Mom & Son Trip to Chile/Argentina
 

I'm planning my next bi-annual mom & son trip and I have 0 exposure to South America so I have no idea what to even start with. Can you give us some pointers?

She's 55 young but has some early arthritis problems, so I have her take a break quite often. But I think she would love to see the amazing landscape Chile/Argentina has to offer- is there an easy way to do this? Saw some Patagonia videos and wow... I wonder if there are places where we can go that brings us up high without walking too much.

Other than that, I'm all ears for anything you think would be great! Where should we visit? Is Chile/Argentina even a good combo to do?

We will probably go for 1.5-2 weeks.

For the Chilean side of Patagonia, lots of companies offer day trips to Torres del Paine. They pick you up at any hotel in Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales. Incredibly gorgeous, as you've seen. No need to leave the van if she doesn't want to, except for lunch. Most (all?) of them stop at a cave where remains of a prehistoric bear-like animal, the Milodon, were found in 1895. (You can read about it on TripAdvisor here.) There's a bit of a walk from the parking area to the cave proper, but it's optional. (Added in edit: You can get much of the flavor of the cave by walking as far as the entrance, maybe a bit beyond to the life-size fiberglass model of the critter, if she doesn't want to take the full walk around its interior.)