From Torres del Paine, we had an early morning ride to the border with Argentina, where we crossed and got on a bus to El Calafate. The bus full of people was a little claustrophobic after the vast wilderness of the park, but the views continued to be lovely. Once we got to El Calafate, we checked into our house for the night, did some much-needed stretching, and walked around town.
In the morning, we picked up a rental car and drove to El Chalten, a smaller town right at the foot of the mountains. The drive, which was a couple of hours, had beautiful views of two large lakes and dramatic mountains in the distance. Once we got to El Chalten, we settled into our home base and got some food in town.
El Chalten, due to its location directly at the base of the mountains, is a paradise for climbers and hikers. Most of the popular hikes are accessible walking from town, which was novel and really nice. Sometimes we took the car somewhere if we were tired, but it really wasn’t necessary once we got to the house we were staying at.
On our first full day in El Chalten, we rallied our tired bodies to hike Laguna de Los Tres, the glacial lake at the foot of Mt. Fitzroy. It was a grueling day of more than 15 miles and 3500 feet of elevation gain, but the weather continued to smile down at us, and the views were amazing. In addition, as we climbed we found more and more beautiful fall foliage, which carpeted the mountainsides in red and orange.
On our hike down, we went to Laguna Capri to rest on the rocky beach for a few minutes and look at the incredible views in the afternoon light.
The next day, we visited a waterfall and then Jason stayed behind to rest while Emilie, Ally, and Nicole took a smaller hike to Mirador del Torre. The views were a little more cloud-covered, but they were still beautiful.
From El Chalten, we made our way back to El Calafate for a few hours and then flew out to Buenos Aires to end our trip.
It was Ally’s first time in Buenos Aires, and the rest of us were excited to return to the city. Jason and Nicole were here in 2018 (you can see those blogs here and here) and Emilie spent a few weeks in the city after college. Buenos Aires continues to be charming; it has beautiful buildings, lovely parks, and amazing food.
We booked a walking tour in La Boca, where a local told us stories while he walked us along the river and through some of the busy, colorful streets. La Boca was where immigrants arrived in the city, and the bright, colorful buildings are a callback to the patchwork of extra paint that was originally used to paint the walls. The area is full of tourists and souvenir shops, but there is also great art and food (and the Boca Juniors stadium).
We also took a couple of birding excursions to Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur, which was near where we were staying. The birding was amazing, but we also got a ton of bug bites—definitely wear lots of bug spray if you’re going to visit.
We had an amazing trip, and we’re so grateful to have been able to have these experiences with some great travel partners. Not sure how we’ll follow up this trip, but we’re looking forward to trying!
