Merry Christmas and happy new year!
20 December: About two months left before we fly to Europe…it is more than time to start our way back toward the north! After a few stops to let Sebastien fish in some mythical rivers of the Tierra del Fuego (for example the Rio Grande), we cross back to the mainland. Our last visit before leaving Chile is the lunar Pali Aike national park. Hidden at the end of a muddy road, the volcanic landscape is puzzling. Impressive to imagine people inhabiting those caves thousands of years ago.
The muddy road has left some traces…and we stop by a river to get the motorhome back to its usual color.
Well done little workers!! It was not an easy task…
Christmas is here, and we celebrate it near El Chalten, with a view on the Fitz Roy.
The mythical mountain stays hidden during supper but finally clears up under the moonlight, as we get ready to go to bed.
25 December: Trying out the new Christmas gifts, while Sebastien fishes the Lago Viedma.
Definitely not much luck with the views, the Cerro Torre will also stay hidden during our hike to Laguna Torre.
A confortable night in the sheltered campamento De Agostini, near the Laguna Torre. The wind is fierce, but the trees seem to have gone through much worse!
Tired of the windy weather, we leave El Chalten to drive in one of the most remote areas of our trip: the road 40, which we will follow up to Perito Moreno. The road becomes gravel for kilometers and kilometers, and the number of cars we cross is no more than 20 a day.
The dry land is home to two species of armadillos: the big Peludo, that we have already seen before
and the little Piché, that we meet for the first time…SOOOO CUTE!!!
As a relief in the middle of this dry land, the rio de las Pinturas, with its green canyon, and the Cueva de las Manos. A small cave, on the edge of the canyon, where humans have been living, painting, and hunting guanacos as far as 9300 years ago.
Finally, we reach Los Antiguos, a green little town on the side of the Lago Buenos Aires. It is also the capital of the cherry and, as we are lucky, we are right in the middle of the picking season! We spend the day eating cherries (see Emile’s face for the side effects) and playing or reading by the lake.
31 December: ending up the year at the restaurant in Los Antiguos.
