Day 1. Arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Days 2 and 3 were spent exploring the city |
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La Boca |
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The "Pink House", their capital |
San Telmo street festival |
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Day 4. Flew 1800 miles to Tierra del Fuego(Land of Fire) and the city of Ushuaia |
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The view from above Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. |
Day 5. Began with a ride through the countryside |
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A Flag Tree - Shaped by the harsh winds |
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Sea Mammal museum staffed by marine biology college students |
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Sun bleaching the bones |
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Lunch on the Harberton Ranch |
Then it's off to the Penguin rookery on Martillo Island |
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Hiking on Gable Island |
Rest break |
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Three of our guides |
View across the Beagle Channel |
Day 6. Tierra Del Fuego National Park |
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The wine made the hiking much more enjoyable! |
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A very steep climb |
An uninvited guest |
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Day 7 -a.m. Boat tour and hiking the islands in the Beagle Channel |
Ushuaia with the Martial Glacier above |
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Los Lobos - "Sea Wolves" (Sea Lions to us) |
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A guide pointing out unusual plant life on an island |
Last view of Tierra del Fuego, then off to the airport for a flight to El Califate |
Day 7 - p.m. Arrive at Alta Vista which means "High View" |
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Day 8. Full day at Los Glaciares National Park and the Perito Moreno Glacier |
The face of the glacier is over 200 feet high |
"Calving" up close |
The big splash |
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Mimi donning ice crampons for the hike onto the glacier |
Our mini-trek |
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Note the line of hikers on the glacier in far right |
Day 9. Wake at 5am, ride to town(1hr), 7am bus ride(2hr) to Chilean border, van ride to Park(2hr) |
Rheas along the road |
Argentinian Gaucho with his herd at the Chile / Argentina border |
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The "macho guanaco" |
Torres Del Paine National Park |
Hosteria Las Torres |
View from the dining room |
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The vans had less than 1 1/2 inches clearance on each side of the only bridge in/out |
Day 10. Boat ride to our hiking area on the far side of the park |
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Our hiking companions for the day |
Small icebergs floating downstream |
Gray Glacier in the background |
Noah contemplating the solitude |
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Well deserved rest break |
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The "endless" hiking trails |
walking into the clouds |
A Refugio or waystation |
Hikers can sleep here or grab a quick bite to eat |
The view out front |
The ride back |
Three weary hikers |
Day 11. Hike to Los Torres (The Towers) |
One of many bridges crossing the small streams |
Most were just wooden planks |
After over 3 hours of hiking, one "small" pile of rock remains. (It took another hour to reach the top) |
My first glimpse of The Towers |
At the top! |
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I really did make it. |
My guide and hiking companion, Eduardo |
A good luck rock and then time to begin the long trek back |
Day 12 fly back to Buenos Aires(1800 miles), Day 13 rest! |
Day 14 fly to Iguazu (1000 miles) |
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Over 200 streams emerge from the rainforest to form 2 miles of falls |
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Some of the 275 individual waterfalls |
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A wonderful series of catwalks allows access above, below and between the falls |
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Day 15 fly to Buenos Aires(1000 miles), change airports and fly back to USA |