Patagonia (Argentina & Chile) - Nov '18

Going to Antarctica was already decided and paid for. To take the Antarctica expedition cruise, one has to go to Ushuaia in South America. Then a thought came, as to why not do an extended trip in South America. There are many options available but narrowed down to Patagonia which is a photographer’s and trekker’s delight. Patagonia is a distinct geographical region at the base of South America spanning the lower sections of Argentina and Chile. The purpose of this visit was only for photography and not trekking.

Travel Dates : Argentina - 28th Nov ’18 to 3rd Dec ’18, Chile - 4th Dec ’18 to 8th Dec ‘18

Company : Darter Photography, India and Andes Expeditions, South America.

Darter had published this in their group but finally just three of us including me did this trip. Others were MV Shreeram from Darter and Arun Chandran from Delhi.

From Mumbai I flew into Buenos Aires. With just a night stay in Buenos Aires, we took a flight to El Calafate and with one more night stay in El Calafate, we left to El Chalten. We had a car blocked for the entire trip and with a guide who was good in identifying photo opportunities. We were chasing sun rise & sun set with Fitz Roy (mountain on the border between Argentina and Chile) in the foreground, unique landscapes, birds and animals. We were lucky to get a few fantastic opportunities. El Chalten has some very nice trekking options.

One of the highlight of this trip is our visit to The Perito Moreno Glacier. it is stunning.The Perito Moreno Glacier is currently 19 miles long and rises an average height of 240 feet above the water. The glacier covers about 121 square miles and is the third largest reserve of fresh water in the world.

El Chalten also has some amazing restaurants. Don't miss the micro brewery and a family run restaurants.

With El Chalten ticked off, we drove back to El Calafate for a night stay and get ready to continue with our second part of Patagonia.

We had a different car waiting to take us to Torres Del Paine, Chile. There is a border crossing where the Chile Immigration and Customs authorities check the passport and bags. The drive from El Calafate to Torres Del Paine is about 4 hours. Once in Torres Del Paine, we continued our task of chasing sun rise, sun set, unique landscapes, birds and animals. Like El Chalten, Torres Del Paine also has quite a few trekking options. Our next stop was Cerro Castillo and the main attraction here was to spot Puma. For spotting a wildlife especially the cats, one needs real luck. We hired a local guide who was an expert in tracking Puma. We spotted one and had to wait for long before we could get closer. I had the opportunity of the cat looking straight into my lens. It was worth the wait and was a great feeling to see this lovely cat.

Finally, we bid adieu to Chile, drove to El Calafate airport to take a flight to Ushuaia for our expedition to Antarctica.

Hotels :

Buenos Aires - Holiday Inn Ezeiza Airport

El Calafate - Hotel El Quijote

El Chalten - Posada Lunajuim

Torres Del Paine - Hotel Rio Serrano

Cerro Castillo - Hosteria El Ovejero

Ushuaia - Los Acebos Ushuaia Hotel

All the hotels were very good and in an excellent location.

Tips :

• It is advisable to have some local currency. While credit card is generally accepted, we encountered many places where cash was the king.

• Discuss with the local guide to firm up the time for crossing the border. It is advisable to reach well in advance before the tourist buses arrive. Otherwise you may end up waiting for long.

• I applied for the Argentina Visa through the Embassy in Mumbai. It can be done directly or through an agent. The Argentina Embassy takes time to process the visa application and there are multiple steps involved. Hence it is advisable to apply at least 6 weeks before the travel date. The Embassy requires all the documents sent from Argentina in Spanish. However, the flight tickets, booking done through booking.com etc can be in English.

• Chile Visa has to be applied online, a form to be filled and supporting documents to be uploaded. Chile Embassy is only in Delhi and so one has to work through an agent in Delhi. I did my processing through Onkar International, Delhi. There were quite nice and helpful. Chile Visa processing also takes about 2 weeks.

• I travelled Ethiopian Airlines, Mumbai – Addis Ababa – Buenos Aires – Addis Ababa – Mumbai. I travelled Business. It was a very comfortable flight and for the price tag is definitely value for money. It may be useful to check this option before booking in other airlines.

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