Blogs from Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 9

I set off for my 3 day whale watching trip alone. The route to the whale watching eco camp on San Carlos island goes through part of the Magellan Strait and when the weather is bad it can get really rough. Sarah was originally signed up for the trip, but then read one review which described the experience like spending 12 hours inside a washing machine - after much agonising she eventually decided that this wasn't for her. Most of the first and last day was spent travelling to and from the island, although we were lucky to spot one Humpback whale on the way out and had a brief sighting of two Sei whales on the way back. The conditions to the island were considered 'perfect' - this is clearly a relative term as I ... read more

Trekking Torres del Paine (Note: I am trying to write less and use photos more. The photos have descriptions of where we were. I am also several days behind as there was no internet in the mountains!) For five days we hiked in the Torres del Paine National Park, going from refugio to refugio, covering over 35 miles with snow and glacier covered mountains and granite spires towering over us. The weather, notoriously unpredictable here, was great; only one cloudy day with light snow the rest sunny. There was, of course, the wind, which on the final day nearly knocked us down several times. This trek first takes you to the Torres del Paines themselves (Towers of Blue, Paine being a native word for Azul). They do 'tower' over you when you reach the lake at ... read more

The 28 or so hours traveling here has proven to be more than worth it! While the flight from Houston to Santiago was overnight and in the dark, the three hours from Santiago to Punta Arenas were spent winging over the Andes. Amazing is a word overused in America, but if you see these mountains from the air, well, this is what amazing means. First we saw snow covered mountains as soon as taking off, then glaciers, then extinct volcanoes, and then, an active volcano. Yep, complete with smoke coming out of a snow covered peak. We landed in Punta Arenas in very typical Patagonian weather, 10 degrees C. and a fine mist. But the hostel was warm and toasty and we then took to the streets to wander. By dinner time the rain had stopped ... read more

Punta Arenas Chile….Strait of Magellan, Sheep Ranching & Dolphins We left Ushuaia late as a woman on our ship had a stroke and an ambulance was sent for. This meant that there was a possibility that we would not get to see the glaciers as we made our way up the Beagle Channel toward Punta Arenas. But… the gods were with us and even though darkness was coming on and there were lots of clouds and some rain, we passed by a glacier before darkness fell. This glacier was up on a mountain and making its way down a pass. Glistening white against the stark vegetation-less mountains it looked close enough to touch with beautiful waterfalls. After taking some pictures, cold, wind and rain finally forced us inside. The next morning dawned still and with a ... read more

After taking a bus from El Calafate into Puerto Natales Chile we began to prepare for our first trek. After buying all our nescessary supplies and having a last dinner and beer, we set off the next morning into Torres del Paine national park. We decided to tackle the 140km "Q" circuit which should take us about 9 days. There is definitely a real sense of freedom and independence when you walk into the wilderness with your home (tent), food, clothes and bed on your back. Sandra, it must be said, was a little apprehensive having not done anything like this before. Her longest camping experience to this point was a 2 day canoe trip a couple of years ago with my aunt and uncle. She was fantastic, she handled all the hardships, her pack and ... read more