Patagonia

Torres del Paine - Chile's most spectacular national park, featuring towering peaks, huge glaciers, crystal clear lakes and cascading rivers. The Torres Circuit offers an ideal hiking route through the most scenic areas of the park, with some spectacular sidetrips up to breathtaking viewpoints (see photo left). But once again, the weather was the limiting factor and heavy rains, strong winds and cold temperatures cut our visit a couple of days short. Gladly, there are several hostel-like shelters throughout the Torres del Paine National Park, where we waited out some of the wetter days playing cards beside a warm stove!

The Moreno Glacier - One of Mother Nature's most incredible performances. As the massive southern icefield slowly advances forward, huge chunks of the Moreno Glacier calve off into the lake (Lago Argentina) every few minutes with a tidal-wave inducing splash!
The tiny tourist town of El Calafate is a perfect headquarters to explore this amazing area. The Albergue des Glaciers youth hostel and restaurant in El Calafate are both highly recommended.

Cerro Fitzroy - a wet, rugged hike to the base of the tallest peak in the Southern Patagonian Andes. At 3441m Cerro Fitzroy's pinnacled ridge occasionally peeks through the clouds. We hiked in heavy rain and strong winds, literally wading through some of the trail on our way back down to El Chalten - a quaint little town in the valley below the Fitzroy Range.

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