Torres del Peine: Chris

We disembarked in Puerto Natales after what turned out to be a spectacular 4-day voyage the length of Patagonia. We were ready to explore back on land and see what all the fuss was about.

Puerto Natales was largely shut down and boarded up to tourists here in the peak of off-season. What ensued was a typical hour-long parade of our backpacks around town in a concentric circle to find the best housing. Finally we found a little hospadaje (bed and breakfast) that would have us.

The lovely old woman who took us in also helped us plan our trip to the famous Torres del Paine national park. Like a second Mom, she would not let me pack my own snacks, make my own coffee and was as friendly as every sweet little Chilean woman we have met so far. When she sent us off with a “buen viaje” we hit the road for the finest Chile has to offer in natural wonderment.

Cueve del Miladon - The first stop was an ancient cave which used to be home to cavemen and a sloth-like bear called Miladon (Miladon Darwini).

We then stopped at a cafe where we could validate our park entry. In the meantime a cat cleverly jumped into the passenger seat, slashing open the lunch bag and made off with our amazing steak sandwiches. The driver who forgot to roll up his window was sincerely amazed. I was not amused.

The banks of Lago Azul had a spungy rock that seemed to belong to another planet.

Our first glimpse then was of the Paine Massif mountain range from 112k across the open range. This is actually completely seperate from the Andes range that we've seem to have seen inside and out in the last few months.

Inside the Paine Massif itself stand the granite towers of Las Torres, which appeared dark and mysterious on the day we were exploring.

The massive blue icebergs on drifting from the glacier on lago grey was one of our highlights of Torres del Paine. In these surroundings you could fully understand the power and magnitude of how a glacier cuts through land, grinding rock down to pebbles and leaving only a serene lake in between.

Fancy seeting you here - We bumped into Sara and Annie (our cabin mates on the Evangelista) several times in the park and arranged to meet up down the road in Argentina.