Mrs Bear Goes To Patagonia

Well, my wife just completed a Bucket List trip to Patagonia. And I wasn’t invited!!!

OK … OK … This was a wee bit outside my comfort level, so she took our granddaughter, Amelia, along instead. Since I didn’t go, I will offer a summary review from their pictures and reports.

A couple observations from her comments. It is a LONG WAY to Patagonia. They flew Copa Airlines from the USA to Panama, and on to Buenos Aires. After three days there, it was another three hour flight to the southern tip of the continent. On a positive note, there was not a lot of time difference ( two hours from Washington, DC) so no real jet lag.
They had a good time in Buenos Aires. Both are fluent in Spanish and they arranged to attend the Nutcracker performed by the National Ballet Company.

Mrs Bear talked about visiting a Rodin exhibit and memorials to Evita Peron. I think they enjoyed immersing themselves in the culture and language for a few days.

Then it was on to Patagonia. I will not attempt to write the local names of the lakes, fjords, and glaciers they visited. But their descriptions highly suggest this is not a trip for the physically challenged. There were hikes daily that were high listed more by the verticals than the lengths. Which is why I was not present. Mrs Bear loves to hike, but she described herself as the slowest, least fit member of the tour. The photo below was a shrine to having good luck while touring the backcountry.

Amelia described a couple hikes as going through a series of climate zones. At higher elevations she described areas akin to the Moon ( black volcanic rock) and Mars (red rock).

Then, they descended into greener areas with mountains in the distance partially snow covered ( Austria).

And finally lower elevations brought what was described as classic Patagonia steppe which led to their inns for the evening.

On later days, they were taken to Lake Argentina where a two hour cruise brought them to their lodging for the night.

It also provided access to a major glacier …

At the end of their tour, the party reached the Straits of Magellan, which put them close to Cape Horn. I wish this trip had taken place about 25 years earlier when I could have made the hikes. As is the case with our experiences in Peru, these are not trips for people who are thin skinned, out of shape, or afraid of adventure. I am glad Mrs Bear was able to handle the requirements and only came back with a moderate leg strain.