South American Highlights: 2025

A spectacular month in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile! This trip fulfilled a long time dream to hike in some of the best National Parks in Patagonia. The parks were fabulous, the hikes were challenging but sooo worth the effort, my hiking companions were like family, and the scenery defied description! Since I was in the neighborhood, I added a few urban adventures in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janiero, and Montevideo and explored two additional National Parks in Argentina and Brazil

The adventure began in Buenos Aires, where I met up with eight other hikers who signed up to explore three Patagonian National Parks on foot! We all joined the "End of the Earth" hiking tour organized by G Adventures, and we had a blast! Here's the map that shows the basic travel plan, from Buenos Aires to El Calafate and Los Glacieres National Park in Argentina to Puerto Natales and the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile to Ushuaia and the Tierra del Fuego National Park at "the end of the earth" in the far south of Argentina. After eight days of truly amazing hiking and three days of travel between parks, we headed back up to Buenos Aires to wrap up our tour

Our first Patagonian hike was a challenging 22 kms / 13 miles to a viewpoint of Mt Fitz Roy in Las Glaciares National Park, near El Cheltan, AR

The next day we hiked the equally long but not as difficult Cerro Solo (Solo Peak) trail

On the third day, we hiked along the terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier, near El Calafate

After a day of travel, we started the next three days of hiking parts of the W Trek in the Torres del Paine (Towers of Blue) National Park in Chile. On the first day there, we hiked to the base of the Towers.

They were stunningly beautiful, and we were all speechless. One of my best hiking experiences ever, anywhere!

On the second day, we hiked to the Horns of the Paine (on the left) in the Paine Massif...

...and then we turned left into the French Valley to reach a viewpoint of the Frances Glacier

On the third day in Torres Del Paine, a few people in our group hiked to the Grey Lake and Glacier. I stayed in camp because I was in the midst of passing a kidney stone. Not fun! Fortunately, I had good pain meds with me, so between the meds and drinking lots of water, the stone passed and I was ready for the day-long bus ride to Ushuaia and the Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) National Park.

On the first day in Ushuaia, most of us boarded a tour boat for a six hour ride in the Beagle Channel. Among other places, we visited the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. It is still functional, and is also home to a colony of Sea Lions and a large number of cormorants

Another Beagle Channel destination was Isla Martillo, to see this large colony of Magellanic and Gentoo penguins! The whole boat tour was fascinating and well worth the time

On our second full day in Ushuaia, we visited the Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) National Park; a park located just west of Ushuaia and along the Beagle Channel in the most southern part of Argentina. We had a guided five hour "sampler" tour,; we stopped at four places and did short hikes to interesting places and viewpoints. Here we are at the southern terminus of the Pan American Highway (the northern terminus is in Alaska)...

...and we hiked to this view of the Beagle Channel shoreline before we wrapped up our Patagonian adventures and headed back up to Buenos Aires. We began our adventure as strangers; we finished up as a family of hiking friends. A wonderful time was had by all!

The second half of my trip to South America involved Linda joining me from Pennsylvania, and together we explored two big cities and three more National Parks. This part of the trip began in Buenos Aires. After exploring it for a few days, we headed up to the amazing Iguazú Falls for four days, then over to Rio de Janeiro for a total of twelve days of visiting this sunny and warm part of South America!

Here's a view of Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, from Casa Rosada and the Plaza de Mayo, one of the main public spaces in the city

We strolled through La Recoleta Cemetery, a fascinating cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, past presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, and others, forming a "Who's Who" of people who played important parts in the life of the city. The crypts are works of art, and the cemetery provides a sort of history of the city.

On the street in La Boca, an artsy, touristy part of town. This revitalized neighborhood was at one time a dockworkers slum.

We also visited the busy, bustling San Telmo Street Market: open every Sunday with lots of artsy, crafty, souvenir-shoppy kinds of stands selling every imaginable thing. Thanks to Johanna, owner and primary guide of JoyofBuenosAires.com, for a wonderful, personalized tour of the town!

While we were in Buenos Aires, we visited nearby Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, for a day. Here is La Rambla, a 22 km / 13 mile uninterrupted walkway that follows the coastline. This is a beachfront public space that is probably Montevideo's most popular social hangout.

We also spent a day in nearby Colonia del Sacramento, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uruguay. This well-preserved colonial town was controlled and influenced by rival powers Portugal and Spain for about three centuries before Uruguay declared its independence in 1828. The 19th century lighthouse (above) was built on top of and beside the ruins of the 17th-century Convent of San Francisco

After Buenos Aires, it was time to head over to Iguazu Falls, a "Simply Spectacular" group of waterfalls surrounded by jungles and national parks in Argentina and Brazil. The most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen! We spent two days on the Argentinan side; then two more days on the Brazilian side. Here is a view of Iguazu Falls along the Inferior (Lower) Trail on the Argentinian side. The Lower Trail follows the level between the upper and lower sets of waterfalls

Iguazu Falls, Superior (Upper) Trail, Argentina side. The two levels of this waterfall add up to approximately 80 meters / 270 feet (Niagara is about 170 feet) in total vertical drop

And here are the Iguaçu Falls (Portuguese spelling), along the Path of the Falls Trail, on the Brazilian side. Altogether there are about 275 separate waterfalls making up this cascade.

Iguacu Falls, Brazilian side. In addition to the river, waterfalls, and surrounding jungle being protected by National Parks in both Argentina and Brazil, the parks and waterfalls have received a combined UNESCO World Heritage listing because it is "among the world's visually and accoustically most stunning natural sites" (UNESCO Citation, 1984). We Agree!

The Viewing Platform, at the edge of the Santa Maria Falls. The magnificence of these waterfalls left us speechless and in awe. A definite highlight of the whole trip!

And then we were off again, for a four day visit to Rio de Janeiro! We had a wonderful stay with Samanta in her BnB in Copacabana, a beachfront hot spot (in more ways than one!) where we could enjoy the ocean...

...visit cultural highlights like the ceramic staircase at Escadaria Selarón, locally known as the 'Lapa Steps' (Escadaria da Lapa)...

...and spend time in buildings like the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian (aka the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro). The cathedral is an architectural masterpiece, built in a shape inspired by Mayan pyramids and decorated with brilliant stained glass windows.

On a city tour with riosambabus.com.bz, we visited the inspiring Cristo Redentor Statue, a sculpture of Christ that overlooks the whole city

We joined a "Caves and Waterfalls" hiking tour of the nearby Tijuca National Park, where we got this stunning view of the mountainous city. Thanks to Eduardo of Itaway Ecotours for fabulous pictures and guidance!

Our hiking crew (R-L: Nate, Rachel, Oscar, Karen, Linda, and me) posed in front of the Cascatinha Taunay (Taunay Waterfall)...

...and crawled into a couple of caves, including this one. All in Tijuca National Park, one of the largest urban parks in the world

We wrapped up our visit to Rio with a wonderful dinner with dear friend Mel. We met during our hiking trip in Patagonia, and crossed paths afterward in Iguazu Falls as well as Rio de Janeiro!

Along the way through Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, we saw lots of wildlife, including this Magellanic Penguin in the Beagle Strait...

Guanacos in Torres del Paine...

Plush-crested Jays in Iguazu

South American Coatis were all over; we saw this one (and at least fifteen of her relatives) in Iguazu Falls...

...and we saw capuchin monkeys like these in Iguazu as well as in Tijuca National Parks

We also enjoyed many gorgeous sunsets, including this one over Buenos Aires!

All in all, a fabulous trip combining visits to five spectacular national parks, four countries, three challenging hikes, two fascinating cities, an incredible waterfall, and so many wonderful fellow travelers, guides, and hosts along the way. So thankful for all!

More pictures and stories about these areas can be found in separate photoblogs here:

Patagonia:

https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2025/02/hiking-in-patagonia.html

Buenos Aires:

https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2025/02/beautiful-buenos-aires-2025.html

Uruguay:

https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2025/02/uruguay-2025.html

Iguazu / Iguacu Falls:

https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2025/02/iguazu-iguacu-falls-2025.html

Rio de Janeiro:

https://lotsofamazingplaces.blogspot.com/2025/02/rio-de-janeiro-2025.html