Nature Nerd

Me. A nature nerd? Who would have thought? Nature nerd is what I was named by Tom, an American guy i met in Patagonia. He is a back-country trekking guide back in the US and thought my enthusiasm for the outdoors and willingness to give anything a go was quite the buzz...what can I say? I can only take it as a compliment as I´ve certainly been called worse in my time!!!

Before arriving in the fabulous city of Buenos Aires, I had spent three fantastic nature nerd kind of weeks in Patagonia. After my great stay in Bariloche, it was time to get moving and bus it down to the end of the world. Ushuaia that is...the southernmost city in the world and a wonderful place to spend a few days or more. I celebrated chrissy in this special town and finally got off my arse again for some much needed physical activity. All those Bariloche postres, chocolates and wines had started to take their toll! Hiking, biking and a day of canoing thrown in was just what I needed. And what an absolutely beautiful spot to do so. All crystal clear lakes, mountains lightly dusted with snow, a great national park to explore and all that fresh air! The days were cool, but bright and sunny which is incredibly lucky for these parts where the weather can be foul, even during the summer months. I felt relaxed and adrenalised all at once, life being all about the outdoors once again.

After spending a week in Ushuaia, it was off to El Calafate where the Perito Moreno Glacier is the visitors highlight. And there are alot of visitors! Now I have seen a few glaciers in my travels, but this one was definately one of the most spectacular. It´s one of the earths most active glaciers, is about 60m high, 6km´s wide and 18km´s long (from memory?). It has an amazing blue glow and huge chunks of ice occasionally collapsing with a thunderous roar into the lake below. It's quite the sight to see. We saw two massive chunks of ice break off while on a boat ride that ventured out about 300m from the glacier wall. While doing a hike we saw another huge chunk come crashing away, then another while viewing the glacier from the ever popular viewing platforms. I have heard some people say they visited the glacier and didn´t see any activity at all, so again I was pretty lucky. It was the craziest weather I have experienced to date though. When we set off for the glacier at 8am it was drizzling and cold. On the boat it was absolutely freezing with the rain coming down. Every inch of my body was completely numb, even with the multiple layers of thermals and clothing I had on! By the time we were hopping off the boat it was lightly snowing. At this point I was tempted to ditch the hike were were about to do, but something in me didn´t want to miss out on anything and it would be the only part of the day I wouldn´t have to battle a million other tourists for some wonderful views of the glacier. Wise decision, as about half way through the hike the sun was shining, a layer of clothing came off and the rest of the day was as if Spring had suddenly sprung. Crazy!!!

One of my favourite stops in Patagonia was El Chalten. A trekking and climbing town with a population of only 400. My first 3 days there I had already clocked up 60km´s worth of trekking, my knees begging me for a day of rest! But again I was so incredibly lucky with the weather, and with amazingly clear views of the famous Fitz Roy Range and Cerro Torre I didn´t want to waste a single day. The Cerro Torre had not been seen in 2months due to the crazy Patagonian weather, and given you never know when it may turn again, any opportunity to get out and about really can't be missed regardless of your screaming knees!

We were fortunate enough to meet Brian, a local glacier & trekking guide that we met at the hostel. He was fantastic and also made the stay that little more interesting and enjoyable. He was a wealth of information on the area and invited us on some rock climbing adventures. Free of charge. Just a bit of fun. If that´s what you can call rock climbing??? He also took a few of us girls to dinner on our last night. We went to his friends restaurant which was absolutely fabulous. It was a great way to spend our last night in the gorgeous little El Chalten. I really could have stayed there for weeks and found myself wanting to trek further and higher as each day passed. But the time does come when you really should move on to somewhere new. I have to say though, all the great trekking here, the people, the lakes, mountains, glaciers, flora & fauna made this stay one of my absolute favourites in Argentina. Maybe I really am a nature nerd after all?