Trekking in Southern Patagonia - Torres del Paine National Park -

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Southern Patagonia is wild ,desolate , windy and home to Chile’s most famous and well visited national park- Torres del Paine. Its crowning glory are the three stunning granite towers (torres) and the whole area is a hikers heaven!! It is full of spectacular lagoons, glaciers, rolling untamed grasslands, and high snow covered peaks. It also the site of Chile’s oldest human habitation , indigenous peoples now alas no longer. The park has an array of wonderful wildlife apart from sheep cows and amazing horses, and we saw foxes, guanacos (a relative of the llama tribe) by the score, the Andean condor ( check out my photo!) and the nandu described by Darwin ( resembling the ostrich but smaller). We also found flamingos, many ducks and the lesser spotted something or other!!

We travelled from Punta Arenas where we docked, by coach , a journey of three hours, in seats that had been double booked ( don’t ask!). We were met by a private driver and driven a further 2 hours to the first of two hotels/lodges in the park. If we wondered where all the Brits were through out our trip , we found them here by the bucket full!!! This land has another dedicated species the back packer roaming the land enjoying the most exquisite scenery. We also spotted another tribe that had been with us on the boat , the noisy, loud often rude and brash American group. There is a hiking/trekking code in these parts and it says you walk in single file along dedicated trails so as to disturb the surrounding land as little as possible, and give way to those who may be struggling up or down hill. But not the Americans who overtook those of us waiting to let others pass and pushed through regardless causing a hiker to leave the trail and stare in amazement! They have been told off good and proper- we let them get on with it and left them on their last day to fly back to Florida south Carolina and their well healed mansions!

Having said all of that , this is another wonderful place big enough to absorb everyone who is here in high season and we actually didn’t see that many people walking The massive Torres are a spectacular sight to see and as we walked or drove around we saw them from all angles. What also struck us was the unfamiliar cloud formations , while the fluffy white things we are all so familiar with , hung around the tops of peaks sometimes hiding them sometimes as a backdrop, there were formations that were oval and shaped like a squashed doughnut or a round sandwiched biscuit. I have never seen anything like it and at dusk they look just fantastic hanging in the vast sky in pinks and greys. We think the very strong winds have something to do with it , our guide didn’t really appear to know.

Lou and I did a number of guided excursions with others from our hotels , and explored all the main sights seeing glaciers (again) spectacular largos the colour of emerald and azur, ice bergs newly carved and making their way downstream, waterfalls and natural forests. We also took ourselves off on our own, trails are quite well marked and levels of difficulty are given. It is hugely expensive as there are so few hotels and they are dotted about this huge area , you are at their price mercy . Tis a bit of a shock paying for food and booze at inflated prices, oh well we are in an amazing place and boy are we aware of it!!

The winds here are amongst the strongest and depending on where you are in the park, you may be literally blown over as I was. The park has suffered extensive fire damage several times recently , last year and five years ago and you can see the browned and scorched trees which lend an eerie appearance to the landscape

Alan returned to us safe and sound and had the most amazing adventures, the seas were a tad bumby and he says he got lots of pictures of just sea or sky as he was busy hanging on to save himself from the cold waves!!





We have had five days of wind swept beauty in this astonishing land, it is a spectacular place. As I type this last bit , we are at Puerto Arenas airport waiting for a flight to Santiago , all flights out have been cancelled as the winds are so high , one plane has had its windscreen cracked and so we wait until they subside. We may have an issue as Lou and Alan are due to fly home tomorrow midday so heres hoping flights arnt too bumpy eekkk………..!! Well we were delayed for 20 hours and spent the night in the airport - not a nice way for Al and lou to spend their last days. As soon as we arrived in santiago after a 5 hour journey they had to check in for their london bound flight , they are still up in the air!!. I have a further day in Santiago and then off to Quito for more adventures!!!!

Xxxxxx

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