Lago Roca Swiss family

The first camper van we saw on our trip! And guess what! It had a
Swiss number plate from Geneva! Unbelievable! We met this great family
who travels the world for 2 years and blogs on www.tourdumonde.contrast-image.ch
.
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Campsite Lago Roca

The view of campsite Lago Roca
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Lago Roca

Reto having lunch from Eolo lunch pack at campsite of Lago Roca. A
great scenic place with locals instead of tourists!
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Bull

We took Route 15 south on gravel road, seeing a big bull :-)
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Perito Moreno glacier

The park entrance to Perito Moreno
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Perito Moreno east

Perito Moreno glacier from the east. We decided to drive here by
rental car. If you do so prior to 9am, there are no other tourists.
You save time and money compared to the many touristy tours they offer.
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Hertz El Calafate

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> Like many years ago, this fleet is still marked with Hertz stickers
> making it obvious for thieves that this car belongs to tourists
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Perito Moreno

Perito Moreno glacier from the north side
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Hertz El Calafate

Believe it or not, this is a Hertz rental car 2008 in El Calafate!
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Hertz El Calafate

> Broken windshield, limitation to 200km, for $80 a day! About twice
> as expensive compared to renting in New York!
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Hertz El Calafate

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> We got our rental car from Hertz in El Calafate. I have never seen a
> car fleet in such bad shape with such unfriendly staff. If you can
> avoid Hertz in El Calafate, I strongly suggest you do. And I like
> Hertz in other countries!
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Eagle

The next morning on our way to the rental car station, an eagle was
watching us leave! Awesome!
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Eolo hotel dinner

The dinner at Eolo is very delicious! Great variation of menu, all
inclusive!
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Lagoon

> Reto at the lagoon in front of Eolo hotel

Lagoon

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Andrea at the lagoon

This picture is not intended to shock, but to appreciate that this is
pure wildlife at it's heart

Eolo hotel as seen from the lagoon southwest. Magnificent in a
dramatic landscape! Don't go here if you look for sunshine and heat,
but for pure nature and dramatic scenery!

Eolo hotel corner bedroom bathroom. Eolo hotel opened in 2005.

Corner bedroom of Eolo Hotel facing southwest. Eolo is built on a 5000
hectare land with a local owner.

Our corner bedroom at Eolo with view on Lago Argentina, the Andes, the
Torres del Paine and the lagoon. Great for wildlife watching!

The lobby of Eolo Hotel

Eolo has only 17 guest bedrooms. This is the view from the lobby.

We allowed ourselves a great retreat at unique Hotel Eolo, the spirit
of Patagonia. Andrea during the welcome tea :-)

Another picture from the bus trip on the highlands of Argentina.
Andrea had problems with the altitude with her fronthead.

The next morning we went with Kootra bus from Puerto Natales to El
Calafate. A journey that lasted 5 hrs mainly gravel road. Here we are
crossing the border from Chile to Argentina! Bye bye Chile!

Back in Puerto Natales, we stayed again at Casa Cecilia. A delicious
dinner we had at Restaurant Afrigonia.

The road between Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine national park was
mostly unpaved in 2008. However, construction is going on and soon it
will be all paved. Bye bye nostalgy, hello mass-tourism!

Waiting for the minibus which left at 2 pm outside Las Torres to
connect us to Puerto Natales

The main entrance of hosteria Las Torres. We initially thought of
staying here. But against the advice of Thomas, we decided to move on
and recover somewhere else. Thanks also to Swiss guy Patrick and his
girlfriend/wife for showing us a room!

Andrea in front of hosteria Las Torres, from where we took the minibus
and bus back to Puerto Natales

Down in the valley, the hosteria Las Torres

The next and last day we were again lucky! After a night of rain, we
had again nice weather for our hike down to the valley!

Our tent for our last night at Campamento Las Torres. A horrible night
that would be, because we were exhausted from hiking, ate too much
spaghetti, had snow and rain and felt sick.

Reaching Campamento Las Torres, a very nice campsite, we put our tent
up and boiled tea and cooked Spaghetti with bouillon

Rain did set in again, and we took a break to discuss if we continue
or not. Joint decision: we continue!

Time to take picture of wet floor and wet hiking boots

We were in such a good hiking mood after the rain, and had so much
speed, we decided to go past Refugio Chileno further up to Campamento
Las Torres at the base of Torres del Paine

The valley of Rio Ascencio towards Refugio Chileno

After the rain we continued towards Refugio Chileno. Reto with his
backpack and the poncho with view of Lago Nordenskjold, after the
weather turned nice again!

The next morning started with rain, and we had a terrible early hike
from Campamento Italiano to Refugio Los Cuernos. Soaking wet, we
enjoyed a breakfast inside the refugio until the rain stopped.

The weather changes so quickly in Torres del Paine, that is why it's
almost impossible to do a weather forecast

Another beautiful view

These boots are made for hiking, that's just what they do,...

A beautiful view at the backside of Torres del Paine

A beautiful vp

Andrea in front of the Frances glacier. I always had to think of my
grandfather Francis doing this hike. However, I think the name comes
from explorer Frances Drake.

Beautiful day for hiking up Frances valley

Andrea lightweight with tree

For the third night, we moved on to Campamento Italiano. This campsite
is free, ran by CONAF and probably our favorite campside of the Torres
del Paine park. We left our backpacks here and hiked lightweight to
Campamento Britanico