Probably our most ambitious and certainly our most meticulously planned venture so far. We are flying 8000 miles South West to Argentina and Chile with a special focus on the Welsh Colony in Patagonia. The whole undertaking will be completed by public transport. As a bald list it looks like this;
Home to Spalding station bus, Spalding to Heathrow train, Heathrow to Rome fly, Rome to BuenosAires fly, BuenosAires to El Calafate fly, El Calafate to Rio Gallegos bus, Rio Gallegos to Puerto Madryn bus, Puerto Madryn to Esquel bus, Esquel to Bariloche bus, Bariloche to Puerto Varas bus, Puerto Varas to Puerto Montt bus, Puerto Montt to Santiago fly, Santiago to Mendoza bus, Mendoza to BuenosAires fly, BuenosAires to Rome fly, Rome to London City Airport fly, London City Airport to Spalding train and finally the old bus pass home again.
In 1964 when I was 15 years old I learnt about the Welsh "colonisation" of Patagonia in a Geography lesson at my school in North Wales. I was intrigued and decided that I was going to visit this distant part of the world. Two significant things happened in 1965. Firstly it was the centenary of the Welsh landing in Puerto Madryn on the ship Mimosa and my favourite Uncle, George, gave me a leather passport holder for my 16th birthday with the words "You'll need one of these to get to Patagonia". Well I still own it today and at last, 50 years on we are both going to fulfil that ambition. However in the rest of these blogs when I write we, I am referring to my dear Helen who, under the circumstances has bravely agreed to share this experience.
And this is that passport wallet. It must have done a few hundred border crossings but never one in South America let alone Patagonia.
Look again at the map of Argentina and I shall try to add some detail of the trip. A number of the places we are visiting are not mentioned on this map so I shall describe their location. We fly into Buenos Aires where we have an apartment for a few days and from here we intend to visit Uruguay before flying down to El Calafate. Look for Rio Gallegos near the southern tip then go directly west to the Chilean border and you are about at El Calafate. This is the location of the famous calfing glacier Perito Moreno and gives access to the Torres del Paine National Park, just to the north is the Fitzroy Range. The next part of the journey involves going east to Rio Gallegos then following the Atlantic coast north up to Puerto Madryn and the westerly Welsh settlements. If you find the Golfo San Matrias the River Chubut Estuary is just south of the little peninsular (Valdes). Some of the Welsh migrated east following the valley towards the Andes Range. there they founded the town of Esquel. We shall follow them. Next we head north in the foothills of the Andes to the Lake District area, centring on Bariloche where we are making our base for a few days. After this we "hop" over the mountains to the Chilean coast and stay near Puerto Montt which gives us the chance to explore the rugged Pacific coastline. Back on a plane and north to Santiago where we have an apartment booked. We now start on the run for home which involves a bus trip back over the Andes ( going round Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside the Himalayas) to Mendoza. Overnight there followed by a flight back to BuenosAires and,eventually home. Simples. A special hello to Adrianne.
Look again at the map of Argentina and I shall try to add some detail of the trip. A number of the places we are visiting are not mentioned on this map so I shall describe their location. We fly into Buenos Aires where we have an apartment for a few days and from here we intend to visit Uruguay before flying down to El Calafate. Look for Rio Gallegos near the southern tip then go directly west to the Chilean border and you are about at El Calafate. This is the location of the famous calfing glacier Perito Moreno and gives access to the Torres del Paine National Park, just to the north is the Fitzroy Range. The next part of the journey involves going east to Rio Gallegos then following the Atlantic coast north up to Puerto Madryn and the westerly Welsh settlements. If you find the Golfo San Matrias the River Chubut Estuary is just south of the little peninsular (Valdes). Some of the Welsh migrated east following the valley towards the Andes Range. there they founded the town of Esquel. We shall follow them. Next we head north in the foothills of the Andes to the Lake District area, centring on Bariloche where we are making our base for a few days. After this we "hop" over the mountains to the Chilean coast and stay near Puerto Montt which gives us the chance to explore the rugged Pacific coastline. Back on a plane and north to Santiago where we have an apartment booked. We now start on the run for home which involves a bus trip back over the Andes ( going round Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside the Himalayas) to Mendoza. Overnight there followed by a flight back to BuenosAires and,eventually home. Simples. A special hello to Adrianne.
