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The original plan was to arrive in Puerto Natales and leave to El Calafate, Aregentian Patagonia. But all that all came to a hualt when I met Katarina. An austrian girl in my hostal who was getting ready for her trekking expedition to Torres del Paine. We got to swapping stories and before we knew it we were talking about kayaking through gloaciers and looking at INDOMITAs Pamphlet of kayaking excursions. Not caring how much $$ we were going to spend, we quickly desserted our current plans to go in search of the perfect rivers to kayak through. We put on our jackets and off we went to tour agency that provided such EXPEDITIONS. All information was covered, what it entailed, what equipment they provided, what clothes to take, etc etc. After signing our lives away a quick trip to the bank, we walked out and my friend Piero, my chileno friend, turned to me and asked if I had realized what I was doing and how much I had paid....not thinking (i never think, i just do) he blurted out $$$$. I choked and couldnt beleive what I had just done. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE. LIVE IT UP, right?
Got my clothes ready...Packed afew extra sweets. Gluton me can{t live without sweets. Sleeping bag in place, extra memory cards, a good nights sleep and we were ready to be picked up at 7:30 in the a.m.
The whole ride to our potrage spot, Kat and I kept awake, talking and seeing the amazing towering mountains that surrounded us and just laughing at our crazy last min decisions....
All kayaks were unloaded, equipment placed in its rightful spots, clear skies, anxious feelings setting in...we waited for the OTHERs to arrive. Her and I were not the only ones in the group. We were expected 6 researchers coming from ANTARTICA. Apparently they had been on a ship for 40 days researching glaciers and the surrounding wildlife. AWESOME, this meant I could bombard them with all kinds of crazy questions, esp about the ocean birds they saw! I was excited. BUt several hours later, they still hadnt arrived. It was now 11am and they finally arrived.
All paacked in, wet suits on. We all took off. My stomach grumbled. They had not fed us lunch yet and here we were going to kayak about 3 hrs. I mentioned
lunch several times but noone paid attention to me. So I was left to paddle on an empty stomach.
The water was icy and the strong winds made for cold splashes and hard steering. Wet, hungry, I did not care because the sceneray was just INCREDIBLE.
The winds got stronger and Kat and I were left far behind from the pack. Our guide, Hernan, decided to take matters into his hand and took out the stupid dreaded TWO ROPE. [OH crap[ I thought...[why do I always get TOWED[.....I hated the idea but the winds were too strong. I guess once again, we were a hazard, and so we just paddled as hard as we could as we got TOWED. Hernan seemed to think we werent paddling but WE WERE!!!!!
A few hours later, we came up to our destination and thios meant food. With smiles on my face I did not care that i had been towed. The weather turned bad and the decision was made not to continue paddling for the day and so we all just set up camp. Dinner soon follwed as darkness fell. I had never seen so much FOOD. Esp on a
camping kayaking trip. Where did they manage to put all that food in the kayaks? I figured since it was shit weather, this ios how the guides tried to keep their customers content. By giving them loads of calories, carbs, hot chocolate, dips, ships, pasta and tions of yummy veggies. I think we all packed on 5 lbs in 3 days.
The next day, we flowed down the river, seeing crazy landscapes as rain afaell hard on us, leaving us drenched in freezing water from head to toe. Our spray skirts did not seem to keep out the water and our wet suits were not retaining heat at all. Freezing, we paddle. Most of the time, not saying a word to each other for hours. Maybe a few grunts here and there.
Despite the shitty weather, cold camping nights (my REI sleeping bag proved to be shit...i did not take into account patagonias freezing temps at so i froze at night as well...kat was smart and had a -20 bag with her..at night i thought of snatching it from her) well, despite it all....putting on COLD wet suits on ever day..... I shouldnt complian because the VISTAS were
just STUNNING. We saw a few glaciers and even kayaked around some icebergs. Way cool!
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Darlene
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Even though, once again the experience of it is well worth it...just like the volcano trip. Glad to hear that you're doing good and enjoying your trip, like i knew you would, hugs and kisses take care.