Letters to London

Dear friends,   Warning: we’ve exchanged volcanoes for mountains and glaciers… welcome to Patagonia!  We arrived by ferry from Chiloé to Chaitén, the place which would mark the beginning of our Patagonian road trip. Keen to get off the highways and begin hiking we headed straight for Parque Nacional Pumalín. It was created by Doug Tompkins (the founder […]

Dear friends,   In our campervan we boarded the ferry to Chiloé, a large island, just off the west coast of Chile. It was here that we started our three-week road trip from Puerto Varas, through Patagonia and down to Punta Arenas right at the bottom of Chile.   Arriving on the island, there are apparent differences from […]

Dear friends,  I’ve got more volcano-filled adventures for you…  We arrived in Puerto Varas, a city on the shores of Lago Llanquihue, the second largest lake in Chile and similarly to Pucón, it is surrounded by volcanoes! From the town’s promenade and the black sandy beaches, you can see snow-capped Volcán Osorno (2,652m) and Volcán Calbuco (2,015m), both of […]

Dear friends,   Our home for the past five nights has been a hostel in Pucón. Located on the eastern shore of Lake Villarrica, and 17km from one of the most active volcanoes in Chile, Volcán Villarrica, it is a popular destination for backpackers, and Chilean’s enjoying their summer holidays. It boasts a huge variety of different […]

Dear friends,   With the vineyards in our rear-view mirror, our journey towards Valparaíso took us through the Andes mountain range. The route, rising all the way from Mendoza eventually reaches 3,200m at the border. Here you are rewarded with views of Aconcagua which towers above at 6,960m high, the highest mountain outside of Asia. As […]

Dear friends,  The search for the best red wine has begun…  We travelled South-West from San Ignacío towards Mendoza, stopping along the way to break up the long hours spent on the poorly air-conditioned buses. Some towns aren’t really worth mentioning such as Corrientes; where we began to think staying on the bus was a better option!   […]

After the long bus journey from Buenos Aires we finally arrived in Puerto Iguazú to a loud thunderstorm, huge flashes of lightening and torrential rain. Locals seemed non-plussed by the storm, continuing about their daily business, whilst we took shelter under the corrugated iron roof of our hostel. We worried that after such a long journey […]

Dear friends,   I am writing this post whilst on an 18-hour overnight bus journey through the Argentinean countryside as we head North towards our next destination. Here on the border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay lie the Foz de Iguazu, one of the world’s largest waterfalls. But for now, let me tell you about where […]