Introduction

Where the heck is Patagonia?  It is not a country unto itself but rather it's the southern part of both Argentina and Chile.  It is roughly between the latitudes of 39 and 55 degrees south.  We will be flying into Argentina (Buenos Aires) and home from Chile (Santiago).  The weather will range from hot (high 20s/low 30s) in Buenos Aires and Santiago to quite cool, wet & windy for the hiking portions in Patagonia.  The scenery in Patagonia is allegedly staggeringly beautiful.  We can only hope to see some of it given the notorious weather in the region.

I'm going with a group of friends from Calgary & Canmore although we will not always be together.  Our group size is 7, but the largest group size I will be with at one time is 6 and the smallest is 2.  Five of us will fly down together.

Our first week will be sightseeing in Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls.  Iguazu Falls is a series of waterfalls on the border of Argentina and Brazil.  Together, they make up the largest waterfall in the world.

Then we fly south to Patagonia.  Our first stop is El Calafate, then by bus to El Chalten.  We will have about 4 days of day-hiking in El Chalten before returning to El Calafate to see the Moreno Glacier.

We'll take a bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales where we will meet our representative from Patagonia Hero.  That is the company that we booked our "O-Circuit" hike through.  It will be a 10-day self-guided hike that is supposed to be stunningly gorgeous (although the weather can be challenging).  We have booked refugios or tents for each night so we will not have to carry our sleeping gear.  Also - food is provided at each stop along the way so that will also help to keep the weight down.

Once we've finished the trek four of us will head to Punta Arenas for a few days.  One will depart from there to an Antarctic cruise and one will fly home.  Two of us will return to Puerto Natales and board a ship for a 3-day ferry ride north to Puerto Montt.  It seems that seasickness is guaranteed; it's a matter of degree.  We will spend about 4 days in the Puerto Montt/Puerto Varas area and reconnect there with another of our travellers.

Then we fly north to Santiago to rendezvous with our Antarctic explorer and check out Santiago for a few days.  Finally, the four of us head home on March 1st.  There went 6 weeks...............