After I had climbed my first 5000m peak with Cerro Vallecitos in the last few days and was able to celebrate another small highlight on my trip, it was now time for me to pack my things again and start my journey home to Germany after more than 3 months to prepare myself for my next adventure from there. As a result, there wasn’t much going on in the next few days and I summarized this time a bit. Below you will find a little review of the time in South America.
Going home
Since I was still exhausted from the strenuous hike and only had two days left in Mendoza, I couldn’t go on any further tours and so used the time to recover and prepare for my return journey. I gave the rest of my gas to two Brazilians who I met in the hostel and who also wanted to climb Cerro Vallecitos.
In the evening I took part in a wine tasting, where I was able to try different wines from the region again and also received some information about them. So after one last fun evening, I packed my backpack and took the bus to the airport to catch the plane to Buenos Aires.
I stayed there for another 4 days. But since I had already spent a week in Buenos Aires at the beginning of my Patagonia trip and had visited the tourist highlights, there wasn’t much for me to do this time. I use most of my time in the hostel to plan my next steps and talk to other people there or go partying with them a bit.
On February 21st It was then time for me to finally leave Argentina. I took the bus to the airport and from there I took the plane to São Paulo. After a few hours’ stay, we continued on to Frankfurt on another plane. Since I was flying overnight again and was able to sleep for a few hours, the flight went by pretty quickly and I soon landed back in Germany and finally returned home after more than 3 months in South America.
Review
On November 13, 2023, I set off from home for South America. After a short stopover in Milan, I landed in Buenos Aires on November 14, 2023. There I first took a closer look at the city and was able to get my first impression of South America.
After a week’s stay, I continued south to my actual destination, Patagonia. From El Calafate I took the bus to El Chalten and was able to get my first impression of the seemingly endless expanses of Patagonia during the bus ride.
I stayed in the small mountaineering village for almost two weeks and went on my first hiking tours to the well-known mountains Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. I also went on my first multi-day tour in Patagonia with the Huemul Circuit and was able to marvel at the impressive landscape with the large Patagonian ice field and also saw some guanacos in the wild.
After almost 2 weeks I left El Chalten again and drove back to El Calafate, where my sister joined me and we examined the impressive glaciers up close together.
Afterwards we both took the bus to Chile. In Torres del Paine National Park we started an 8-day circuit through the park with the O-Circuit. Here too we were able to marvel at the varied and always impressive landscape of Patagonia.
From here we continued via Punta Arenas, where we could see the Strait of Magellan, all the way south to Ushuaia. The weather was significantly cooler here and due to the strong wind our penguin tour was unfortunately canceled. Nevertheless, around Christmas we were able to spend a few nice days in the southernmost city in the world and go on a few nice tours there.
Shortly before New Year’s Eve my sister left me again and headed home to Germany. I stayed in Ushuaia for a few more days and went on a slightly different trek through the wilderness with the Sierra Valdivieso Circuit, celebrating New Year’s Eve alone on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. After a few final hikes around Ushuaia, I said goodbye to the cold south and headed further to the warmer north.
In Bariloche I was able to get to know another face of Patagonia again. The very green landscape with lots of trees and lakes was a big contrast to the sometimes very dry areas further south. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my first multi-day tour on the third day due to the still remaining snow, but I had a good alternative with the 5 lagoon hike, which gave me a good view of the various lakes despite the constant ups and downs surroundings and was even able to admire some Andean condors up close.
In between, I went to El Bolson, not far away, for a few days, where I went on various tours to the most famous refuges in the region, before taking another short walk in Bariloche before I finally left Patagonia.
After almost 3 months I left Patagonia again and took a plane to the Mendoza wine region. In addition to the culinary delights and the visit to Cerro Aconcaguas, the highest mountain in the southern hemisphere, the program also included climbing my first 5,000-meter peak, Cerro Vallecitos, which was also to be my last hike in South America.
Afterwards I headed back home and left South America behind me after more than 3 months. Thus ended my trip to wild Patagonia, which definitely left a lasting impression on me and found a place in my heart. So the last 3 months in South America were a very nice time for me, which I will certainly remember for a long time. The constantly changing landscape managed to impress me again and again and the more remote hikes in the almost untouched areas of Patagonia in particular left a fascinating impression on me. In addition to the beautiful nature, where I was able to see one or two animals in the wild, I was also able to meet many nice people from different regions of the world and I especially learned to appreciate the friendliness of the locals, which I always encountered.
Overall, it was a wonderful time in Patagonia that definitely left a lasting impression and I would have loved to stay longer in this fascinating region of the world. Since I already have other plans for the next few months, I unfortunately had to say goodbye and start my journey home. At some point in my life I will hopefully find the time to travel to this fascinating area again to visit other parts of the region and possibly even go a little further south to Antarctica. Until then, I’ll have to be content with the many beautiful memories.
This concludes my reports about South America and I hope that it was somewhat interesting for you readers and that you may have gotten a better impression of this impressive area. I now have to rest for a few days and plan my next hikes before I can hopefully report back to you with articles about my next adventure in a few weeks.
Until then, ¡adiós! and goodbye.
Leave a Reply