Torres Del Paine

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This region is in the Magellanes and Antarctica of Chile. It was a full day bus excursion, that picked us up from our hotel along with 10 other passengers. Torres Del Paine National Park was named by a German expedition in 1959 and has remained totally protected. The main industry of the region is shipping and farming. Despite high rainfall, the land stays dry because of the strong winds. There is sparse, low growth and yellow grass. Private land (hestansias) have many kilometres between dwellings/houses. On the way, I saw a puma with a recent kill, panting from its victory. Pumas are protected now and a big problem for farmers, for killing atleast five sheep a day, just for practice. It was rare to see one, expecially with fresh kill by day, they usually hunt at night. Along with the puma, guanacos (lama) ,deer, two types of foxes the red and the brown, ostriches, condors, buzzards, eagles, hawks, ducks, geese and small rodents inhabit the area. Many of which we saw in the wild! This tour includes lunch on an island within a lake, walking over a long bridge. Vistited sites were to lakes, waterfalls, glaciers and a extraordinary cave when Milodon dinosaurs remains were found. Bigger prehistoric creatues along with the Saber tooth tiger lived in the area. One of the theories of extinction were because a volcanic eruption changed the climate and only the smaller species survived or that humans followed the beasts and hunted them out. This is a very special part of the world and time.

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Comments

[Michael]

Checking for updates :-)
Hey Wendy, having a quick check of your blog, this picture really is fantastic. Peter showed me a few other pics tonight, looks like you are relaxing :-)