I feel like the running trend of my 5 months in South America is saying “I can’t believe something can be so beautiful”, but really though… Patagonia…you blew me away. Came at the end of summer in Argentina and just couldn’t believe how lucky we got with the weather. The weather was amazing (I’ve heard from many friends who went the month their two weeks in Patagonia was either too cold or rainy). The whole time we had clear skies and you could easily hike in a sports bra without getting overly hot or sweaty. No bugs (we didn’t even wear bug spray!) and because of the season transition we got to catch the foliage changing colors.

Needless to say… I. Am. So. in. love. with. Patagonia! (Broken record phrase… but I want to go back already!)

Note: Before this trip, I only heard of choosing between Argentina vs Chile side, and afterwards figuring out the O vs W trek. Want to clarify a few of my findings for those planning their next trip:

  • Chile vs Argentina

    • Chile is less developed so there’s less roads / tourism. Requires more hitch hiking and less “expedited transport”

    • Argentina has a lot more developed areas. Go if you are short on time or want to find hotels.

Never had Patagonia high on my list because thought both the O and W trek would take at least 4 days! But found out there’s actually SO many wonderful hikes that are one day / two day trips and they have designated camp spots! So if you’re thinking you can’t do Patagonia in three days… think again! I did and had a FREAKING BLAST.

ITINERARY

  • April 2019 - 3 Days (this is really jam packed schedule and we hired a private driver)

    • Saturday:

      • El Carafate- Land in Airport and go straight to Perito Moreno Glacier. Go ice trekking (SO FUN) and had private driver take us to El Chaten (~2 hour drive)

      • El Chaten- Arrive at 9pm at night at X hostel. It was amazing. SO CLEAN.

    • Sunday:

      • El Chaten- Wake up early and hike Fitz Roy (the famous Patagonia mountain!) 8 hour hike to famous Lagun

      • El Carafate- Drive back to El Carafate. Chill at the hostel.

    • Monday:

      • El Carafate- Kayaking at the glaciers!

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Mini ice trekking along Perito Moreno Glacier. So cool (pun intended). They took us on a boat (that in itself was gorgeous!) to the glacier where we hiked along / on top of the glacier for 2.5~ hours, followed by whiskey chilled on the rocks. Hiking along the glacier was really cool, especially getting to see the different shades of blue on the ice. The side where the boat takes you is opposite of the kayak (and imo) the water in the kayak side is a lot more blue.

  • Hiking Fitz Roy (the famous Patagonia logo!) I attached a picture of our route. In all, took around 8-9 hours (we were slow and stopped a lot for photos). First part is very easy but incredibly scenic…Lots of log bridges, beautiful mountain views, and running rivers. Then you reach the base where you can camp (I definitely want to next time) and then accent for around 2~ hours to the top of Laguna de los Tres (the hike is tough, it’s muddy and all incline with zero shade) but the view at the top is BEAUTIFUL! I could not believe something so beautiful was this untouched. Of all the places I’ve been to in South America, this is at the top of my list. (Peep the lunch we made— and s/o to Lil for insisting on bringing the mayo haha)

  • Kayaking in Patagonia Glaciers. Absolutely surreal, and so tranquil. Lots of the glaciers will actually fall in real time (this is natural and perfectly safe) and is amazing to watch. You can kayak up to smaller glaciers and grab pieces of ice to eat (hehe) and sip on the water.

  • Dilly-dalling with the best rag-tag group there is. I met Tomas in Brazil, Lil through work at Uber, and Morris in San Francisco and we all came together to form such a fun group. I had a great time “dilly-dalling” with them as we sprinted up the mountain. Blessed to have wonderful friends who are such a joy to be with!

  • Nice hostels, cool people, bueno onda todo dia! Omg hostels were so nice and clean, we often stayed up late playing card games and chilling with friends while drinking wine. We stayed in “hostels” that felt more like hotels.

lowlights

  • Strong winds (but oddly enough not rain) can cancel kayaking. Lil and Tomas were suppose to come kayaking with us, but on Saturday it was so windy (even though the sun was out and we were in t-shirts) they had to cancel kayaking on us. No prob though, we got ice trekking in and it was bomb.

Ice Trekking in Patagonia

Hiking Fitz Roy

Kayaking in Perito Moreno