We took a bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate, crossing the border from Chile into Argentina.

El Calafate sits on Lago Argentino, the biggest lake in the country. We travelled here to see the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, and in particular the amazing Perito Moreno glacier.

The Perito Moreno glacier, named after an 19th Argentine explorer and scientist, is 30km long. It advances at around 2m per day and its 75 metre high ice walls regularly collapse into Lago Argentino, producing amazing sights and sounds.

After boggling at the glacier from a nearby viewing platform for a while we took a boat trip on the lake along the front of the glacier. Later that day we donned crampons and had a guided walk on the glacier, which concluded with a glass of Jameson whisky - on the rocks of course.

Twice previously I've done some horse riding. Once in Costa Rica, which was excellent, and once in France, where flatulent disobedient horses dragged me and my family through a series of spiky bushes. Despite Steph's misgivings we decided to give it a go in Argentina having heard good thing about it from friends.

We were picked up by our gaucho guide, Luciano, and driven into the Glaciares national park. There we mounted two trusty steeds and set off, following Luciano over the Patagonian steppe. Being on horse back was a fantastic way to appreciate the scenery. We were in a stunning landscape of glaciers, valleys and mountains. We saw 8,000 year old rock paintings of Guanaco and Puma and we were flown over by a family of condors. Best of all, lunch consisted of barbecued steak and some very good Argentinian red wine. We trotted home very contented.

That evening we took a short walk from our hostel to a lake-side nature reserve. We got some great views of flamingos and other birds. The sky turned beautiful shades pink and gold as the sun set.

~Chris