Puerto Madryn ( Argentina) 29 to 31 October 2004 >Map 4

At complete change was needed so we headed down (18 hour bus trip) to the seaside town of Puerto Mydren for some whale watching action. Lots of whales, sea lions and penguins were ticked off the viewing list and a good time was had.

Rio Gallegos (Argentina) 1 November 2004
19 hour bus trip later - we landed in Rio Gallegos, we were looking to go as far south as possible and with time against us this was as far as we went ...check the map - it's quite far down south!). Got straight on another bus (4hours) and landed in my favourite place so far - El Calafate.

 El Calafate (Argentina) 1 November 2004
How we imagine Canadian Rockies to look like, amazing glacier, massive
Here we did a day trip to a massive glacier and at the end of the day took a boat trip in front of it, sipping on whiskey cooled with ice cut from the glacier itself.

Bariloche ( Argentina) 6 to 11 November 2004
A lovely lakeside town, stunning sunsets, picnics by the river, an overall 'Swiss' feel to the place.

Next day was spent sorting out how to leave El Calafate - I'll get to that in a bit. The day after we spent the day at Torres Del Paine National Park - one of the best days so far (aside from 4 hour mini bus trips there & back) - glaciers, bright blue lakes & snow capped mountains. Breath taking is a phrase that is well used...but true of this place.

We got back around 10pm & after a meal & 5 hour hanging around we got the 3am (yes, 3 A bloody M) bus back to Rio Gallegos - the only way to get up to where we are now - Bariloche. After another very long bus journey from there(28 hours ) we landed in Bariloche yesterday afternoon. It's the home of Argentina chocolate & our hostel looks out across a massive lake.

Santiago (Chile) 11 to 13 November 2004
A dirty city, but best Hostel of the trip 'Happy House' last evening spent in restaurant styled like a ship an interesting end to a great continent.

We're spending a few days here before heading to another big city, Santiago & our plane out to New Zealand. I'll write again from there.

To sum up (as all good essays should) South America has been two months of a very varied good time. Hope New Zealand lives up to the hype...