Bariloche, Quito and The Galapagos

Hello All,

We have a REALLY slow internet connection, so we are too impatient to upload photos but we hope to do so after we return from the Galapagos Islands on the March 2nd.

We went from Puerto Montt, Chile to the Lakes District in Argentina. We had some beautiful weather and some not so great weather so we got out for a hike and some mountain biking when we could and relaxed when the weather was bad. We enjoyed a homemade asado (bbq) at our hostel in El Bolsòn on our last night. A ton of grilled meat (steak, lamb and sausage) with lots of vino. It was delicious!

We are now in Quito, Ecuador and have been enjoying the city. We took a trip up to Otavalo (about 2 hours north of Quito) yesterday and hit the great craft market today. We're back in Quito tonight and we leave tomorrow morning for the Galapagos Islands! We can hardly wait! We hope to post some awesome iguana and turtle pics when we return.

We hope you are all doing well!!

Cheers,
Jon & Ashley

Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt (on the Navimag Ferry)

February 6th (first morning on the ferry)
We boarded the Navimag ferry Thursday evening for our first night on the boat because they depart Puerto Natales super early in the morning. We awoke to this amazing sunrise as we were passing through one of the narrowist channels on the route (we had just 4 meters on either side of the boat).


February 6th (the bridge)
Jon at the bridge of the ferry where they allowed us to visit throughout the day!


February 6th (glacier)
We got to approach a glacier for great views. It was super cold and windy at the bow of the boat.


The bunks were quite cozy. We lucked out and only had to share this space with one other person. The lockers and curtains on the beds were quite a luxury!


February 7th (Puerto Eden)
We stopped at this village of 130 people. It's the only village we passed during our 3 day journey through the fjords.

February 8th (whale watching with vino)
We spent our last afternoon on the boat with some new friends drinking vino and watching for whales. We spotted a few!! and saw some dolphins too! The vino continued to pour during the bingo & fiesta the crew puts on for the last evening.

February 9th (Puerto Montt)

We stopped for lunch to nurse our hangovers from bingo the night before and found the biggest burgers in all of Chile. It seems the Chileans know how to cook a burger....

February 10th (Puerto Montt, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina)

We catch the bus this afternoon for a 7 hour bus ride into Argentina to hit The Lakes District.

Torres del Paine (Towers of Paine) - Patagonia

January 30th-February 2nd (Torres del Paine - Patagonia)

We completed our 5 days of trekking through beautiful Patagonia! It was amazing! We hiked the "W" Circuit which took us along a great route through the National Park for 4 nights and 5 days. We were lucky enough to stay at refugios along the way which provided bunk beds and dinner so we got to "backpack" without carrying any camping gear. Not a bad gig! We had a lot of fun. We completely lucked out with the weather and only had one day of really crazy wind and only small sprinkles of rain a couple of times which we are told is totally rare for Patagonia. The pictures say it all!

February 4th (Puerto Natales, Chile)

We are in Puerto Natales for one more night and then catch the Navimag ferry to Puerto Montt. We'll be on the boat for 3 days and 4 nights and go up through the Chilean fjords. Should be an interesting ride!