We headed down south towards what’s known as finis terre aka the end of the world.

First stop was Calafate, which is the closest town to the famous glacier Perito Moreno. Nothing prepares you for this wonder of nature. This ice monster descends down from the mountains to meet the Lago Argentino and display it’s icy bright blue majestic walls only a few meters away from the walkable platforms at Los Glaciares National Park. I couldn’t help but stop and turn around every few footsteps to admire with awe this huge block of ice that is well alive and reminds us of the power of mother nature.

We patiently waited to hear the crack and see big chuncks of ice fall into the lake. It produces an undescribable loud rumbling sound and chain reaction on the lake’s surface. Undoubtedly this is one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in my life. We went beyond the wall to whitewalkers land, and appreciated one of the biggest water reserves on earth.

Next was a little town called El Chaltén which is 4 hours north from el Calafate and actually resides inside the national park. On our way we were lucky enough to see the peaks of the mountains which gave an incredible welcome view. There is a mandatory stop at the ranger station in the entrance of town where you’re explained why this park and all its hikes are free and how to keep it that way—basically by only taking photographs and leaving footprints. What goes in has to go out to preserve this beautiful place. We all aplauded the ranger for his incredible speech. We need more nature preservers like him in this world.

There are many hikes to do in this area but we chose the two main ones –Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy base– which require a full day outing and average 20 km trekking distance. The beauty of this natural environment is amazing and the signs and paths are very well taken care of. Both treks lead you through patagonic forests ending in a base lagoon to which admire the highest peaks. Hiking up to La laguna de los tres to see Fitz Roy was quite technical, specially the last hour which was a steep uphill climb full of snow up to our knees and required hiking sticks. The lagoon was frozen and shinny white snow covered the landscape. We were so lucky that the day cleared up and we had breathtaking views to Fitz Roy also known as El Chaltén, which means ‘the mountain that smokes’ in the native language. All the way back to town I couldn’t help turning back once again to admire this patagonic view.

In search of new peaks we crossed the border to Chile to visit the famous Torres del Paine National Park. We would have loved to camp here for some days but the snow and cold weather made us decide to only go for the day hike to the base of ‘Las Torres’. Again we enjoyed the patagonic scenery, with turquoise blue lagoons and mystical woods as tiny snow flakes drifted from the sky. We met a couple from Sydney and enjoyed hiking with them and exchanging life stories. On our way back, we got lucky and saw the amazing cleared up peaks from a viewpoint.