Just a quick one to update on the past few days spent the furthest south we have ever been…….Patagonia! At the beginning of our travels (feels like so long ago now) we had planned to go to southern Chile to Patagonia however we did not realise that it was in hibernation due to it being so cold! It was high on our to do list to trek the Perito Moreno Glacier in the Argentinian side of Patagonia however the season for this starts in mid-September. We managed to find a cheap(ish) deal for a return flight from Lima to Punta Arenas which we could then transfer to El Calafate in Argentina just in time for when the trek starts. After a looooooong transfer, we finally arrived in El Calafate and to our surprise it wasn't quite as cold as we expected, especially as we were so close to the Arctic Circle.

Patagonia is an amazing place, the scenery is brilliant, all the towns are surrounded by snow-capped mountains and clear blue lakes and floating icebergs. Beautiful, and the sun was shining! We swiftly booked up the "Big Ice Trek", Lucky we did as there were only 5 spaces left. We were picked up at 7am for the 80km drive to the beginning of the glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier is 250km2 and 30km in length……it is one of the most easily accessible glaciers in the world and is famous for being one of the few glaciers in the world which has not been receding (No comments on Lewis' Hairline please). The glacier also produces a phenomenon known as the "breaking". When first approaching the glacier the view is amazing, it has jagged ice peaks that are bright blue in colour. We stopped off at first to explore the balconies surrounding the glacier….from the moment we got there you could hear the rumbling of the glacier which was the breaking phenomenon taking place, it was so loud it sounded like thunder. We didn't actually see any parts breaking away but you could certainly hear it! From here we took a boat across the arctic lake to disembark on the western shore. We walked for about 45 minutes along the terrain to reach the middle side of the glacier where we put on out crampons to start the trek on the ice. The tour guide put my crampons on so bloody tight I was already having difficulty walking, let alone for 4 more hours on the ice……but luckily the pain got more bearable as I lost all circulation to my feet so onwards we stomped! Oh, and apparently my Topshop coat was not "appropriate" for the trek, so I was provided a nice big blue one! During the trek we walked past many unbelievable blue lagoons, deep crevasses, external drains and caves…..all right in the middle of the Glacier. The weather was a bit unpredictable, one minute it was sunny, the next raining and towards the end a bitter wind! After stopping for lunch on the ice, we made our way back to the beginning of the Glacier.

The actual glacier was pretty impressive, and yet again the pictures do not do it justice to appreciate the size and colours….however we were a little disappointed with the trek itself. For one, our guides were incredibly boring, and secondly we thought we would be climbing in between cracks, into caves etc like we had done previously for the Franz Josef glacier in new Zealand…..(quite the pro's now!), but all in all it was a great experience, and definitely a spectacular sight to see!

Bec's and Terry were also in Patagonia and arrived in El Calafate so we arranged to stay in the same hostel and enjoy some belated celebrations for bec's birthday! A few drinks, windy picnic round the lake, followed by the boys cooking us all birthday steak and a cheeky trip to the casino to lose a couple of days of our daily budget money! Good times!

One bus journey, two flights, 10hour stopover at the airport sleeping on the floor, another flight and we have finally arrived in Ecuador for our next adventure to begin tomorrow….THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! Very excited about this!!!!

Will update about this trip when we get back from the islands next week, speak to you soon!

xxxxxxxxxxxx