Chile and Argentina

On November 1st 2023 I headed out on a big adventure.

After the longest flight of my life and a total of about 24 hours of travelling, I arrived in Santiago de Chile on November 2nd and got a taxi to my hotel for the night. I was going on a 3 week cruise and had to check into the trip at the hotel before I could try to explore the city. That did take some time, but at least I got some food while I was in line to get checked in. The hotel was a fancy one, which isn't really my style and meant it wasn't very sentral. (It was included in the cruise package.) By the time I left the hotel to explore it was almost 1 pm. Since I only had one day and wanted to see as much as possible I'd booked a hop-on-hop off bus, but I had to wait for more than 30 minutes when I got to the bus stop and then the weather turned against me. With rain and thunder the gondola in the city closed and I ended up wasting a lot of time on it. I did manage to get a funicular up to a lookout spot when the sun came back out, but a few factors meant I didn't have time to get off the guided bus for anything else.

So I didn't really get to see the city. If I ever go back I'll definitely stay more central. Although, the view from my window was pretty fantastic. I could see the mountains to the north-east of the city.

The next day I was picked up at the hotel really early for a flight to the south of Chile. After arriving in Punta Arenas we were given a little bit of a guided tour; we went to the square in the town centre, a lookout spot, a museum and a nice spot by the water. It was nice to have a local talk about the area and it definitely has an interesting, although sad, history. After the little tour I boarded MS Fram for a 3 week adventure at sea. If you want to read about those 3 weeks head to the blog post about Antarctica. Here I'll pick up from when the ship docked back in Punta Arenas on November 24th. It was strange to leave the boat. No one checking my boots, being allowed to sit down outside and having to fix my own food. I was also really alone for the first time in 3 weeks and had to plan my own activities. While my new friends headed for the airport to fly back to Santiago I wheeled my suitcase through Punta Arenas to my hotel for the next few nights. I spent the day walking around town a bit, I walked along the beach and took photos of birds, shopped a little and tried to find some geocaches. When my feet hurt like hell and it was late enough to check in at the hotel I went back and had a nap, and washed some clothes by hand.

I went back out to try to find some dinner around 6 pm. I ended up getting a lasagna and a local beer. I guess after 3 weeks of fairly healthy food and little cheese I craved something cheesy and greasy. It wasn't always easy to communicate with the staff in Chile though. I did notice this in Santiago too. I speak two languages and can understand a few words here and there from others, but I don't speak Spanish. Some people seemed annoyed that I don't speak or understand much Spanish, others got creative.

At the bar I desided to try after my meal the girl got her phone out and typed into google translate. I ended up with another local beer in this rather dark but christmas decorated bar. After the bar I headed towards the hotel again but walked passed it to a restaurant/bar I'd seen on the map. One of the girls on staff spoke English and I ordered a lovely cocktail before bed. The next day I got a taxi to a national reserve. I thought I'd explore some nature. It turned out only the long trail was open, I could walk part of it and turn around though. I did have this in the back of my mind the whole way, but it did also feel wrong to turn around.

I had hoped I'd see some cool animals but I only saw some rabbits and birds, I did take photos of those though. It wasn't the most exciting walk of my life, but it might have been the most windy. I felt like I was about to be blown off the mountain a few times at the top. It was interesting walking in the forest though, it definitely looked different from the forests at home in Norway. And for the first 2-3 hours of my walk I didn't see a single person, so I was completely alone in the forest. At the end of the trail there was a little botanical loop with signs on the plants, I desided to check out that as well and was back at the starting point after about 4,5 hours.

I checked out at the ticket window and asked them to get a taxi for me. By the way, I think this is really good, that you had to check in and out, since it is a «park» you have to pay to enter so they can control who is there and not, you can't really do that in nature everywhere. As a tourist it does make you feel safer knowing that they know you're there. As I was waiting for my taxi I noticed a couple of girls who had checked out just before me, they were on their phones and I suspected they where trying to find a ride. So I walked up to them and asked, I was correct, and then told them I had gotten them to order a taxi already and they were welcome to split it with me. So we chatted while waiting for the taxi.

Back in town I went into a suvenir shop to get a shot glass, or in this case a shot cup, before heading back towards my hotel. I needed food though so I found a pizza place on the way. I couldn't finish the whole pizza so I got a to go bag and decided that was a pretty good lunch to bring on the tour the day after. (I'd booked a trip and it said to bring lunch.) I went back to my room and relaxed for a few hours before venturing outside again.

When I did it was with the goal of a geocache. The wind made the walk a little difficult at times but I managed to get up to the lookout point in town and found the geocache. There was also a couple of those cool signs with directions to different cities around the world right by the geocache. I took a few photos and then headed towards the last place I'd visited the day before, It wasn't easy as the wind threatened to take me away. When I got there the same girl who took my order the night before came over to me again. I ordered food and a corona. Trying to explain that I wanted lime in the corona wasn't easy, I ended up googling it to show a photo. My food might not have looked like much, but it was perfect, just what I needed. The mashed potato was really good. After my meal I went to bed. I had an early morning the next day. I was picked up around 6 am on my last day in Chile. I had booked a group tour to go to a national park, but it wasn't that close so we had a few hours of driving before our first stop. We stopped at a cafe/shop after about 3,5 hours. We had already started spotting some condors from the car before that though, so I was feeling hopeful for some cool wildlife. We were told it was a good idea to eat something there before we moved on, so it was a longer stop. I ate a couple of cold pizza slices and then checked out the area around the cafe, but there wasn't much to see really. While waiting by our mini bus I met the other people on the tour and other than a couple that kept to themselves we were all girls. The other girls were all lovely and I really didn't mind spending the day with them. Before reaching the national park we had a few stops, some for some cool lookout spots, some for wildlife. We saw rheas, guanacos and condors. I didn't get the best photos but the condors did get fairly close to the car and it was amazing to see them. We entered the national park, Torres del Paine, around noon and had another cool photo stop before lunch.

Then we stopped at a camping spot with a cafe and picnic tables outside in beautiful wheather. This is a spot I would absolutely recommend spening more time, there was a beautiful lake there and a trail that went along it. If we'd had a few hours to spare I would have started on the trail and I know some of the other girls would have too.

A crested caracara hoped around in the grass by the picnic tables hoping to get some food and giving us some great photos. The bird and the beautiful clear lake made this my favorite stop of the day. After this lunch stop we headed towards Grey lago. The mini bus parked by a souvenir shop and we were told where to walk. The walk down to the lake took about 15 minutes. When we got down to the beach we could see the lake in the distance, with a big iceberg close-ish to the shore. I spent some time taking photos of flowers on the beach before I headed towards the iceberg. I thought I was done with icebergs on this trip, but I guess not. After the lake we headed out of the national park and our next stop was a cave, Cueva del Milodón. It was pretty cool. I also liked the walkway towards it, the view was nice and I liked some of the plants along it.

The last stop before we headed back to Punta Arenas was Puerto Natales, we didn't get a long stop there though. The driver had to refuel and while he was doing that he droped us by a beach where there were Black-necked swans.

So we spent some time watching and taking photos of the swans, enjoying our last stop of the day. I wasn't back at the hotel in Punta Arenas until after 9 pm and had to get ready to check out the next morning. Monday morning I got ready for a travel day and headed towards the bus station. I was boarding a bus headed for Ushuaia in Argentina. After a ferry and about an hour at each border (out of Chile and into Argentina) we arrived in Ushuaia. Despite the journey taking 11,5 hours, and we didn't have many stops, it was actually fine. The guy next to me on the bus was social and we did actually get sandwiches and a bottle of water. Getting my suitcase to the B&B I was going to stay at was not fine though. I tried to keep a good pace as I just wanted to get there, but I had to walk halfway through town and the sidewalks in Ushuaia are not suitcase friendly. They're a strange patchwork at best, and dirt ditches at worst. I got there eventually though and the couple who own the B&B are lovely and the first thing that happened, even before I was shown to the room was the man telling me, and some other new arrivals, all about our options for outings and telling us what they could help with. Then I was shown my room. I was a little disappointed to find I didn't have a bathroom in my room, but that's what happens when you book things far in advance and don't check things before arrival. I had booked a room with a shared bathroom in the hallway. My room was nice though and they really seem to go above and beyond to help their guests. After getting settled I needed a snack, I couldn't be bothered to go out for a proper meal, so I just headed to the corner store and got some crisps and a pop (chips and soda). Then I turned in fairly early, even though I had been sitting most of the day, travel days do tire one out. The next day it was time to explore. I had considered doing guided tours while in Ushuaia but hadn't booked anything beforehand. So when I'd been told about the options when I arrived I thought I might just go it on my own, with their help. So I told them I wanted the shuttle to the national park and they helped me out.

I arrived at the park, Tierra del Fuego, at 9:30 am and was ready to start on the trail. It was a lot hotter than I thought it was going to be though, so after only 15 minutes I had to remove my fleece and get my hiking trousers off, I had workout leggings on underneath. It was a lovely walk through the first part of the park, although it was a little crowded. I got some moments where it was quiet around me, but I did meet a lot of people in the next 4 hours. Luckily I did also see some pretty cool birds, a few horses and some beautiful landscape. When I got out of the forest it was pretty windy. I headed for a cafe and was thinking I'd just sit outside with my brownie and fanta, but it was just too windy. So I went back inside to try to find a place to sit, it wasn't easy but I found one eventually, the place was pretty packed. I ate half my brownie and finished my fanta before heading back out.

But not until I'd put the extra layers back on; it was getting colder. First I walked towards a lake, I'd been told if I wanted to skip something this is what I shoud skip, but I decided to go anyways. Because of the wind, the lake itself wasn't that pretty, it was more stormy, but I'm glad I decided to go on this little detour.

The river going between the lake and the sea, the river I walked along, was beautiful and on my way back a Chimango Caracara got curious about me and I got a great photo and a bit of a laugh as we moved towards eachother for a few minutes before it took off. I'd seen several of these throughout the day, but this one got really close. I walked passed the cafe again and then headed towards the sea. Saw some more horses, they seem to just roam around here, which I think is pretty cool. After a little while I decided to try to get some mobile selfies on a tripod, as I was setting it up though I heard a splash behind me and saw a shape just under the surface of the water. I rushed to get my camera and try to capture what it was, it only poked it's head out for like a second a few times so I couldn't really see it, but I did manage to get enough of a photo to see that is was a seal or a sealion. I kept walking along the river as the weather got worse. Walking in this area in rain wasn't too much fun. Eventually I met a few people huddled under a tree, at this point I was a little unsure if I was walking the right way to find the shuttle bus stop so I asked, they weren't sure either ,but were going the same way. At this point I didn't want to waste any time so I decided not trying to wait out the rain, so they joined me as I kept going. We chatted as we walked and within a few minutes we could see the car park where the shuttles would be coming in.

We had a little time to kill before that though and the sun was shining again so we checked out the walkway they've built there with an observation deck. It was lovely chatting with them, but they didn't have a shuttle ticket so they had to find a shuttle that would take them and that wasn't the same as the one I had a ticket for, so our ways were parted. In the evening, after some rest and a shower, I went down to the harbour in Ushuaia and took photos of the calm waters and some cool birds in the low sun. Then I had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, it's a tradition. Unfortunately they didn't have a shot glass for me though, so I ended up with a mug instead; it's a must. Then I headed back towards the B&B, but I took my time and took photos on my way back. The town was quite pretty in the remnants of the sunset.

I took it easy the next day, slept a little longer and took my time. I headed out closer to 11 to explore the city a bit. I'd seen a river and a lake on the map so I decided to head towards that, and I wasn't disappointed.

A colourful bridge, a wide river, beautiful mountains, I just loved it. And the murals I found around town were pretty cool too. I walked around for a couple of hours before making my way to the city centre where I decided to try a cafe with a very Norwegian name for lunch. Tante Sara (which means aunt Sara in Norwegian) isn't the cheapest place, but it is popular. And the croissant I had was good. After lunch I headed back to my room to relax a little, I wasn't feeling too good so I was taking it easy. I had planned on getting some money out though, which proved more difficult than anticipated. I'd been told I shouldn't use the normal cash point (ATM) because of the money situation in the country. And google wasn't up to date about what places I could get a money transfer from. So I found I couldn't get it from the city centre. After a little rest in my room I went to the big supermarket in town as that was another location listed where I could get my money, I'd already transfered it. But when I got there it was closed for the day, the information online was wrong. I wasn't alone though, three French guys where there for the same thing. And luckily they had internet so we could look up the address the note said there would be an office that was open for another hour. I had planned on getting the money and then going to dinner, but inflation har really made it difficult to carry money around. (But because the exchange rate was a little better when getting it in this way rather than just paying with a card it would save me a bit.) So I had to go back to my room to leave most of the money. Over 200 000 pesos in 1000 peso notes equals a lot of notes, it simply took up too much space in the purse.

After leaving money in my room I went to the city centre, looked in some shops and then had dinner. Since I was in Argentina I thought I should have steak, so I found a place that had steak and that looked cosy. The steak wasn't the best, but it wasn't an expencive meal and was absolutely fine for the price. While I was eating the place started filling up and a line was even forming outside. I ended up chatting with a lovely German couple at the table next to me, and had there not been a line I probably would have had dessert too, so that I could keep chatting with them. But it didn't feel right to keep occupying the table that could hold two people. So I walked out passed the long line of people waiting for a table and went down to the water to get some photos of the calm water in the remnants of the sunset before finding a bar. There were hardly any people there but I wanted a drink before bed so I ordered one, and it was really good. After my drink I took some more photos by the harbour and on my way back to the B&B, it was a beautiful evening. The next day I slept in a bit again and relaxed after breakfast. The weather wasn't the best so I was trying to wait it out before venturing out. As the weather seemed to clear I headed out around noon.

I headed for what seems to be a ski slope in the winter and started walking up it. It took me about 30 minutes to get up the hill, it was steep, and by the time I got to the top of the slope it had started hailing. The next three hours gave a confusing mixture of hail, snow and sunshine as the weather kept changing. I walked through the forest towards a lookout spot over the town, I found other spots I liked more than that though, The mountains were beautiful in the other direction. I took some chances with my route back down as I wanted to go another way than where I'd come up. It worked out and I found some cool spots on my way.

In the evening I decided to try a pizza place for dinner. It was an interesting experience, their menu was a little strange to me and picky as I am I ended up with a pizza with potato and ham on it and a local beer. It was a bit odd, but it was fine. After my meal I went to take more photos by the water. I really do love this spot, it's so beautiful. And I love how the sky reflects in the calm water, I can never get sick of natures little wonders like these. After taking some photos of the reflections and some cool birds I wanted to try another drink at the bar I'd tried the night before, and it was not like the night before. There were a lot more people there and the music was louder, and pretty good. The waitress who had served me the night before, and who did not understand English, was happy to see me. Although I am shocked to find that even young people in this area don't know English I do also find it amazing how some will still try their best to communicate, and this girl was lovely. I ordered a drink and just like the night before it was a really good one. If I hadn't had plans to get up early the next day I probably would have stayed for another drink, but I couldn't.

In the morning I asked the owners of the B&B to help me get an uber or taxi to the trail I wanted to take. I didn't want to wait for the shuttle. But instead the man decided he'd be my taxi. Which was a lot nicer than being stuck in a car with someone who didn't speak English for nearly 30 minutes. He told me when the shuttles would be going back and also assured me there would be so many people there I'd be fine getting a ride from someone. That did worry me a little, but I decided to put that out of my mind and worry about it when I got back. I was at the trail around 8:30 am and started my hike towards laguna Esmeralda in beautiful weather. I had hoped to beat the crowds but it didn't take long before I started meeting groups of people.

A few times I spent longer at spots to wait for people to leave so I could get some photos without people, and some peace to listen to the nature. The beavers have created some interesting areas along this hike, I didn't see any, but I sure did see their handywork. It was a beautiful sunny spring day and I took my time, taking it all inn and taking photos of the nature and some cool birds. After about 2 hours I got to see one of the things I had really hoped for in the area, ahead of me on a wooden walkway a fox was comming towards me. There were some people behind me and they stopped when I did so we could wait for it to pass.

It quickly realised it was headed towards us and left the walkway, but it still came towards us and passed us a few meters to the side. Then it started looking for food in a clearing we'd just passed. Most people kept walking but another guy and I stayed back and just watched it. Getting good photos wasn't too easy as it moved a lot, but I got a few decent ones. And the experience was so cool. It wasn't afraid of us, it just stayed at a little bit of a distance doing it's thing. The rest of the way up to the lake I chatted with the guy who'd also stayed to watch the fox. He was Argentinan and didn't feel his English was that good, but he still tried and we had a nice conversation. After about 30 minutes we reach the lake and we headed in seperate directions as I took photos, found a geocache and then headed along the lake. I had hoped on walking all the way around the lake, but I couldn't find a good path so I ended up going back the way I came. Not before reaching some pretty cool spots though. The views were pretty amazing. When I got back to the slightly crowded beach I spoted a crested caracara. They really seem to hang around people hoping for some easy food. I got some really cool photos as it was posing nicely for me.

On my way back down the trail I played a little with the long exposure on my camera and got some fun photos. I also met the couple who ownes the B&B on my way down, as they were going up. I'm sure they didn't take as long as I did getting up there, but then again, they can do it again and again, I only had my one chance so it's important to savour it and take it all in. When I got back to the car park I was a little anxious. From what I understood I had missed one shuttle and the next was not for another hour, almost, or maybe two. I asked a couple of girls who seemed to be waiting for something, but they had a car coming to take them in the opposite direction. I ended up sitting on the railing by the road and hoping someone would be in my position and would find me, so we could find a solution together. And I guess in worst case I would ask the owners of the B&B when they came back down if I hadn't found a solution by then. (But I knew that would be a few hours away.) Luckily it didn't take more than 10-15 minutes before someone came up to me, and while they were talking to me a third person heard us. So then there were four of us. I had been led to believe there would be taxis there too and so far I hadn't seen one, but as the four of us were talking a taxi pulled up. The one girl spoke a little Spanish and as soon as the taxi was emptied she went up and talked to the driver. So I was saved. We dropped the couple off a litte outside of town and then the last girl and I got out just next to the city centre. I feel very lucky to have met them, but maybe that really is how it normally goes at the carpark of this popular trail. On my way back to the B&B the weather changed and all of a sudden the hail was coming down, hard. I popped into a bakery and got a snack then went to relax in my room until dinner time. For dinner I went a little earlier than what is normal in the area, again. I'm Norwegian so I consider it late when I eat dinner after 7 pm, but I guess 9 pm is more the norm in some places. I dicided to try a «fancier» place and was told they had available tables until 9, so if I would be done by then. I thought that was plenty of time, but if I'd have ordered dessert I wouldn't have been done by then, the service was not that fast. I saw several people come in and get turned away while I was there so I guess it was a popular place where you normally have to have a reservation. I tried steak again, and it was fine, but I wasn't blown away. It still wasn't an expensive meal, the other steak dinner I had a few days earlier was more food for the same amount of money though. After the meal I went down to the water and spent over an hour walking around the bay that I also believe is a bird sanctuary. It was a beautiful evening with a beautiful sunset. And I got some really fun photos of the town reflected in the water. A great way to end my stay in the Patagonian area.

I had an early flight the next morning and my breakfast was in the fridge with a nice note, and the taxi was ordered for me. After a chaotic experience at the airport (always be at an airport 2 hours before your flight, even though you think you might not need it), I arrived in Buenos Aires and was lucky to get my room right away. I changed for the warm weather and then headed out to explore the area. It was a hot day and my plan for the day was just to check out the nearby parks. So I walked through one park and took photos of the cool birds I saw, then crossed the street to another. I walked around a lake, admired the purple blooming trees and had an ice-cream (it was so hot I really needed it). I was surprised to find such a cool mix of bird wildlife in the city. I even saw a young crested caracara hopping around a puddle. Then I visited the free zoo, where I was a little sad to see the animals in enclosures, but happy to see how many were actually free to roam around. The Patagonian Mara is an interesting animal, I've never even heard of them before and they were all over the zoo.

In the evening I found a place not too far from the hotel for dinner, I ordered a ridiculously cheap pizza. And then I found a place for a cocktail before bed, the cocktail cost almost as much as my food with drinks (wine and sprite). I was back in my room before 10pm. Being in a city like Buenos Aires alone was the thing I had been most nervous about on this trip. And it didn't get better when I kept hearing stories about what had happened to others in the city. So I had decided to never stay out too late while I was there, since I was alone. I also knew my mum was nervous about me being there so I called her when I got back to my room both nights. I do have to say though, I never really felt unsafe or anything. The next day my plan was to use the hop-on hop-off bus to get around. I ended up being disappointed though, there were two companies and I kept seeing the other one but rarely saw the one I had booked. It was difficult to find some of the stops and some of them were not the same as it was listed online. So after wasting well over an hour in gloomy weather in the morning I eventually got a taxi towards a shopping centre down town.

The shopping centre was decorated for Christmas, which feels so strange to me, it's supposed to be cold for Christmas. It did look pretty cool though. However, the shopping centre wasn't really for me, it was all brands. So I went outside and found some cool shops there instead. After getting a few Christmas presents I headed towards Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, but it was closed. I don't know why, they just told me they'd had to close for the day. So I went next door instead, to a place that looked fancy. It turned out it was pretty bad though, it looked fancy but that was all. It was the most boring meal I had on the trip, the chips were soggy, it was difficult to get them to understand I wanted lime for my corona and it cost more than most meals I had on the trip. After lunch I went to find the bus that would take me back towards the hotel, at least I found the bus stop this time. I had to wait a while for it, but at least I wasn't alone. There was a nice Brazilian woman there and we started chatting. She wasn't going as far as me on the bus but it was really nice chatting with her for a while. After a little rest in my room I went to a shopping centre that was closer but didn't really find much interesting so I went to dinner. I had found a place that looked like it might be good for steaks online, so I went to check it out, give the Argentinians one more shot. I really don't know why it's a thing. The meal was okay, nothing special though, I've had better steak dinners before. All in all it was a grey day with a little rain and a few disappointments.

I started my last day on a long adventure by getting a taxi to a famous area of Buenos Aires in beautiful weather. It was a warm, sunny morning and La Boca looked beautiful with all it's vibrant colours. I was there before 10 am and managed to get some photos of the buildings before the crowds got there. I also got someone to take a photo of me in front of the famous building at Caminito street before it was swarming with other tourists and fake tango dancers. I walked around the area for a while, taking in the beautiful colours and the atmosphere. I can see this place being cool in the evening. I checked out a lot of the little shops and after thinking about it for a while I decided to get a hand painted souvenir glass. It's pretty cool to have something hand painted and hopefully I supported a local artist in doing so. I also went down to the river and discovered turtles. They seem to have buildt a fake island for animals and there were a lot of turtles on it. Pretty cool if you ask me. Then I decided to get some food. So I sat down by the restaurant opposite the «entrance» to the area and watched people have their photos taken while I had my sandwich.

After my meal I went to get the bus, at least it was easier to find the bus stop here. While on the bus I discovered some areas I should have checked out. So I know what to do if I ever go back to Buenos Aires. There was an included «river cruise» with the bus ticket so I got off the bus by that. I had to wait for quite a bit, and had I known it wasn't actually a river cruise, but just a little boat trip 15 minutes off the coast to see the skyline and then back I wouldn't have gone. It wasn't really worth all the time is took.

After the boat I went back to Hard Rock Cafe to see if they were open. They were, and I ended up getting a dessert and a drink. I didn't realise how big the dessert would be until I got it, but then the price made sense. I should have just gone with the drink. After my «meal» I explored and shopped a little in the area before finding the bus again to take me back. I decided to stay on the bus for a while, to get the sea view as well, I had planned on checking that out, but I didn't end up doing that. So I do have more to check out if I ever go back. The weather had taken a turn and it was getting cold on the bus, I was also feeling quite tired. So I went back to the hotel after the little sea view and relaxed in the common area until it was time to head for the airport. And with that; a 5 week adventure was over. Conclusion: I have expanded my horizons and keep growing as a person and a traveller. I still only speak two languages though. I did feel a bit more alone in South America than I have felt on some trips in Europe, but I did talk to people at times. I only visited a small part of Patagonia but it was beautiful and I wouldn't mind going again. I think I should stop trying out hop-on hop-off buses though. Especially in places like Argentina, a taxi doesn't cost that much. I had a few disappointments on the trip, but I also had some absolutely amazing days and I wouldn't hate going back to Chile or Argentina some day, there is definitely more to explore there. I think the most important thing I'm taking with me from this trip is a sense of accomplishment. It's amazing what you can do, even alone, if you just dare to try. If you had asked me about travelling to South America 10 years ago I would have said «not happening», if you'd have asked me about travelling alone I'd have laughed at it, it wasn't really on my radar. But here I am, I've been to South America twice, I've travelled to more than 15 countries alone and I'm learning more about the world and about myself every day. My love of travelling and my love of taking photos go hand in hand and it gives me so much joy. Oh, and eating out alone. 10 years ago I would have said it was sad, and sometimes it is a little sad and I wish I had someone to eat with, but it is a little empowering too. Looking back I'm realising I'm proud of how brave I've gotten. I guess this conclusion turned into a bit of a therapy session, but I guess that is what travelling is too sometimes. But in regards to Patagonia, which is where I spent most of my time in South America on this trip, it's definitely worth a visit. Also, I realised on one of my walks in the forest there, the biggest difference from the forests in Europe; no ants. I didn't see a single ant.