El Chalten. Wednesday 8th November 2006.

Feet blistered, knee bandaged I head off on a 22km climb.

Hiking through the national park to Laguna Capri and the original base camp for climbing Fitz Roy is my initial challenge. Fitz Roy is actually named for the captain of Darwin's ship of exploration, HMS Beagle.

I am having such a great time here in Argentina. The people I have met all along my journey have been so very nice, but this particular group of people I am currently travelling with are all getting along so well.

My feet, which have developed the pungent odour of A QUALITY stilton have become the talking point for the group.

As we continue our climb up to Piedras Blancas Lake we got the full Patagonian experience as the weather affected one of its changes, offering wind burn and horizontal rain.

Hungry enroute, I was the first to volunteer to taste Indian bread, a fungus growing on trees in this area. When we finally got to lunch, the pate sandwiches prepared by Jonathan (team chef) were even better than the handmade pate sandwiches I had made yesterday.

Back in town, cold and wet, its time to head to Del Bosque for some nourishment before the journey back to El Calafate.

Travelling along these deserted roads peopled only by telegraph poles and the very infrequent farm, it does feel like the end of the earth...and its great!!

This is a brilliant trip with great people and every cut, bruise and stumble just makes it more exciting. Mother Nature in the raw is a wonder.

Tonight´s dining is at La Lechuza.