From Paine to BA

So it´s been nearly a month and a head once full from stories is now tired and forgetful.

Let´s sum things up.

Torres del Paine, Chile. We trekked from February 10 until the 18th and were meant to do the Q or at least the entire circuit. We ended up completing the less worthy W trek in 8 days (It´s meant to only take 4). We took our time, enjoying the various refugios offering expensive wine and bread with peanut butter and jelly. It rained for most of our trek and eventually the rain defeated us and our tent. Many of the treks were shut down and our stove decided to break on us. I often wondered why I was bothering with it all, but only had to look up to see the snow capped mountains. My constant reminder of how magnificent and diverse the south of Chile is. We tested our bodies with 20 km daily hikes, uphill, with 90 km wind (almost hurricane worthy), snow, hail, wet boots, sore backs and an endless supply of powdered soups. Disgusting. So yah, the several refugios along the way provided shelter from the storm where we met wonderful friends including two girls from Scotland who cried looking out the window wondering why they flew to the bottom of the world only to end up back home.

We also checked out the Banff Mountain film fest and watched base jumpers, solo climbers and alpinists risking their lives for the love of it all. We felt good being Canadian those 2 days and learned to stop whining about a little rain....

Our last few days actually were sunny and we did some pirate camping in the puma patrolled valleys before heading back to Puerto Natales for a few days of rest and an all you can eat steak dinner complete with free cake from a birthday girl and 2 bottles of wine!

In Natales we stayed at our favourite hostel. Our home away from home run by 3 generations of Chilean women. It was heartbreaking saying goodbye after spending a week with this family who opened their doors and hearts to us and made us feel more than welcome. When I find their website I´ll post it for you (in case you ever make the long journey to Patagonia).

Our lazy days continued into Punta Arenas, a 3 hour bus ride south of Natales. We took it easy here, doing laundry and watching penguins shed their coats on Isla Magdalena on the strait of Magallen. There were at least 200 000 of them and they were adorable! Serra, I tried to steal one for you but I would have been thrown in jail if caught!

Continuing our journey we ended up in Ushaia, yet another sleepy port town, but this time in Argentina. Ushaia claims to be the last city before Antartica, but it´s a big lie as there is another town south. The tourists still flock to this mini disney for expensive cruises to the south pole and tacky seafood restaurants. We did manage to find a decent place to eat with historical newspapers glued to the walls. Prisoners were sent to Ushaia, once a town of 500 and now booming! We saw a movie here, met a cool Peruvian and did a couple of hikes in the mountains. By the end I couldn´t wait to get out!

I took a flight March 1st to Buenos Aires, and now here, I must say that this city is awesome!!!

But I´ll save those stories for another day....

Hope this finds you happy and well! Lots of love,
Emily

ps. Jon decided to tag along to Buenos Aires and is leaving in a few days for Santiago and Canada.