After a little bit of rest, and a lot of washing laundry, we headed to the south of Chile on a LAN Chile plane. We landed at the Punta Arenas airport, and I was stunned by the stark landscape of Southern Patagonia. Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine were both terrific. Puerto Natales is a quaint little touristy town. I would kind of like to buy a little house there and have a great time tramping around through the thick ice that builds up over the course of the winter months. The climate was cool but pleasant. The days lasted until the wee hours of the morning. We stayed in a hostel called the Erratic Rock. The owner was a fun loving hippy type from the states. He was such a welcoming fellow. We spent Christmas in his hostel. Some of the other guests had already organized a Christmas dinner by the time we arrived. We joined in on the festivities, but the food was terrible. The guests organizing the dinner were English, otherwise the only people of the world who know less about cooking than Chileans. It was a fine time, the English folks were lovely people, despite their lack of culinary prowess. Puerto Natales was just a stop on the way to Torres del Paine. We left the hostel early one morning and boarded a bus headed for the park.
Torres del Paine is probably one of the most beautiful spots I will ever have the chance to visit. It captures perfectly what is amazing about Patagonia: the clash between sprawling pampas, and acres of squat, spiny windblown trees interjected by towering volcanic mountains. It is otherworldly, seriously. I was told that a huge fire raged through the park last year, and I saw the carnage. I don't know how many acres of the amazing thousands of years old short spiny pampa trees were burned. I would have liked to see the park before the huge fire. The fire was started by campers, but it was the government that did not get out and fight the fire when the conditions were good. The wind picked up and the forest went the way of the dodo. There is a strange beauty in tree-corpses stretching as far as the eye can see. I would rather see living trees, though.
My father and I went on a 22-km hike that took us up quite close to Glacier Grey. I am pretty sure that on that hike I experience one of the most amazing sensations in the world. The sun here in Chile is potent beyond belief, it tears into you without mercy. The hike was in some regards murderous, save for the delicious breezes that swept over the glacier and provided us with the respite we needed to keep going. I put my feet in a glacier lake, and although I couldn’t stand the water for much more than a few seconds, it was incredibly soothing. Without that glacier lake I don't know how I would have started on the second half of our hike. I figured that since I was going to the park with my parents we would not be going on any long hikes. So, I left my hiking boots in Santiago, even though I had asked my parents to bring them to Chile for me. I luckily had several band aids in my backpack. I taped up all of the places where my feet were splitting apart, and somehow made it back to camp. Dad and I got back quite late, and mom was worried. She wouldn’t be mom if she didn’t. We ate our mediocre expensive dinner, and all was well.
Other highlights: My brother and I spent a lot of time skipping rocks in the lake. He is great at it, I am not so great at it. We went on a ferry ride to get from one camp site to another. It was spectacular. The night time was so cold! We ate lots of PB&J. It was quite a treat. PB&J is expensive in Chile, and only justifiably eaten in Chile when you need easy to pack, non-perishable high protein hike fueling food. We went on other day hikes, but nothing quite as crazy as the hike out to the glacier.
After Torres del Paine, we returned to Puerto Natales. The second time around in Puerto Natales we stayed in a fancier hostel. We missed the Erratic Rock, but the slight amount of added luxury was not too shabby. We also ate the best meals we could find. We were all windblown and wiped-out.
We headed out of Puerto Natales and back to Punta Arenas by bus. While in Punta Arenas , we took a nice long drive to see penguins. On the way there we saw all kinds of Ñandú (an Ostrich like bird native to the south of Chile). Our cab driver told us that they are very delicious. I would eat a Nandu just to say that I did, but I am not entirely sure that it is legal. I kind of suspect it is not. We also saw quite a few guanacos (a llama relative), but we saw lots of them at the park, so we weren't as interested in them on this leg of the trip. As for the penguins, they are the cutest thing ever. They take turns watching the chicks and fishing. So, if you get there at the right time of day you will see all of these penguins pouring out of the ocean and wobbling up the beach. Then they trade places with their spouses, and you see the dry penguins pouring down the beach and rushing into the ocean.
While walking down the street we ran into this Chilean fellow who we had met at the Erratic Rock and then also seen at the Park. It was a strange coincidence. It always makes me smile the way that you can end up on the same path as people while traveling. Time to left arrived, and we boarded a plane headed for Puerto Montt, which is located probably more than 600 miles to the north of Punta Arenas.
Chile is such a strange, long country.
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