Torres del Paine

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Our final day in El Calafate I decided to go and see the famous Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chile. It was quite expensive and quite a long stint on the bus from El Calafate. But I considered that I may not be in this part of the world again so I might as well take the chance to see it rather than rue it later. We left early and headed up the steep step behind El Calafate which took us up to 1000m where there was a very flat puna like terrain, similar to the likes we are use to seeing at much higher altitude. But this part of the the world is all about wind, the winds coming off the Pacific Ocean. These strong winds do not allow much to grow, it was mainly yellow grasses and short stumpy shrubs, it was very barren and lifeless apart from the odd hare, a few sheep stations (although the sheep very sparse), guanacos and a bird that looked like a minature emu. But these were the only land animals we were to see.
Once we caught glimpse of the Torres or Towers in the distance the view of ice, snow and rock was stunning, we got closer at Laguna Amarga and could begin to see the the clouds starting to gather over the Torres. We had lunch at the lovely Cascada (Waterfall) Paine where I sat behind a large rock to fend off the strengthening wind as the clouds rolled in.
We then headed in to the national park itself, we didn't get the best of days for viewing the mountains, but the flora and lakes of the park were beautiful, particularly laguna Pehoe. The waters in these lakes was again the strangest type of milky blue/green I have seen.
We started to get a little rain but the rain wasn't the issue, I started experiencing some of the strongest winds I have ever encountered, enough to sometimes blow you off balance while walking. We walked (quickly) to Mirador Cuernos (which was cloudy) and to a lovely waterfall called Salto Grande, but by this stage my ears were numb and we headed back to the warmth of the van.
It was a long journey back, but I am glad I got to get out there to see the park and the scenery, and thankful I got to see part of it before the weather turned. We were told that most times of the year here it is either very cold or very windy or both. But these amazing landscapes wouldn't be the same without them.
Deb had a lovely dinner and a bottle of Argentinian red waiting for me back in El Calafate and we took in the long sunset for the final time.

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