Patagonia: Towers of the Wind

Arrive at Punta Arenas, the most southerly city of consequence on Earth. Magellanic penguins waddle through the nearby Seno Otway colony — a gentle introduction before the mountains. Dinner at a Patagonian lamb restaurant; the first glass of Carménère.

The three-hour drive north-west reveals the Patagonian steppe in all its raw, wind-blasted beauty: guanaco herds, rhea families, and on clear days the jagged silhouette of the Paine Massif growing on the horizon. Check in, orientation walk by Lago Pehoé.

A full-day hike into the heart of the W — the Valle del Francés amphitheatre, ringed by hanging glaciers and sheer walls streaked with iron oxide. The sound-track is avalanches and wind. Condors ride thermals overhead; occasionally a puma track crosses the path.

A half-day guided kayak on Lago Grey, threading between icebergs that calved from the Southern Patagonia Ice Field. The ice glows with a bruised blue; larger pieces creak and roll. Afternoon: a short hike to the Grey Glacier viewpoint.

Pre-dawn departure — headlamps through the lenga beech forest, the trail invisible before the torch beam, then the final scree slope to the mirador as the sky behind the towers begins to burn. The Torres del Paine at sunrise is non-negotiable. Return to camp for a full Patagonian breakfast.

A leisurely coastal path along the impossibly blue Lago Nordenskjöld, with the Cuernos del Paine reflected in the water on calm mornings. A picnic with Patagonian charcuterie, local cheese, sourdough. Rest afternoon — legs need it.

Optional light hike to Mirador Condor or a half-day horse ride across the steppe with a local baqueano guide. Evening: a traditional Patagonian asado — whole lamb on the cross, ember-roasted root vegetables, Carménère from a Colchagua estate, stories under the southern stars.

Drive east across the Patagonian border to El Calafate on the Argentine shore of Lago Argentino. The landscape flattens, but the light goes golden and the flamingo flocks on the salt lakes are startling. Check in and rest before tomorrow's glacier.

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the few advancing glaciers on Earth — 30 kilometres long, 70 metres tall at its face. We first witness the ice face from the walkways as seracs collapse into Lago Argentino with a sound like thunder, then don crampons for a guided 2-hour trekking tour across the glacier surface itself.

A full-day boat excursion across Lago Argentino to the Upsala and Onelli glaciers — blue ice walls, icebergs the size of apartment blocks, and a shore lunch in a sheltered cove. The retreat of Upsala, faster than almost any other glacier in the region, makes this a journey with a melancholy urgency.

A 3-hour drive north to El Chaltén at the foot of Mount Fitz Roy. An afternoon hike to Laguna de los Tres — the iconic Fitz Roy mirador — rewards with the world's most photographed granite needle. The town itself, established in 1985, still feels like a frontier.

A final morning walk along the Río Fitz Roy through colihue bamboo groves, then the drive south to El Calafate airport. Your guide shares mate from a leather gourd — the traditional Argentine farewell. Patagonia does not let you go easily.