The Patagonian steppe landscape at the bus window finally gives way to undulating hills and snowcapped peaks at the horizon. X-Mass parties back home followed by a 14 hour flight and 24 hour busride south has left us weary and lazy. But now my heart accelateres and a big smile appears. My face sticks against the bus window with all the colours and shapes around us. A deepblue river snakes its way through a golden, arid landscape while huge lenticulars clad the sky. For the next 4 months we’ll continue our exploration of Patagonia where we left our dreams 3 years ago.

After a rainy day going through details for custom made maps with our partner geographer Macarena, an unusual heatwave flew into the region and off we were for a week of playing in one of our favorite conservation areas in the world: the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

We scramble and hike our way through the Lopez-range, where condors soar ahead and the views towards the volcanos on the border with Chile defy all imagination. We enjoy a terrific, 55km packrafting float down the Rio Limay from its source towards Confluencia, roughly a fifth of the river’s total length. A mostly PR2 rated river, it has some very nice PR3 challenges, especially for the 2 in 1 packraft theme