http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Chile , Magallanes , Puerto Natales en-us Wed, 09 Dec 09 13:01:50 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 09 13:01:50 +0000 Hey allSo I don't have much time but I just wanted to write you all and say Hi from the southern tip of South America. I'm in Puerto Natales right now in an amazing hostel. It's amazing here I saw flamingos and swans swimming next to each other in the water along the coast. The horizon was covered by clouds this morning but by sunset at about 5pm there were some gorgeous mountain peaks that http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-420175.html ... http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-392837.html We spent around five days in Puerto Natales largely deciding whether we were going to do any trekking in Torres del Paine and recovering from our horror of a bus journey.When we got to Puerto Natales we were shocked to find the town was not only expensive but also booked full. We therefore ended up paying more usual for the Hotel Oasis though the staff were particularly lovely and helpful to co http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-386088.html EN FRANCAIS PLUS BASMORE PHOTOS HEREI know I am almost four months behind on my blog. It has become ridiculous. All of this time I have been writing in my notebook though but oddly enough internet access has been less easy and slower than anywhere else ok bad excuse.... Anyways I will slowly catch up on those four months but starting with the latest and keep posting...I was supposed to s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-385021.html hola So puerto natales is another not much to see town. The whole town is about the national park and gear shops guides treks tours its all about the tourist dollar here. We decided on a 5 day trek called the W which is the shape and direction of the path you walk in the W is actually an upside down M haha heard that in town. anyway its a 5 day trek 4 nights of camping leaving on t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-379173.html Nach em ne relativ laenge Flug vo Quito ueber Lima ueber Santiago si mir nach oepe 15 Stund in Puerto Montt Chile ahcho. Das isch es chliises Hafestaedli wo nid wahnsinnig spannend isch aber der Usgangsort fuer uesi Fahrt mit der Faehre isch gsi. Woeu mir ei Tag Resaerve ihplanet hei gha hei mir no ae chlini Tagestour buechet und si mit em ne chline Bus duer die sehr schoeni See und Vulkanl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-376812.html So after yet another bus although this was only 5 hours including passport control I arrived in Puerto Natales where the Ferry sets sail through the islands of Chile to Puerto Montt. The weather was appalling for the entire trip so wasnt quite the scenic views expected. It pretty much rained for the 3 days I was on board and fairly misty as well so couldnt see very much.The captain allowed pe http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-375903.html Hi kids. Just a quick chapter about the boat trip thru the channels.Well 1500km in 4 nights and three days. If u look at the map of Chile u see on the left along the lower third of the country between the pacific ocean and the land hundreds of islands. Thats where we sailed. The best moments were actually on the first day when i woke up around 530 and during an hour and a half saw one of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-372019.html We arrived in Puerto Natales with the intention of getting out bags in order and heading out the following morning to begin the 8 day circuit around the Torres del Paine. In getting my stuff in order I realized how much I underestimated this hike. I did not have the propper cold weather gear. Coming from Chalten and Calafate I also wanted to take a day to relax. I left my four Israeli friends the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-369686.html 22nd January We woke to the alarm 4am it was chucking it down the cloud was in the valley. There was no way it would be safe to go up to the lookout and unlikely that the rain would stop anyway so we went back to sleep. I woke at 7am and it was still raining. The sky was clearer but you still couldn't see the Torres from the valley. We needed to leave the camp by 9am to walk for the bus so it w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-367210.html 21st January The morning was calm the first calm morning we had had. This was good as we had our longest day to do around 8 hours 20km. The path had quite a bit of height gain a river crossing reputed in the book to be 'a daunting process after heavy rain or warm weather causing the glaciers to melt at a rapid rate'. We got a fairly early start to the day but 15 minutes out of the Refugio I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-367209.html 20th January The tent survived the night through extremely strong winds. The morning was overcast windy as all mornings in Patagonia seem to be. By the time we had wrestled the tent down the skies had cleared the sun was shining. The dayrsquos route followed the lake shore of Lago Skottsberg then to the bottom of what is known as the French Valley. The views up this valley are reputed to be http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-367207.html 19th January Due to the way the trek was worked out in order to see all the highlights of the park doing the 'W' trek meant doing some retracing. Camp two was to be spent at Paine Grande where the catamaran had landed the previous day so the walk retraced the steps of the previous day. Before setting off we headed towards the Glacier Gray for a closer look but the rain was intense coming towards u http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-367206.html 18th January After a 0630 hrs breakfast we packed up some gear we wouldn't need for the trek to leave with the lady at Erratic Rock 0.5 so that we could minimize our baggage weight. I then made a dash to the ATM as we had realized that we didn't have anywhere near enough money for our camping dinner for 4 nights. At 0730 hrs the bus arrived on time for the journey to the park. After 1 12 hours http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-367205.html 17th January I was sure that the door bell hadn't rang in the night but thought it best to have a good look around the flat for the missing bag anyway. Needless to say there was no bag At breakfast the young man was puzzled as to why the bag wasn't there so offered to call the airport they were under the impression that the bag had been sent to the Hostel so where was the bag We were wasting http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-367204.html Hola amigosLong time no see Ok donc.. petit retour en arriere c'est a dire a partir du 17 janvier. Nous avions entendu parl d'un parc national Torres del paine a Puerto Natales au Chili comme quoi c'tait un endroit a voir. Et comme notre objectif final tait Ushuaia la ville la plus au sud de la Terre et qu'une option pour s'y rendre tait de faire justement un petit tour au Chili pa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-366636.html Navimag Die Geschichte einer Ueberfahrt von Puerto Montt nach Puerto NatalesDie Route Heute ist Montag der 19.01.2009. Es ist 14.30 Uhr und alle Vorbereitungen fuer das Boarding auf der Faehre Evangelistas abgeschlossen. Fuer die kommenden drei Naechte vier Tage sollte dies mein zu Hause sein. Gegen 16 Uhr legt das Schiff ab und macht sich auf seinen langen Weg nach Sueden. Als Abschiedsgrus http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-366150.html We opted out of the 40 hour bus ride from Puerto Varas to Puerto Natales and flew instead. Bit of a luxury but the kitty allowed it as we have been under budget most days still I think it will be buses from here on in. Was a 2 hour flight which took us to Punto Arenas flying over Torres del Paine National Park with great views then a 3 hour bus trip to Puerto Natales. One night there giving us e http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-363093.html After spending New Year's Eve and New Year's day at Puerto Natales it was time to plan my trek to Torres del Paine. I didn't like the idea of going on my own and for a moment I considered going on a day tour where you sit confortably on the bus looking at the beautiful landscape. I had even made a reservation but in the end I couldn't do it. That tour is exactly the type of thing that I hate. The http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-362466.html The Torres del Paine AdventureAfter spending quite a bit of time in Buenos Aires I decided to go down to Patagonia and see the Perito Moreno Glacier and do more trekking. You are probably wondering why I would do more trekking after the Inca Trail but I fancied a challenge and I'd heard so many travellers tell me I just had to go so why not.The trip down south was rather interesting. I got a fl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-359268.html