PUERTO NATALES

TORRES DEL PAINE NATIONAL PARK

It was good to be on land. The first thing you notice are the brightly coloured tin houses, all very low so you have a great view of the mountains in the background. The reason for coming here was to explore the Torres del Paine National Park, to view the very well known Torres del Paine and the many lakes, peaks and glaciers. For hiking enthusiasts, a 7-10 day hike (El Circuito) camping along the way, will give you the full sights of what the park has to offer. Or, a shorter route (The W) can be done in 5 days. The Torres del Paine and Glacier Grey being the most important feature.

We opted for a 1 day sightseeing tour. We obviously didn´t experience the the great peaks, the temperamental weather changes and all of the lakes - Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine in its full glory but we did get a taste of what its about.
The weather conditions are constantly changing. We were lucky that it was aexceptionally good day with warm weather and almost no wind. Normally you get battered by the wind in this place.

The park itself has an official total surface of 181,414 hectares with peaks above 2,000m. It probably has around 12 campsites accommodating those doing the full or shorter route.

Our trip started with the Torres del Paine itself. At 2,800 metres the impressive rock formation given due to millions of years of time and erosion (Ice Age and weather erosion) is made up by the Torre Sur (southern tower), the Torre Central (central tower) and, the Torre Norte (northern tower).

The beautiful lagoons, lakes and rivers are formed by the thawing of the many surrounding glaciers. We only got to see Glacier Grey (the largest glacier in the national park) from a distance. We were viewing this from quite afar so couldn´t see the many hikers experiencing the fragmented blocks of ice, cracks and lagoons first hand.

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