Day 13 - Flamingos!

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After expecting another boring day of driving to get to the Torres del Paine National Park (via Puerto Natales to stock up on provisions) we were very excited to come across a lake full of flamingos. A few people watched from the truck as the rest of us clambered over a barbed wire fence to stalk the flamingos, all for that perfect photo, which wasn’t really captured on our 3 x zoom cameras!

We arrived at our campsite in the national park, located in beautiful surroundings by Lake Pehoe, in good time to empty out our big rucksacks and re-pack with the essentials for the next few days. Chris, myself, Mahnee and Duncan (who had joined us in Puerto Madryn to train up as the new truck driver) were the only 4 who had opted to tackle the 4 day "W Trek". Funnily enough, the trek follows the shape of a W, but is usually traversed over a 6 day period. This meant that we had to cut a few kilometres off our route and plan it very carefully, especially with winter reducing hours of daylight. We also had to commit to a fast pace with little rest stops. The campsites and hostels (named "refugios") sold food at ridiculously high prices (eg 10 quid for a packed lunch, 25 quid for a simple dinner) so we had stocked up on food and gas to keep us going. All of that, along with cold and wet weather gear, first aid kits, sleeping bags and mats, and tents (it was a further 30 quid to stay in a bed!) meant a very heavy pack to lug around for 4 days. Chris and I were anxious that we had never hiked with heavy packs before, let alone hiked for longer than a day, but reasoned that the more that we challenged ourselves, the greater the reward. Ultimately, it was only way to see the National Park at its best.

Chris’s Corner

Happy birthday Claire!

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