Today we spent most of the day travelling. We were up just after 4 am so we had enough time to have breakfast before departing our hotel to get to the airport for our early morning flight to El Calafate in southern Argentina.

Breakfast.
Breakfast.

The flight took about three and a half hours and we arrived in El Calafate at around 11am. We had a driver waiting to pick us up for the 300km drive from the airport across the border into Chile to get to our hotel. Dealing with immigration on both the Argentinian and Chilean sides added extra time to the trip. The border crossing we travelled through was very small and nothing happened in a hurry on either side!

At the (very windy!) border crossing from Argentina into Chile.
At the (very windy!) border crossing from Argentina into Chile.

It was about 3:30 pm by the time we got to the hotel. The trip from door to door took about nine and a half hours, so we were pretty glad to finally arrive. Our hotel is very unique. It is built to fit in with the Patagonian landscape and is designed to be very eco-friendly.

Our hotel, Tierra Patagonia.
Our hotel, Tierra Patagonia.

We haven’t had much time yet to explore but we have established that this part of the world is very windy! The wind has not stopped howling since we landed but we have been told that this is common for Patagonia. Our room has a spectacular view over the lake toward the mountains.

The view across the lake.
The view across the lake.

After a brief rest in our room this afternoon we met with the lady in charge of the activities on offer here. We have arranged to look at a few areas of the Torres del Paine national park tomorrow, which should be good.

We then went for a walk around the hotel, which is very beautiful.

Inside Tierra Patagonia.
Inside Tierra Patagonia.

We had an early dinner here in the hotel (and since we are in the middle of nowhere, that’s the only choice!) and we are now about to head to bed.