Sheila writes: Wow!.....we went to see the famous Perito Moreno glacier today. It's the most amazing sight you'll see - walkways criss cross the hillside right in front of the glacier snout - and you can see the 60m high face of the glacier really close to. It's not the biggest glacier in Los Glacieres National Park but it is by far the most interesting. It is still advancing, while nearly all the glaciers in the world are retreating (melting faster than they ar...

Clare writes: We had a pleasant Sunday in Puerto Natales (blue skies and sunshine followed early snow) walking along the shores of the Ultima Esperanza sound (Last Hope Sound) accompanied by many of the dogs of the neighbourhood. Surprised to see flamingos freezing their toes alongside the local white swans with black necks. I meant to say that on the way to Puerto Natales it felt like we were on a bus to the end of the world - bleak frosted landscapes beyond ...

Sheila writes: We're staying at Puerto Natales (about 200km north of Punta Arenas) just now and we went to Torres del Paine National Park yesterday. There was fresh snow and everything was white but low cloud and freezing fog in places meant that we got mixed views of the torres themselves (three 2000m tall stone columns that the first (British, female) explorer called Cleopatra's needles). On the other hand we got fantastic views of the Horneos del Paine - part...

Clare writes:Tonight we're not quite at the end of the world, but as close as either of us have been. Punta Arenas is still a few hundred km from the southernmost town in the world (Ushiaia) but we're on the banks of the Magellan Straight within sight of Tierre del Fuego... even our hostel's called El Fin del Mundo (the end of the world).We took a flight down here - 2000km or more - to save stress and time (but, obviously not money!) but frstratingly didn't get a...

Clare writes: Whew! It's wierd to be in Chile! Chile! Wierder still to arrived here about four hours before we left New Zealand. That's the International Date Line for you! I'll bet it's still last Tuesday somewhere out there... or did I say that already? Arriving in Santiago from the air we saw layers of mountains seperated by mist or cloud like tissue paper between all laid out for us, and beyond the local mountains the snow-capped peaks of the Andes. The ...