Punta Arenas & Torres del Paine, Chile

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Hola,

So our last night in La Paz we met up with Alison again and paid a visit to her homestay (Alison was staying with a Bolivian family to practice her spanish). Mama Gloria, the lady of the house, insisted we stay for dinner which was great. Girls if ye´ve left the homestay let us know how you´re coping with backpackers hostels again! Eddie formed quite a relationship with the massive dulux dog in the house.

We left La Paz to fly to Punta Arenas, Chile. This took 2 flights both of which included stopovers so it was a long day travelling. The last leg of the journey was pretty scary- turbulence like we´ve never experienced but we arrived safe and sound. In Punta Arenas we checked into a really homely hostel, where Teresa literally mothered us for a few days. Arriving in Chile was a big change after Peru and Bolivia. In comparison Chile is very modern, the rules of the road are obeyed, food and sanitation standards are almost as good as at home, there are heating systems in houses, farming seems to be more structured. Along with all this prices have probably quadrupled! In many ways Chile reminds me of parts of North America. We spent a couple of days relaxing in Teresa´s house and getting used to the Patagonian weather. In Peru and Bolivia the cold we experienced was due to the altitude, down here its just cold and windy all year round. From Punta Arenas we took a trip out to see a penguin colony which was really cool. We spent a couple of hours hiding behind a bunch of trees observing the male penguins preparing the burrows for the arrival of the females. They are amzing creatures - they work pretty slowly though!!

We left Punta Arenas last Sunday and headed for Puerto Natales the gateway to Torres del Paine, one of Chile´s national parks. There is very little worth noting about Puerto Natales - its a pretty quiet town, probably even quieter due to the fact that the summer season is only just starting. On Monday morning we went to Torres del Paine and started the famous ´W´trek in the park. It took us until Friday to complete it- it was really enjoyable. I´m guessing we covered about 70-80 km over the 5 days- can´t be fully sure as we did get lost from time to time!! It was just the two of us and the park was really quiet- we only met 2-3 other trekkers a day. The scenery was fantastic- completely different to Peru and Bolivia. We stayed in ´refugios´at night which were nice and cosy after a day of walking, although pretty pricey. This time we carried all our own stuff (including food) so im even more impressed with the porters on the inca trail! Last nite we returned to Puerto Natales for a well deserved steak dinner.....

So we´ve just arrived in El Calafate, Argentina (still Patagonia) and everything seems pretty similar to Chilean Patagonia.

Adios amigos..

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Photos

Mama Gloria, the dulux dog and Eddie
Seems like I´ve got some competition!!

Magellan Strait
Yes I'm wearing about 7 layers-it´s supposed to be the start of summer, I´ve no idea what you would wear here in winter!

Plaza Munoz Gamero, Punta Arenas
The monkey has found a tree!

Beach Party
It´s a black tie affair!

Las Torres
A 4 hour trek and the clouds block our view of the towers!!

Its a winter wonderland
We had all kinds of weather over the 5 days

All finished!
A boat ride back to civilisation..