Patagonia

On the list of places I simply adored Patagonia is top of the charts. If you love natural landscapes as I do you will find Patagonia, which spans Chile and Argentina, breathtaking. This is particularly important right now because it is taking everything in my being not to bail on this trip and race home, desperately missing our home, our family, our friends, holiday cheer and a sense of normalcy for work.

Working remote, as I've noted before, is a mixed bag. And trying to see and experience everything and still get the work done is exhausting. Yes we are so grateful and blessed. But things are happening at home and we are missing them. My Uncle passed away, people have moved, the markets are wild, family have changed jobs and gotten married... seeing the world this way is a trip of a lifetime, but one with its challenges of isolation and disconnect, which are bittersweet feelings atleast for me at this time.

Now about PatagonIa, a place I insisted we go and am so grateful that I did. We flew from Buenos Aires south to El Calafate. Here, we visited the infamous Perito Moreno glacier and a series of glaciers in Glacier National Park via the Maria Turquesa boat. You will believe these pictures are edited. Other than lightening an overcast sky to show contrast there are bo edits. The surreal nature of Patagonia literally blew us away.

The glaciers, blue in hue from minerals, were something out of this world, or atleast the world we come from. Some of the glaciers resembled massive sea sponges in shades of cotton candy blue, others slabs of gorgeous granite with layers of color spanning from dark gray to white. We also witnessed some glaciers falling and the sound of moving ice chunks. Some glaciers sit up high between the mountains and others are largely under the water, only their tops protruding above the surface. The weather was cool; our proximity to Antarctica waa not far in the bigger scheme of things, but the rain held off leaving us only with winds to contend with from the viewing deck. We also disembarked for a short trail walk where the original Patagonian settlers lived, now inhabited only by wild cows, pumas and other wildlife dotting the hillside. The home we visited was inhabited until 1996. The government took back the land in the whole area as a national park but one gentleman, Harry, had remained. Aunt K had a fascinating book which covers a woman's journey through called Stars My Blanket.

There will be several Patagonia posts because it blew us away with its natural beauty and unspoiled massive terrain. So Ill stop at the glaciers here.