at the visitor center. We hiked a little past the center for a great view our bus driver had told us about before heading down trails #1 & #3 to Bahía Lapataia. We had a spell of rainy/windy weather while we were on trail #1 and realizing we were approaching six hours of hiking, we opted to catch the shuttle back to town. It was so great that Frank and I went back again the next day while the kids did school so that we could do trails #4, #5, and #6, as well as do #1 again. That second day was very leisurely and we arrived back at the visitor center as the weather deteriorated. We visited the interpretive display inside the center before settling in by the fire with some beers to wait for the shuttle. Talk about a nice couple of days walking in the woods! 

Hiking at the End of the World is magical!

A few tips on TDFNP:

• You can get there via rental car, local shuttle, taxi, or a tour. We opted for the shuttle as there were multiple pickup times and locations which gave us flexibility with our return. There is no cell coverage in the park so if you taxi, you have to arrange a pickup location and time. The trails are really well marked and we don't like big groups, so we did not do a tour. Guides are probably awesome, but the visitor center gives lots of information about the flora, fauna, and history and we don't feel like we missed out.
• You can buy a two-day ticket that gives you 50% off for your second day. I'd highly recommend this if you have time in your schedule as there are plenty of trails to keep you busy.
• There is a restaurant in the visitor center if you don't want to pack in your own food. We didn't see any picnic tables/shelters on the trails we were on or at the visitor center, and you can't bring your own food into the restaurant tables. If it's raining, your best bet is to find a semi-protected area in the woods (or hang out in the vestibule of the visitor center, which is what we did briefly to enjoy our sandwiches). 
• If cruise ships are in town the more popular spots near the parking areas can be crazy or the visitor center can be packed. This happened on our second day--all of the restaurant tables were reserved for a Disney cruise and they came all at once! Any non-cruise diner was relegated to some cramped tables in a loft that had no view. We lucked out and eventually found some seats on the lower level in a little lounge room, but the crush of people was shocking after our peaceful hike!
• You can camp in the park! We didn't have a car or gear, but I would totally go for that option if I did. It's majestic.

Parents' Day Out! I think all parents should escape like this every once in a while. We had a peaceful day, a nice lunch on the water, and adult beverages by the fire. Ahhhh....

Our NYE dinner plans didn't exactly pan out, but we found empanadas, chips, and wine so it worked out! Local NYE action consisted of some air-raid sirens from the naval base and some ships in the harbor blowing their horns. We toasted, kissed, and were off to bed! New Year's Day we were back at school, but Frank and I walked the waterfront during a strangely wind-free period of the morning. The boys and I were going to head to Martial Glacier in the afternoon, but apparently most of the taxis are off for the holiday so we scrapped that plan and turned it into an afternoon/evening of relaxing and games. All good!

We also decided to splurge on another penguin excursion and it was totally worth it! This time we boarded a bus in a dreary, windy downpour and headed out to the Haberton Estate (the first Argentinian estancia in Patagonia back in the late 1800's). The rain had mostly stopped as we boarded a covered 400hp RHIB boat and zipped (ok, pounded into the waves) across the Beagle Channel for 20 minutes to arrive at the rookery on Martillo Island. This experience was somehow smaller and more intimate than the one we did on Magdalena Island in Punta Arenas (though we would still recommend that one, too). We again saw tons of Magellanic penguins (and their downy chicks!), but also saw a colony of Gentoo penguins! And the real treat? A pair of King penguins that found their way to the island six years ago and have been trying to establish themselves there (one egg last year, but the chick didn't make it). So amazing and despite the daily visitors these penguins just don't seem to care that you're there and walk all around you. We saw them walking, swimming, preening, mating, snoozing...loved it all!

A Beagle Channel boat ride AND PENGUINS! Can't believe we got to see a pair of King Penguins and we loved the Gentoo penguins and their unique, rocky nests!

There really is plenty to do in Ushuaia. Even with a week here we aren't hitting all the attractions because we have school and like to take things slow, but we did hit the Prison/Maritime Museum (Ushuaia was originally a penal colony) and hiked up to Martial Glacier.

We had snow and crazy winds (maybe 70kmph?) to get there, but it was worth it! The weather cleared as we approached the glacier and we had a fantastic view of Ushuaia below us! 

Being in Patagonia for over a month now has given us many opportunities to learn about the natives of the area and how explorers and missionaries "helped" the native Tehuelchans to extinction. Just as Peru reminded us of our nation's history with our natives, so has Patagonia. While we can't change it, we can recognize the atrocities, learn from them, and work to preserve the memory, beliefs, and even skills of the native cultures. For my part, I will continue to tell the story of "Lehe Paine" and the Tehuelche language that inspired it.

~Jo, Nomadic Momma