The Carretera Austral – Part 2

The Carretera Austral – Part 2

The northern stretch of the Carretera Austral continues to be very scenic with green forests, rivers, lakes and snow-capped mountains. One has to be careful not to become blasé about it all! From where we left you in Part 1 (Queulat National Park) we headed north towards the finish of the Carretera at Puerte Montt. We visited Villa Santa Lucia […]

The Carretera Austral – Part 1

The Carretera Austral – Part 1

Have you ever heard of the Carretera Austral? Don’t worry, nor had we.  Completed in 1996 after 20 years of construction, at the behest of General Pinochet, it connects the remote Southern Chilean settlements (formally only reachable by plane or boat) to the rest of Chile.  Unfortunately, the mountainous terrain beat the engineers and the Carretera Austral ends at Villa […]

Portal La Ascensión and Ruta 41

Portal La Ascensión and Ruta 41

From Portal Cañadón Pinturas we visited Perito Moreno.  It’s a nice little town with some interesting shops.  We bought cherries (it was the season), groceries, and a very nice lemon drizzle cake! Suitably equipped we drove to Portal La Ascensión National Park and camped at their excellent free campsite.  The next day we hiked 26km up to a remote lake […]

Parque Nacional Perito Moreno

Parque Nacional Perito Moreno

From El Chaltén, we headed north on the famous Argentine Ruta 40, leaving the tourists behind us – this is now overlanding territory!  Our next stop, after topping up our diesel, water and shopping in Gobernador Gregores, was the Parque Nacional Perito Moreno.  We were debating whether to visit this park as it involved a 180km return trip down a […]

Torres del Paine, Patagonia

Torres del Paine, Patagonia

Just north of Tierra Del Fuego, the Torres del Paine National Park is at the southern end of the Chilean mainland.  It is a magnificent park comprising mountains (the start of the Andes), lakes, of differing colours, and glaciers.  We stayed here for seven days over the Christmas period and we were very lucky with the weather: plenty of sunshine […]

Antarctica – Our Seventh Continent!

Antarctica – Our Seventh Continent!

There are not enough superlatives to describe our ten day trip to Antarctica. But I will do my best to describe our exploration of the Antarctic peninsula, journeying to a latitude of 65 degrees south on our planet earth. We embarked on our ship, the Ocean Victory, a purpose-built expedition and ice strengthened vessel, on Friday 7th December, and, after […]

Driving to the End of the World

Driving to the End of the World

Our Route South We were warned that the long drive down Ruta 3, along the eastern coast of Argentina from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, a distance of 6292km, would be long and tedious; highlights being the YPF garages with their coffee and stale croissants. It was anything but; the croissants weren’t stale! And it was so much fun, that we’ve […]