Just getting to the start of the tour was a small adventure in itself. It took three flights, the second of which was delayed, which meant I had to run through the airport in Santiago to catch my connection. After I collapsed into the plane seat, having just barely made it, I was treated to amazing views of mountains and glaciers as the plane flew to the southern tip of Chile.

Arriving in Punta Arenas, it slowly sank in that I was half way across the world. Very little English is spoken and I quickly felt out of place, which was both a good and bad feeling. I met our leader Bruce, Dave and Roger in the hotel and we went out for some steak with fried eggs on top. The next day we met the rest of the group in Puerto Natales - Mary, Chris, our driver Borris and guide Cem, and we headed into the park.

This is Laguna Verde, the view from the hosteria where we spent our first night in the park. When we arrived, we were given our welcome drink, a pisco sour. It was one of many on the trip...