Tangos, glaciers, penguins, and vineyards: a trip to Finis Terrae

Tourists blocking the scenery at Torres del Paines National Park

Wine is not the answer but it will help you forget the question. - guide at the Vina Santa Rita winery

Home yesterday from a two week Road Scholar trip: Finis Terrae: Exploring the Wilds of Southern Patagonia. (Detailed itinerary in the link.) These short remarks about the trip are written as much or more to help me remember the adventure as they are to inform or, hopefully, amuse you. A link to 200+ photos from the trip is at the end of this post.

Wine tasting in Buenos Aires

This was a guided adventure rated as “Let’s Go” - the most active rating of all Road Scholar trips. And we did our share of walking and hiking, but little outside the comfort zone of the group which was composed of older adults (65-83, I think). We flew to Buenos Aires on an overnight flight and were picked up at the airport by the local guide. Everything on the trip was arranged - accommodations, meals, tours, hikes, and transportation. While there were some things I would probably have skipped or added were I to have planned an independent trip, it was lovely having someone else worry about the details. And our group of 16 people was quite compatible. No trouble makers. Unless I was so identified by the others.

In the La Roca neighborhood of Buenos Aires

Our two night stay in Buenos Aires included a tango show (Heidi and I were not allowed to dance) and a wine tasting along with tours of neighborhoods, a huge cemetery, and a look at the Pink House governmental center where Eva Peron gave her famous talk. 

In the Ushuaia prison

A 3 tour flight took us to Ushuaia, Argentina's southernmost city. Before boarding our ship the next day, we hiked a regional park (at the end of the Trans American highway) and toured a prison converted to a museum. Oh, and we bought some Dramamine in case the seas were going to be rough.

Our cruise ship M/V Ventus Australis

A real highlight of the trip for me was the five day cruise from Ushuaia to Puerto Arena though around Cape Horn and through the Strait of Magellan. The boat was smallish with about 150 passengers, 4 decks, and multiple lounges. Some of the best meals I’ve ever eaten and - get this - an open bar. (Alcohol seemed to flow freely with every meal this trip - especially wine and pisco sours.) Our cabin felt spacious and had a great window for watching the glaciers glide past. The crew was great.

Zodiac boarding

Each day, one or two trips aboard the rubber zodiac rafts were offered. My favorite were to areas near glaciers (Pia, Condor, etc) where we could hear the loud cracking of calving ice and see the splashes on the water. Here, as in the rest of the world, glaciers are receding at a rapid pace.

Re-creation of an indigenous people’s shelter near Cape Horn,Tierra del Fuego

The trip was loaded with lectures on history, geology, and the economies and politics of Chile and Argentina. The pre-Coumbian peoples had a tough environment in which to live, and sadly, few survived. 

Pia Glacier in the Beagle Channel

We were told to be prepared for rough seas, but I only felt the boat rock once during the cruise, late at night. I suspect I would have slept through it had the door on the in-room safe not been banging back and forth. None of our excursions were canceled due to poor weather conditions. In fact, the weather was good for us the whole two weeks! Didn’t need the Dramamine.

Magellanic penguins

On the final day of the cruise, we had the chance to take a short walk around the small Magdalena Island, a popular nesting place for hundreds of penguins. Reminiscent of the Galapagos, the birds had no fear of the idiotic tourists who visited. I only hope we were as entertaining to them as they were to us.

In Torres del Paines

After disembarking, a long afternoon bus drive took us to Torres del Paines (pie’-nays) National Park, just north of Puerto Natales, where we stayed in rather rustic cabins just outside the park entrance. With the exception of some very high winds, the weather was great and the cloud cover did not cover the marvelous peaks in the region, including the three “torres” (towers) from which the park gets its name. Some beautiful hikes over the two days we were there.

Hiking in Torres del Paines

If I had any criticism of the tour, I would say that I’d have preferred a bit longer hikes with fewer stops for a guides’ often lengthy lectures. But then I have to remind myself that this was a Road Scholar trip. Oh, the roads in the park could have used some work as well - I thought the bus was going to shake apart a few times.

Wild guanacos 

Guanacos (wan-ah'-kos), a species of llama, were plentiful in the park. But then as I alway say, if you've seen guan-aco, you’ve seen them all. (Nobody else on the tour thought that was funny either.)

Attacked by a milodon - thankfully they only eat vegetarians

On our way to the small airport in Puerto Natales, we stopped at a huge cave where the remains of the megafauna milodon were discovered in the 19th century. Humans had also lived in the cave in ancient times. 

Small sample of the wines aging in the Vina Santa Rita winery

Our last two nights were spent in the Chilean capitol city of Santiago. I had visited the city once before in 2006 to attend a conference, but remembered very little about it. We visited a great archaeological museum, hiked a city park, and had a good time at a winery just south of the city. More wine tasting! Our hotel was very luxurious.

A group photo. Christian, our guide, is at the far left.

This was probably one of the least stressful, most pleasant trips I have taken. It was active, it was interesting, and it was relaxing. I only hope I can still be traveling like this at age 83, like Mary who is in the middle of the photo above. 

Next adventure - a bike/boat trip on the Danube this summer!

All my photos from the trip can be found here