Nothing will ever compare to the pureness and isolation that is Antarctica. However, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine holds its own on the 'WOW' factor scale. A Unesco Biosphere Reserve, the granite pillars of Torres del Paine soar almost vertically more than 2000m above the Patagonian steppe. Unfortunately, in 2011 a fire destroyed over 40,000 acres within the park and it may take centuries for the landscape here to recover. We chose to trek the 60km ‘W’ hike to soak in the panoramas of azure lakes, meandering trails through emerald forests and roaring rivers.

This area of Chilean Patagonia is notorious for its changeable weather with sudden rainstorms and knock-down gusts . As it was approaching the end of the season, we opted for the more comfortable, yet pricey, option of spending our nights in the mountain refugio dorms, one of which had triple-tiered bunks! Hindsight is a wonderful thing and camping would have been fine - we never saw a drop of rain and the wind failed to ruffle Sophie's hair...

We trekked the ‘W’ (named for the rough approximation to the letter that it traces out on the map) from east to west over 4 days. The first day was probably the most challenging with a very steep climb up to the lakeside Mirador Las Torres which was just perfect against a backdrop of blue sky. The third day involved walking up Valle Frances with its glacier towering away to the left from which booming sounds of its calving could be heard. There were great panoramic views from the top of the valley, looking out towards the black sedimentary peaks known as Los Cuernos. The final day saw us walking up to Glacier Grey, the big, radiant blue glacier on the trek’s western edge, where we could see icebergs floating across the lake below.  

We finished our time in the park with a catamaran trip across Lago Pehoe in order to catch the bus back to Puerto Natales, the unremarkable town serving the National Park.

Onward bus to El Calafate, Argentina, 5 hours.