North to Chalten, Argentina then South to go North to Chiloe

Kara got to see her ugly little midget Panguins

Lago Torro, Chalten Argentina (patagonia)

view from our campsite in Chalten

On our way to Chalten

Lago Torro, Chalten Argentina, Patagonia

Galen- Here is a small video clip from our hike in Chalten, a glacier park in Argentina. i managed to haul myself up the 4hr trail with the help of some hiking poles, I don´t think those poles will ever be the same again. The hike up there was amazing. The first 30 minutes was a little steep but soon we crested onto a ridge which overlooked the valley below which was divided by another ridge that we would have to pass over about a mile away. There was a total of three of these valleys and each one was very different from the next. Unfortunately that was my last hike for a while.

Long story short we went to leave Chalten to go 36hrs North, only to be bounced between two travel agencies. At first it went from waiting a few hours to a day then next thing we knew, it would be a week before we could leave.New arrangements needed to be made! Our final destination would be Chiloe (an island in Chile). Option A) Take a 36 hr bus on a horrific dirt road north to Bariloche and then take another 16hr bus to our destination, OR, go back south the way we came 8hr plus another 3hr bus ride to Punta Arenas (one of the most southern cities in South America) then take a 2hr flight to Puerto Montt, the gateway to Chiloe, and save in the end around 50 bucks and 3 days. Much to karas dismay (she hates backtracking) we took the flight. My only bargaining tool was she would get to see these ugly little penguins. Well, we took the flight but we didnt realize that the penguin trip took 5 hrs and we only would have 3hrs before our flight....Ooops.

So we finally arrived in Chiloé, which is a beautiful little island about 3/4 the way down the coast of Chile. In my opinion is has been one of the most cultural experiences that we have had yet. The island is 118 miles long and about 41 miles wide. Kara and i took a bus to the middle of the island to a town called Castro where we made our base. From there we took day trips all over the island to small fishing villages. Each one was unique in itself, but the whole island had churches that were especially interesting. They where untouched, with original paintings that hung to the ceiling cracked and chipped, while the outside was weather beaten and stained by the sun.
Kara and i enjoyed our daily dosage of seafood. We ate crab, various fishes, shell fish and Mussles that were bigger then my had, I kid you not!

And, Yes Chiloe also had Penguins which, yes kara dragged me out to. These little critters stand about 18 inches high and as far as i´m concerned do nothing but feed the sharks. The two most amusing parts of this little excursion was after kara had talked with a travel guide who connected us with a boat captain. We hired a taxi and Kara and I got in the car with our captain and the travel guide. About 45 minutes later once at the coast we had to cross a river to get to the beach which dragged our taxi further down river stream then we went across. We were dropped off at a boat only to see our guide and captain drive away down the beach not to be seen again. A little man came running up to us with life jackets and rushed us out to a boat that we hopped on and started our tour. I must admit i wasn´t all that excited about paying the fair of two other people only to see some fat little flightless birds but it soon all became worth it. Kara was having the time of her life pointing and laughing at all these little penguins marching in a long row down to the waters edge when all of a sudden a massive wave leaped from the ocean and pummeled the little guys unexpectantly. I watched in total fasination as they where flung like bowling pins. As the way receeded a dozen or so heads popped to the surface in utter panic.

The next blog will start with Puerto Varas

Hope all are well