Destination Patagonia - Chilean Patagonia – 13 December 2014

 

 

Our transfer to Chile was overland.  A van and drivers arrived at the hotel in El Calafate for us at 7:AM.  We drove for about two and a half hours to the Chilean border.  After passing through customs and immigration, we relayed with a van driver from the hotel who was waiting to take us the rest of the way to Torres del Paine (pronounced pie-nay) National Park for our 4 night stay there.  This park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978, due to its unique and stunning landscape and its diversity of flora and fauna.

On all of our excursions throughout this park, we experienced truly breathtaking moments of our planet's beauty and majesty. The park's big attraction is the Paine Massif containing the granite spires of the Torres (towers) del Paine.
Shear mountains, snow covered mountains, turquoise glacier lakes and the beautiful Grey glacier were all there waiting to be explored on excursions  by van, hiking and cruising.

The hikes were sometimes long and a bit strenuous, but usually worth the effort.  On one hike, we walked through fields where guanacos were grazing, unconcerned of our presence. The fields were littered with their bones and fur, the parts of the animal that were inedible to the predators and scavengers.  A group of hikers that same morning saw a puma in the area, but we weren't as lucky.  We did see the guanaco carcass that the puma had killed and had been feeding on.  As we gazed at a nearby cliff, we encountered 2 Andean condors, waiting their turn at the carcass.  These birds are number 2 in the world for the largest birds able to fly.  Only one albatross species is larger.  As we watched them, they took off and soared. These birds are so heavy that they have to launch from a high altitude; they're unable to take off from the ground.  If they are on the ground feeding on a carcass (they are scavengers), they have to walk up a nearby hill to take off and fly.  They didn't come near enough for great photos, but just seeing them in their natural habitat was special.

As we walked along, our guide showed and explained to us the flora of the area, too--the plants, wild flowers, shrubs and trees.  We then climbed what seemed to be a mountain to reach an overhang in the rock where some petroglyphs that were made by the Patagons (indigenous peoples of the area) hundreds of years ago and can still be viewed today.  As we were about to complete our hike (maybe 5 hours after we started), a pair of gray foxes darted out of the bush ahead of us.  They ran up a hill and stopped in front of what was probably their den to protect their young.  Since it's early spring here, most have young. There are lots of baby guanacos, ducklings and goslings to be seen.

I had heard about the notorious winds here, but they have to be experienced to be believed. It's not unusual to hike or climb a hill to a viewpoint in hurricane force winds. And we're talking about wind that will knock you sideways, wind that will stop you in your tracks, and wind that will push you down a hill.  Luckily, we made good clothing choices, and we were able to do most all of the activities we wanted to do.

We took a cruise to a glacier yesterday.   Safety didn't seem to be a priority.  The dock was rickety with missing boards, and it was rocking in the wind.  A rowboat had to take us from the dock to the tour boat.  It was a bit dilapidated, too.  Then, we settled on the tour boat, which plied its way down a lake where the headwinds were so great that the spray on the windows gave the appearance of being in an automatic carwash for an hour.  White caps and 6 foot seas were the norm the whole way out.  Once at the glacier, the boat was protected from the wind, and everyone enjoyed viewing the glacier, which was beautiful. The trip back was still choppy, but a bit calmer, since we then had a tailwind.

Our experiences here have certainly been memorable.  We'll always look fondly back on this very wild, rugged, beautiful landscape that seems borrowed from another time where nature rules and horses and gauchos blend seamlessly with the landscape.

 

Tomorrow, we shall return to Argentina where we will spend the night in anticipation of our next adventure to Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego.