26/2/98
Que pasa muchachos
OK… there are a few new readers to our list so all you have to know is that Easter Island and Antarctica were totally unbelievable!!!
After Antarctica we flew to Calafate in southern Argentina to see the Moreno Glacier. It’s the only advancing glacier in the world which means it grows down from the mountains and frequently huge chunks of ice break off it crashing into the nearby lake with amazing exploding sounds.
The surrounding country side is also amazing…basically dry brown desert with huge plateaus but with snow capped mountain peaks in the distance.
Calafate also has an amazingly turquoise lake in the middle of the arid desert… a definite land of contrasts. The weather has been so hot that it’s hard to believe such a huge glacier exists here.
We learned that the Moreno Glacier is only one of about nine glaciers that extend down like tentacles from a central cap high in the Andes which is absolutely huge…. about 12000 square km in size.
After that, we crossed in to Chile and did the very famous Torres del Paine walk.
The Torres are a huge mountain range with peculiar granite rock formations that stick up from the ground like pillars.
There is a huge walking trail around the range which winds through beautiful Andean forests and snowcapped mountains eventually finishing at another huge glacier called the Grey Glacier.
Currently Avril and I have just gotten back from the trek and boy are we sore!!! We are actually quite proud because we carried 11 days of food plus full camping equipment… about 30 kg each and trekked over 100 km in 9 days thru treacherous river crossings and to dizzying altitudes… not to mention over some fucking big hills.
We weren’t real fit when we started… but we are now. (watch out Sophie… hopefully we’ll still be fit when we see you in Quebec!)
We are still struggling with Spanish but we are definitely getting better.
Oh… I forgot to mention we also did an excursion to see a big plastic sloth in a big cave… Why you may wonder? BECAUSE IT WAS THERE!!!
Tomorrow we fly out of Punta Arenas to visit the lake district of Chile. We are planning to climb Volcan Villarica, an active volcano… that is if we can find a guide… a few people have apparently died recently.
And after that it’s north to Santiago and then into Bolivia.
Anyway ciao! Ced and Avril
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