Wilderness in South America

Situated way down south on the Southern Patagonian Ice Field is the village of El Chaltén popular amongst hikers, campers and adventurers as a gateway to the Los Glaciares National Park. Stopping in at the ranger’s station close to the entrance of town, visitors can obtain a photocopied map of the national park and venture out by themselves on a number of day trip and overnight hiking trails. Don’t let the photocopied map on an A4 piece of paper discourage you as the trails are well marked and most lead to the same spot at the camp close to Mt. Fitz Roy. The mountain is the tallest in the area, standing at 3,375 m which is small by South American standard’s. It does however create a challenging walk for climbers taking the windy route to the glacial pool situated at the base of the mountain.

Braving the cold environment and the bitter wind of Southern Patagonia, the small town known as El Calafate is named after the small purple, edible berry found in the region. It is popular amongst hikers, walkers and four-wheel-drive enthusiasts (evident by the large amount of Land Rover Defenders) and due to its vicinity with the southern Andes, people flock to El Calafate to catch a glimpse of the giant Perito Moreno Glacier, which is one of the most active and accessible glaciers in the world. Fragments of the glacier brake off every hour creating a thunder through the valley and a popular sight with tourists standing at the ready with cameras rolling. The boardwalk system devised by the Argentines is first class allowing visitors to see the whole leading edge of the glacier from the safety of the opposing hillside.

Torres del Paine National Park covers approximately 180,000 acres, and one can easily spend 2-3 days in the park. The area is beautiful and very varied with mountains, glaciers, forests, beautiful ice blue lakes and is covered with fire bushes with bright red flowers. A number of mammals live there, for instance several fox species, guanacos (a llama species), huemuls (a deer species) and pumas - the latter very rarely. It is also here that the mountain range Torres del Paine is located, and when trekking to the higher peaks, it can be a challenge to stand firm on the hillside, where you encounter the wild winds of Patagonia.