Another early start but when I was picked up from the hotel the sun was shining – although it was very very windy.

Our first stop of the day was at the Cueva del Milodon at Benitez Hill. Back in 1895 a German explorer – Herman Eberhard- found some animal remains inside the cave. It was the remains of a Milodon which was a giant sloth like animal which is now extinct. They think it was around 2m tall, weighed around a ton, moved on all fours, was a herbivore and was covered in long thick fur. It also had tiny bones embedded in its skin which were the remains of an outer protective shell like an armadillo.

They have a life size replica at the cave and the original remains are at the Natural History Museum.

The cave itself is also really interesting as it was originally formed by a glacier and is now really dry and almost like concrete.

Following the cave stop we headed towards the National park of Torres del Paine. Our first sight of the ‘tower’s’ was at Largo de Toro. This is a huge lake close to the entrance of the park. By the way the National park is immense and covers over 448000 acres of land. It was deemed a protected area in the 1960s. Some of the land is still privately owned and used for sheep and cattle farming.

Paine means “blue” in the native Tehuelche and Torres del Paine is named after the three granite towers which rise 2500m above sea level.

We were going to go to Lago grey to wall around the lake and see the glacier but due to all the rain yesterday the lake was at a dangerously high level and the path was flooded and because of the strong winds too the path had been closed. So we walked around 5km up and down along the River Paine. The route itself wasn’t that challenging but the strong winds made it quite difficult as you almost got blown off your feet.

The River Paine is around 23km long and is served by 5 of the glacier lakes.

You can see how windy it was in this video.

After the walking we’d built up quite an appetite so we stopped at Lago Pehoe for some lunch.

This was a beautiful lake with a really good view of the mountains.

We then moved onto what is called the grand waterfall but it was actually pretty small.

We then visited both Lago Nordernskjold which is known as the winter lake and Lago Samiento which is actually a spring water lake rather than formed from melting glaciers.

All the time we could see the amazing mountains, some with glaciers at the top. These mountains had been formed by volcanoes that never erupted due to the pressure of the glaciers on top of them. The different colours of the rock are due to granite being uplifted over the sediment and also because certain parts of the rock used to be covered in ice. This can be seen most in the middle tower.

As we neared the end of the tour we stopped at another waterfall to catch a view of the three tower’s again and then at Lago Armaga.

You can see that it was starting to cloud over as we left the park.

As we travelled around the park we saw some guanacos – these are wild llama and are very cute animals.

We also saw a bird that looks like an ostrich known as a Rhea. You can just about see them in this photo.

We did see a gaucho herding his sheep but I didn’t take a photo of that.

A great day and we saw so much. We were really lucky with the weather too.

Another early start and I was able to watch the sun rise over Puerto Bories.

Unfortunately the weather was pretty awful today – basically it poured down with rain all day. But despite that the boat set sail and if you stayed inside you kept dry. But this meant you couldn’t see anything so every now and then you had to brave the weather to see the sights.

We sailed down the Senoret Canal to the mouth of the Fjord Eberhard and then into Fjord Ultima Esperanza. You can see the mouth of the Fjord in the photo below. You can also see how rainy and cloudy it was.

After about another 30 minutes or so we walked past the Cormorant colony. These birds look a bit like penguins but they can fly. The boat stopped for a bit whilst we all took photos.

And then we carried on for another 30 minutes or so until we came to the Condor Cliff – but there were no condors to be seen as it was too wet and windy for them. But luckily there were some pretty impressive waterfalls instead.

After another while we saw Monte Balmsceda and the glacier on its eastern slope.

Eventually we docked at Puerto Toro where you could see the Serrano glacier.

We walked for around 20 minutes to get to the base of the glacier where we posed for photos and then walked back to the boat. The walk was through a lovely forest.

Everybody was soaking wet but it was worth it to see the amazing scenery. On the way back we stopped at a cattle ranch – Estancia Perales for a late lunch.

The food was amazing- barbecued lamb with red wine. Just what I needed.

Then it was back to the boat for the final leg back to the port – and just as we were coming in to dock the weather dried up.

All of this was part of the National Bernardo O’Higgins park which is part of the Andean mountain range.

It was another early start today. I was picked up from the hostel and taken to the bus station to catch the bus to Puerto Natales in Chile.

I sat next to a girl called Monika from Munich and we chatted a lot about travelling, she is travelling on her own too.

The bus journey was around 6 hours. We had to get off the bus at the Argentinian border to get our passports stamped.

And then at the Chilean border we had to pick up our bags and have them scanned as well as getting our passports stamped. They are very strict about what you can bring into Chile and a few people had items such as fruit and salami taken off them. This all took quite a while.

The landscape during the journey was amazing- a few people said it looked like New Zealand. We did see some wild llama type animals, some emus or ostriches and some wild horses.

We arrived in Puerto Natales in the early afternoon and I was picked up from the bus station and taken to my hotel which is basic but clean.

I decided to go for a walk along the harbour and nearly got blown away – the winds here are really strong. The views of the snow capped mountains behind the harbour are beautiful. The sea was pretty rough too.

All along the harbour they have statues and monuments – and a nice church in the town centre too.

I bought myself a scarf as I think I might need it on the treks I’m going to be doing.

In the evening I met up with Monika and a guy she will be trekking with, Jeff. We went to a restaurant for dinner and tried some craft beer which was pretty good.

So yesterday was mainly spent packing up my rucksack and travelling. I flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate and as soon as I arrived I went to a travel agent and booked a trek on the glacier for today.

The hostel is lovely and the lady who runs it is super friendly and welcoming.

The landscape in El Calafate is already really different from anywhere else I’ve been.

So this morning I was up early and we set off for the glacier. We were a big group of 30+ people but they split us into smaller groups to go walking on the glacier.

When we arrived at the park we had to get a boat across to the glacier and we had our first sighting of the south wall of the Moreno Glacier.

You can see the top.of a tree in the first photo above. That’s because the lake is now around 14m higher than normal as the glacier has moved right across and joined up with the land and formed a dam. So the water on one side of the dam is much higher than the other side – eventually the water will find a way through and form an ice bridge which will eventually collapse. You can see the dam here:

When we got off the boat we could leave some of our bits on a shelter and then we all had to put on crampons to go walking on the ice – they gave us a short lesson on how to walk in them. All the time you can hear the ice moving and cracking. This glacier moves around 2-3m a day but it’s currently in equilibrium as it also builds that much a day.

The walk on the glacier was unbelievable – it’s really hard to describe. It’s so amazing and so different to anything else. The glacier looks like snow dunes in places and like spiky meringue in other places. There are lots of crevases and ice holes which look really blue where the light is reflecting off the compact ice.

Before getting off the ice we stopped for a whisky and glacier ice – delicious.

I could be easily spent another hour or so walking on the ice but unfortunately we had to leave.

On the way back we visited an ice cave – the walls were really smooth like glass.

But that wasn’t the end as we were then driven to the other side of the glacier where we could get a better panoramic view and also see the glacier calf.

We actually saw it calf three times when we were on the south side, and once on the other side, but it happens so quickly that you don’t get time to take a photo. The sound is incredible though and the waves it makes are huge.

I managed to catch a bit of it in this photo.

This was a fantastic experience, and the whole trip was really well organised. The glacier looks like something from another world.

So a great day was finished off with a great steak. I went with a German girl, Tabea, into town and we found a really nice restaurant.

I have loads more pictures of the ice but none of them can capture what it feels like and what it sounds like when you are actually there.

Today was my last day at school- the week has gone so quickly. The school has been brilliant and it’s been a great way to meet people too. I got a certificate at the end of the class which was really nice.

We had empenadas again for lunch – there’s lots of different varieties to try – and then we walked over to Recoleta cemetery to join a guided tour.

This cemetery is for the elite and has a lot of very ornate graves. The guide told us a lot of stories like a story about a young girl being buried alive, the caretaker of the graveyard still haunting the place and another you g girl who died abroad and then her dog died at the same time even though she was in another country. These may or may not be true.

Obviously the most famous grave here is that of Eva Peron. There is a huge history around this as when she died Peron had her body embalmed and it was on display in the Presidential Palace. However, when Peron was overthrown then Eva’s body was kidnapped and it went missing for around 20 years. Now it is back in Buenos Aires and it is buried under her family name. Thete is talk of moving it again so Evita and Peron can be buried next to each other.

The graveyard is strange as the graves are above ground – although some ha e u get round space too, and you can actually see the coffins. Some of them you could touch if you wanted to.

You could spend hours in the cemetery as thete is so much to see but after the tour we headed home.

In the evening everyone came over to mine for beer and wine and then we headed out to a bar in Palermo where there were a lot of language school students as well as locals. The idea was to practice different languages – I did try out some Spanish.

Around midnight we went to a milonga club – basically a danc3 club where people come to watch and dance tango. Thete were some professional dancers who put in a show, but mainly it was just people getting up and having a dance.

I had a go but I wasn’t that this- it needs a lot of practice.

It was a late night – I got home around 4am, but a great last night in BA.

I went to school again in the morning where I learnt a lot about verbs.

At lunch time we went to get some more empenadas and we went down to the harbour to eat them and enjoy the sunshine.

Afterwards we went to the Plaza de Mayo to see the Asociación Madres de Pls a de Mayo. This happens every Thursday at 3pm.

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an association of Argentine mothers whose children “disappeared” during the state terrorism of the military dictatorship, between 1976 and 1983. They organised the association to try to find out what had happened to their children, and began to march in 1977 at the Plaza in front of the presidential palace, in public defiance of the government’s state terrorism which was intended to silence all opposition. It is thought around 30,000 children ‘disappeared during this time and these children were tortured and killed. There are now only a few of the original mother’s left but other people come and support them.

It was actually quite moving and emotional – these mothers will never know exactly what happened to their children or where their bodies are.

Following this I went with Joe to the metropolitan cathedral. It’s an impressive building and Pope Benedict was cardinal here.

In the evening a few people came over to mine for wine and beers (Monique, Joe, Mike, Merlin, Andy and Toby). Around 10pm we went to a speakeasy bar – Floreria Atlantico. It looks like florist shop from the street but you walk through a fridge and it takes you down some stairs to the bar. It was a really cool place.

Part of our homework was to interview a native Spanish speaking person and record it. So I asked the lady upstairs on the bar to do the interview and luckily she said yes. It went ok – although I didn’t completely understand all of her answers.

School again this morning. Learnt a lot around pronunciation and personal information. So much to think about.

After school I rushed home, grabbed some lunch and then met Monique at her apartment – it’s about half an hour walk from mine. We then walked for another 30-40 minutes to La Boca which is one of the areas of BA.

La Boca means ‘the mouth’ and it’s named that way because it’s at the mouth of the river and it was the place where immigrants landed when they first came to Argentina.

It’s a beautiful and colourful place with lots of history – but it’s also a poorer part of the city. It was initially quite a prosperous area but with the financial crash, investors pulled out, and this had a negative effect on the area. But because it is a cheaper area to live a lot of artists and immigrants live here.

In La Boca thete are three main passions – football, tango and politics, in particular huge support for Peron and the reforms he and Evita put into place. The stadium in Boca was built in 1940 and is one of the most famous stadiums in the world.

One artist – Quinquela – painted huge artworks in bright colours and worked with other artists to create mosaics which can be seen all over the area. He also started painting the houses the bright colours.

The street art is also amazing – a lot of it is political or symbolizing things that might need to be changed, such as womens place in society. There was also some footprints on the pavement that showed the basic steps of tango.

It was a really interesting place to visit and the walking tour guide was brilliant and even gave us some recommendations on where to go to see some authentic tango.

Even the local dogs were dressed up:

I was very tired after all that walking so just had a quite night in and sorted out some treks in Patagonia which is where I will be headed next.

Before I talk about today here are a couple of photos from last night – of the percussion band. I didn’t take my camera so these are from Monique.

This morning I went to school – as I will do every morning this week. I’m learning a lot but I’m not sure if I will remember everything. The class is really good and today another English guy joined the class, Joe.

At the end of school we went for lunch at a little cafe close by – the food was delicious and big portions.

I popped home quickly and then met up with Monique. We braved the very busy Subte and got a tube to Palermo. We went to visit the Eva Peron museum. I learnt a lot about Eva Peron that isn’t really portrayed in the film or musical. I didn’t realise she was quite so politically active including setting up social welfare foundations and supporting the elderly reforms and helping orphaned children. Quite a lot of what she started to set up is still happening today. It was a really good museum and quite moving too as she died so young at just 33.

Later on in the evening we met up with some of the others and went to Las Cabras for steak. It was good steak but not the best that I’ve had.

At 11pm the tubes stop running so we had to work out the bus system which was pretty interesting. Somehow we all managed to get home ok.

So today was my first day at school. I had to do a small oral test and we established that I was a complete beginner as far as Spanish conversation was concerned.

We had an orientation around the Exspanish school and lessons started around 930am. There are 7 people in my class so a good small number to learn with. The teacher, Rosana, is really nice and very patient with us all. I felt I learnt quite a bit today, especially around pronunciation. I met some really nice people too.

We had lessons until 1pm and then we had another small orientation session which covered how to stay safe in BA as well as some recommendations of where to go.

A few of us decided to go for lunch to one of the recommended empenada places – Galeria Boston, la cocina. And it was a great recommendation as the empanadas were amazing.

A few of us then decided to go and visit the Japanese gardens as it was a lovely sunny day.

The gardens were beautiful but quite small so we went to the park next door and did our homework together.

In the evening we all met up (Wanja and Tabea from Switzerland, Monique from Holland, Tobias, Michael and Andy from Germany) and went to Ciudad Cultural Konex to see La Bomba de Tiempo play. They are a percussion band and they were unbelievably good. The venue was kind of like an outdoor warehouse and it was packed. The band started at 8pm and played for a couple of hours – the air was quite thick with smoke, and the type you could get high on. It was a great evening!

I had a small mishap with the safe in my apartment – I couldn’t get it to open. But luckily the lady who owns the apartment came and sorted it all out and everything is working fine again. Good job as my money, cards and passport are all in the safe!

Today I was going to go on a day trip to a Rancho but things didn’t go as planned. I’d booked the tour online last night and received an email confirmation and directions to a meeting point. Trouble is, nobody met me at the meeting point. I got hold of the company I booked through and they apologised a lot and are processing my refund – shame as I think it would have been a good day out.

So plan B was to do a free city walking tour but when I looked at what it covered I had seen a lot of it already yesterday.

So next plan was to go the market in San Telmo. On the way I popped into the cultural centre.

They also had an exhibition of ‘Las diablas’ – The annual Carnival in Uquia where more than 300 people dressed as devils descend a sacred hill whilst lots of drums are playing. It happened earlier in February so one to do another time. The photographs were amazing.

After having a fix of culture I headed down to San Telmo which is the main area in BA for tango. And I wasn’t disappointed as I saw a couple of tango dancers on the streets – they were really good.

There was also a huge market all down one street leading into San Telmo, around 12 blocks of it, as well as in Plaza Dorrego itself. So I mooched around that for a while and also visited the bar in the square.

I then headed back into town and visited the famous Cafe Tortini where I stopped for a hot chocolate and churros.

Nicely refreshed I walked on to the Plaza del Congreso and saw the Palacio del Congreso.

As I walked back to the apartment I stopped off at Plaza Lavalle and saw the courts of Justice.

Tonight I spoke to Mum and Dad and Nicola- modern technology is so good sometimes. I’ve got a good Wi-Fi signal in the flat so it was easy to chat using WhatsApp.

I went to a lovely little Italian, Broccolino, for dinner – despite me trying to order in Spanish the waiter twigged I was English and then looked after me really well. The food was average but the service was great. I had to walk through the kitchen to pay by card which was an experience- luckily everything looked clean and hygienic!

Tomorrow I’m going back to school to learn some Spanish!