Blogs from Puerto Natales, Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 6

Back in Puerto Natales we decided to continue the relaxation that we’d begun the day before so we had a lazy day. Unfortunately if you send a package to NZ with FedEx you have to fill out various stupid sets of forms. The thing that is so idiotic is that it is not necessary to fill out these same forms if you just send the items through the post. So we had to waste a number of hours tracking down a place where we could printout these forms, fill them out, get them scanned, and then e-mail them back to FedEx in NZ. 03/02/2011 - Day 17 We caught the bus back to El Calafate. Fortunately the Chileans aren’t as concerned about people leaving as they are about people arriving and so the border crossing was ... read more

We had a fabulous if not fairly challenging few days in the Torres del Paine national park. We set off to complete a particular circuit in the park (the W!) with 45 litre rucksacks filled with food for 4 nights, clothes and sleeping bags. It was our plan to camp every night, there are a series of refuges on the circuit where you can either sleep inside in a dorm or outside in a hired tent. After a bus journey into the park we found a tent for the first night and then walked about 20kms round trip to see the famous Torres of the park. We were warned about the strength of the wind in the park which turned out to be unlike anything we had experienced before, it was enough to lift you off ... read more

Dans le bus du retour de Torres Del Paine à Puerto Natales, je me réjouis de pouvoir passer une bonne nuit de sommeil avant de rejoindre Ushuaia, et je me félicite d'avoir déjà mon billet de bus pour le bout du monde. C'était sans compter les caprices du destin... Au retour à l'auberge Esmeralda, où j'ai déjà passé une nuit avant le trek, j'apprend que le lendemain matin débute une grève. Les gens de la région protestent contre la hausse du prix du gaz. Les informations sont assez obscures, mais je dois changer mon billet pour le surlendemain. L'ambiance à l'auberge étant très bonne, je suis assez contente d'avoir une journée de plus pour me reposer et c'est confiante que je passe la soirée à apprendre à faire des sushis avec Cristobald, le gérant de l'auberge. ... read more

WOW. We´re speachless, but will try our best to put into words what a fantastic experience we´ve had in Patagonia. We left Puerto Natales for Torres del Paine and hiked ¨the grand circuit¨over a period of 9 days. This voyage circumnavigates the best parts of this national parque. We saw everything from meadows to the largest glacier in South America, to the Torres del Paine, which are 2-3,000 ft granite batholiths that pierce the sky. There is usually very unpredictable weather, including rain and random snow. We experienced the opposite. Every day was sunny and spectacular. We spent Christmas, Mom´s birthday, and el Año Nuevo in the park. We met great folks along the trail, a few of which paralleled our journey. Here is a list of things that happened to us along the way: 1. ... read more

Zooo... Ik ben er maar eens even goed voor gaan zitten. Vandaag (nou je de 14e) ben ik van Montevideo naar El Calafate gevlogen. Daarmee heb ik het grootste gedeelte van Argentinie overgeslagen. De terugweg zal wel wat langer worden :). De dag erna ben ik op excursie door Patagonie naar de gletsjer Petito Moreno geweest. Echt overweldigend om daar te zijn. Eerst met de boot langs de gletsjer gevaren en daarna via een grote trappen-en-vlonder constructie erlangs gelopen. Vanaf boven gezien is de gletsjer groot! De dag erna om 7.00 in de bus naar Puerto Natalis. Daar heb ik me mentaal voorbereid op een 3 dagen durende trektocht door de bergen. 17-12: De eerste dag in de bergen. Zon rugzak is best zwaar om door de bergen heen te slepen :). De tocht van vandaag ... read more