Following our Antarctic cruise we remained in Ushuaia for a week walking in the Tierra Del Fuego National Park. This is an area of lush green Southern beech forest festooned with mistletoe like balls of epiphytes. It is indented with fjords and lakes and surrounded by snow capped mountains. Ushuaia is the most Southern town in the world nestling beneath the Andes with the beautiful Beagle channel stretching out towards Antarctica.

We took a twelve hour bus journey that crossed through the Andean mountains out onto the Patagonian steppe, across the Magellan straights, to the historic town of Punta Arenas in Chile with its European style mansions in the centre of town. We had a superb ferry trip to the treeless Magdalena Island that is covered by nesting Magellanic Penguins.

We moved between the South and North Patagonian ice-fields of Chile and Argentina. These creep out through mountain valleys as hanging glaciers flowing down into turquoise lakes.

The Argentine side sits in a rain shadow creating the Patagonian steppe, a treeless, windy dry yellow grassland area. Occasional Estancias with herds of sheep and cattle relieved the desolate view. The thick grass and low bush almost reach to the foot of the Andes where a sheltered micro climate of cool upland forest is created. Tall Southern beech trees grow in the valleys and in the windswept areas stunted bushes. The forests protect masses of wild flowers and flowering bushes. Over head the vast cobalt blue sky was often streaked with white clouds.

We continued north to Puerto Natales and spent four days camping in Torres Del Paine National Park, walking a track known as the “W”. On entering the park five Condors took flight beside the bus and we had our first sight of wild Llamas, this was truly South America. We walked each day for about eight hours to the Lago Grey Glacier which flows down into a wide lake, then up the steep Valle Frances with its hanging glaciers and finally up to the stunning 1000 metre granite towers at the Mirador Las Torres. The park was filled with familiar wild flowers like foxgloves, daisies, dandelions and plants special to the area such as calceolarias and orchids. The night sky was beautiful with stars so numerous we could not distinguish any of the main constellations.

A short bus ride brought us to El Calafate (Argentina) and the very active Perito Moreno glacier that calves into the vast Lago Argentino. We listened to pistol shot sounds as the glacier moved trying to anticipate the next calving.

We continued across the bleak steppe to the remote El Chalten and the Fitzroy National Park. The small town is a remote outpost of single storey wooden and corrugated buildings that exist for climbers, trekkers and farmers. It is protected by the mighty Fitzroy mountain range. We spent four days exploring the park with its beautiful glaciers, small sheltered woodlands, turquoise lakes and towering granite spires.

We experienced the extraordinary Patagonian sunset of blue, pink and mauve layers on a sixteen hour bus journey that brought us to Los Antiguos. Here we crossed back into Chile and entered the wet side of the Andes, where rainfall exceeds 4.5 metres per year.

We travelled North on the beautiful Carretera Austral for 700 km along the gravel road passing  vast turquoise lakes edged by snow capped mountains and glaciers. We entered lush green forests which almost reached the top of the snow dusted mountains. Giant Hogweed, ferns and bamboo grew at the forest edges and swathes of colour were created by fuchsias and lupin. We drove over small bridges that crossed the fiords and passed vast reflective lakes. Sadly there were also signs of devastation where 2000 old trees have been cut to make way for small farms.

A side trip to the mighty Futaleufu River and some of the best white water rafting in the world (class IV and V rapids). After a sleepless night we rafted the river for 18 km. The waters were a fabulous clear emerald green running through canyons of temperate rain forest and snow capped Andean mountains. Three Condors circled overhead, possibly hoping for a human tip bit. It was a wonderful finale to our Patagonian experience.