The bleached trees poked out of the ground like crooked matchsticks, cluttering the land, like unfinished business. We were speeding across the semi-cleared scrubland beyond Puerto Natales, the landscape a drab olive green carpet rolling away to low mountain ranges in the distance, wild thatches of lupine flowers in vivid shades of pink and violet along the roadside providing the only contrast. And large corporate sheep station estancias appeared as we turned s...

She looked down upon us like a malevolent runner up in a beauty pageant - complete with baton and sash, beautiful teeth and perfectly coiffed mane. It was only a poster, but still unnerving, for this was El President, Cristina Kirchner, who in unique circumstances succeeded her husband in 2007 as the country's leader. Now ranking amongst the worlds most powerful and wealthy women, her record at the least is dubious, with some shonky economic practices, appointm...

It felt like we had stumbled onto the set of a Western movie as we tracked along the dead straight stretches of highway dividing the rift valleys between El Chalten and El Calafate. These were prairie lands, bone dry apart from the tussocks of grass and weed that clung on grimly in the windblown gravel. And the colour had drained from the landscape too, as if turned it on its side and righted it at the last minute - grey brown, drab olive green and a pale, pale ...

Hostel El Mosco was welcome relief from the last few days of relentless and somewhat unpredictable travel. From the outside it had the look and feel of a basic estancia log cabin (think wagon wheels, rusted farm equipment, discarded gaucho gear), but inside it was well equipped, warm and cozy. Operated by a live in family (señorita-mother and young son) and a French eco-maiden it also had a homely woman's touch and some local panache with avant garde art works ...

The trip so far has been nothing short of expectations.Our trek back from the refuggio in El Bolson was easily the most physically demanding task I've ever completed.Even 5 days since we completed it, it is still fresh in my mind, espcially now with a similar walk on the horizon. We set out expecting a walk the same length as what we had originally covered (which in it self was difficult but i felt up to the second time round).However, mid way through scaling a ...