We were both very excited to leave Santiago in order to see Patagonia. It was definitely one of the main stops that we wanted to see for a long time, probably the biggest reason we picked South America as our travel destination. At the airport, we got to know a Chilean woman called Nany, who, like other wonderful acquaintances we had, turned out to play a more significant role than we both had imagined. We got talking to her in a Starbucks while waiting for our flight, when she offered to drive us to our accommodation in Punta Arenas, our mutual destination. Somewhat wary at first, we said something like we'll see when we get there, and left it at that. Upon arriving there, she was waiting for us at the luggage belts still offering to wait for our luggage which ended up taking forever to come. We both had a good feeling and didn't see any suspicious reasons not to follow along, so we agreed to her kind gesture of taking us back to our hotel with her husband Mario and their lovely dog Bongo (the most cheerful golden retriever being the final compelling reason for me that they were just being kind). They took us on a small city tour in the pickup and drove us to the best view in Punta Arenas overlooking the Magellan Strait, and showed us all the interesting streets and hotels while it was already past midnight. When they dropped us off in the end, they asked whether we'd like to grab a coffee or something the next day to which we agreed and were simply baffled by their kindness and interest. We then ate dinner together the next day which they paid when we weren't watching and said that they were just genuinely happy to give back what others have given to their son, who went travelling abroad a couple of years back. We're still very touched and are happy to pass on the generous deed when the chance arises. 
With that great start to Patagonia our focus shifted to the next big endeavour - the W-Trek. The second five day trek during our time off promised more dramatic landscapes and glaciers but on lesser altitudes. We were to spend more nights in tents as opposed to the Salkantay trek but would expect somewhat better facilities. Deciding on not buying the food at the facilities meant that we had to carry all of it for the five days with us, resulting in around 20kg backpacks for the first day. After meeting up again with Amy and Ewan for a lovely final dinner together we dove into the adventure.
The trek could've started better as Anna caught a cold on the day before the start. Luckily, it wasn't too severe so we ended up proceeding with our plans and taking the 6:30am bus from Puerto Natales. The bus brought us to the main entry, where the extremely complicated booking (national park fees, accommodation with two different companies, a ferry and a return bus - a nightmare to book all of it) was checked. We were then brought to the ferry terminal where a catamaran was waiting for us. The windy boat ride took us over a lake with fantastic views of the Base Torres, the heart of the Torres del Paine national park. The cool wind was a reminder of what was to come, we both realised how wild weather can get in these areas. 
The start of our trek was at Paine Grande, where we arrived by catamaran. The first day's hike was a fairly short one, just 12km with a couple hundred meters of altitude, but with the heavy packs. The path wound through shrub and many dead trees along a small beautiful lake with a small island in it, before spotting Lago Grey, and more impressively the first ice bergs floating inside of it. Being a glacier lake, Lago Grey is fed by Grey Glacier that's part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Spotting the glacier from the top of the mountain pass was mind-boggling. Even from afar you could tell that the covered area is massive. At the same time, the winds on the pass were incredible, we kept adjusting our steps and posture to compensate for the wind pushing against us and howling around our ears. After a quick snack we hiked on till we arrived at the hut and our first accommodation for the night. A very dramatic incident that happened only a week after we were there shows just how severe the weather in this area can get. Sadly, a group of 5 hikers got caught in a heavy snow storm just a few hours hike away from Grey hut and died. We didn't know at the time obviously, but it certainly shocked us when we read about it afterwards. 
The second day started somewhat peculiarly with lounge jazz playing in the background while we ate our breakfast before making our way back to where we came from. The hike again was very windy and beautiful, while we struggled to keep our balance we still tried to keep our eyes open for pumas as sightings are possible on the W-Trek. The second day passed fairly uneventful. 
Our first highlight of the trek came on day 3: on our way to Frances campsite we decided to hike up Mirador Britanico despite the intense rains and winds. Luckily, there was a small shelter where we were able to drop off our heavy backpacks to pick them up after going up the 600m of altitude. Climbing over big rocks trying not to slip we approached French glacier on the opposite side of the valley first. When we arrived at the first lookout the visibility was horrendous where we were heading. On the evening before we met a couple of new faces, Julia and Miri, Heidi and Marek as well as Marcel, who came down again from the first viewpoint when we crossed them. They mentioned that they couldn't see anything, but we still decided to give it a shot and went on where they turned back. We still had a climb in front of us and we were already drenched, but after another ~40 minutes the clouds were suddenly swept away. One very friendly hiker that was on his way back was beaming - "Go on quickly now, the view is fantastic. You're very lucky that it's just clearing up!", he said. Excitedly, we hiked on and soon afterwards we were rewarded for our earlier decision. Arriving at an open stony area, we realised what majestic peaks were surrounding us. The very pointy and rugged mountain range presented itself in wonderful colours. The final part to get to the Britanico viewpoint lead up a steep cliff still covered in snow. When we finally arrived at the top we sucked in the rewarding accomplishment and fantastic scenery while chewing on a cereal bar to refuel. 
The day continued to be strenuous, the way back down and onwards to the next campsite didn't seem to end. A general rule that we found on this trek (and on any longer hike really), is that the last half an hour of hiking always feels at least twice as long. Tired and fulfilled, we still arrived at the campsite and happily jumped into the shower before digging into our vacuumed dry food (pumpkin and lentil stew). What a rewarding day it had been!
While the fourth day was similarly beautiful to the previous ones, the most impressive sights were by far the ones of the final day of the trek. To see the base Torres, the famous three peaks associated with the W-Trek, we opted for a very early start on the last day to hopefully see the peaks in the sunrise. Our alarms went off at 4am to start the hike at 4.30am in complete darkness. The sun was to rise at 6.15am and the hike should take 1.5h. Equipped only with a camera, some water and jackets, we set off and made good progress. Slowly the sky showed the first signs of light and the colours gradually started showing over time. The last half an hour were the steepest of the whole trek, we particularly appreciated being able to leave the backpacks behind during this bit, even though we had eaten almost all our food and thus reduced the weight significantly. As we approached 6 o'clock, the path wound around big rocks until around the corner the three pointy peaks suddenly showed. Just in time the top bits were illuminated in a wonderful red and orange hue and luckily no clouds were obstructing the view, making this a very memorable moment. After staying for almost an hour, the cold finally made us go down again. We found the energy somewhere to hike our way down to the campsite again where we grabbed some breakfast and our luggage to finalise the hike with another 2-3h of downhill hiking. Again the last bit didn't want to end, but seeing some rabbits eased the pain until we finally made it to the bus stop. After a very rewarding donut and coffee we hopped on the bus and went back to Puerto Natales. Just a couple of minutes into driving, we spotted more Andean Condors, this time very close by. A great finish to a fantastic multi day hike that cost us both a cold and lots of energy but made lasting memories.

After we recovered from our colds we decided that we also want to see the Argentinian part of Patagonia. Being just a 3h bus-ride away, it was a fairly easy thing to do. El Chalten and El Calafate both offer a great variety of hikes and scenery. A very impressive experience was Perito Moreno, a famous and huge glacier that ends in a glacier lake full of ice bergs. The astonishing blue colours of the glacier and the occasional rumbling of breaking icebergs stuck with us. We ended our time in Patagonia in the charming little mountain village El Chalten where we went on another famous hike to see Mount Fitz Roy (the silhouette of which is depicted in the outdoor brand logo Patagonia). Once again words don't do justice to the incredible scenery. On the top of the hike, we curiously spotted a fox that was scavenging left-overs from the hikers having their lunches.

With our time coming to an end in Patagonia, we were also approaching our end in South America. Only two more stops were planned, Buenos Aires and from there a quick two day trip to Uruguay only two hours away. This time was filled with lots of delicious food, a classic Argentinian tango show and a great boat ride. Wonderfully enriched in memories we were able to make in these beautiful countries we were very excited for our next stop: New Zealand!