Tres Amigos en Patagonia

We hit the ground running at 10 am after about 36 hours of travel for my wife, Kathy, myself (Ken), and our friend, Alberta. We arrive a day ahead for our Adventure Life tour of Buenos Aires, and easily find our hotel, the Reino Del Plata. Since it is still early, we grab a city map and start off down Florida street to the San Martin Plaza to …

The next morning when we enter, sleepy-eyed, into the breakfast room of the Reino del Plata, we encounter what will soon become a pattern: Bert, breakfast finished, smiling, and adventure-ready! After our own good breakfast and much needed coffee, we meet two of our other Adventure Life Tour members, Amanda and Jennine. At 8:30 am our guide, …

Guide Pablo picks us up at Hotel Reino del Plata and drives us to the EZE Aeropuerto to catch our domestic airplane, and we fly 1800 miles south to the "end of the world" (El Fin del Mundo) in Ushuaia. There is a weight limit on domestic airplanes of 33 lbs. (15 kilos) per bag which we just sneak under and luckily avoid paying a …

At 8:30, after a lesiurely breakfast in the eating area of our hosteria, our trekking guide Augustino arrives to take us to the Harberton Estancia, a former sheep and cattle ranch that is now home to a Pinguino (Penguin) colony. We take a Zodiak raft over to Martillo Island and walk as near as 6 feet from the penguins to observe them close up. …

This day's trip was to be lead by Augustino, but we find guide Valentine arriving instead to lead us to the Tierra del Fuego National Park for some forest trekking. Valentine is every bit as knowledgeable as our prior guides, and he takes the time to lead us to some beautiful mountain overlooks for pictures of this awesome countryside. He points …

This morning Augustino is back in action to take us to the airport for our flight to El Calafate and El Gapon, a working sheep ranch. We arrive easily and a guide picks us up at the airport to drive us the 30 minutes outside of the city to Estancia El Gapon where we will stay for two days. Arriving at 5:30 pm we are given a very nice room with a …

Kathy and I arise this morning to meet Bert, already at breakfast, and to prepare for the highlight of our trip. This is the day we get to hike on the Perito Moreno Glaciar and we have long been awaiting this excursion. We get picked up at 9 am by a surprisingly big tour bus that takes a load of about 30 or so people into the Glaciar National …

This is the day that amiga Alberta flies back home. We have said our goodbyes the night before, and Bert is gone before Kathy and I arise at 8 am to enjoy yet another day of sunlight and cool breezes. Kathy and I will fly back to Buenos Aires for an extended 3-day stay to relax and tour BA further on our own. Lucky us! For now we stroll the …

Today, Sunday, we start by visiting the Recoleta church (Basilica del Pilar) and then strolling through the adjoining park where vendors sell gorgeous leathergoods, woolen & cotton textiles, and beautiful jewelry, as well as other handmade goods. The prices are quite reasonable and we require two separate trips to the Banelco for money! We …