I awoke all tense, time was slipping away and being trapped for ages didn't help. I had to make a decision on our route in light of the issues in Chile. I checked the forum news that travellers had set up, info here is propaganda free. Good news there had been a deal and the barricades were being removed.

The original plan was viable again, it also meant that we could visit Torres de Paine one of the must do's down here. Lots of planning, booking and painful spending followed.

With the vital stuff sorted we had a little potter in the direction of Lago Argentino. It was on the other side of a nature reserve which had an admission cost of 15 pesos each (3£). This was enough to turn most people away and those that did go in had a moan to us about the cost.

There were two lagoons surrounded by masses of daiseys and interesting grasses. The main focus as it was a nature reserve was the bird life. We were a bit birded out but it offered the closest encounters with flamingos we have had anywhere. There were also birds of prey and loads of different types of ducks.

For me however it was the lake on the other side that I wanted to have a good look at. Being surrounded and fed by glaciers it had an amazing turquoise colour that would give the Bahamas a run for it's money. However this lake had sand dunes and snow capped mountains behind.

Back at the room we had a siesta for 3hrs something that is very rare for me. The evening consisted of feeding ourselves at a creperie and drinking half a bottle of wine that was left in the room (before it was cleaned).

A useful and pleasant day.