Patagonia: Torres del Paine

Hi all!  So, two posts in quick succession is pretty rare for me, but here I am!  Picking up with where I left off, on Friday, March 13th we took a day long bus trip to Torres del Paine. Truthfully, I was rather exhausted by Friday because my last full night of sleep had been the Saturday before, but some quick naps on the bus kept me going! Also, views like the one below didn't hurt!

The Cuernos (horns) del Paine.

The first stop of the day was the Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument, or the Mylodon cave. A mylodon is a giant ground sloth from the area that has been extinct for 10,000 or so years.  The size of the cave was pretty neat, but it was a cold day (snowed for just a bit even!), and it felt rather like a tourist trap. Stumbling across the cave while hiking would be amazing, but being herded along a path surrounded by tourists really kills the mood.

One photo I snapped inside the cave.  The scale was pretty awesome.

The weather in Torres del Paine, and in Patagonia in general, is very unpredictable. During the trek we were treated to really pleasant weather and very little rain, but on Friday we got a taste of colder weather and a good deal of wind! It is hard to imagine how backpackers who do the 5-day W trek or the 8-10 day O trek in Torres del Paine prepare themselves. They need clothes for every possibility because in the same day it may snow, rain, gust, and then get downright warm! I think I have a way to go before I would be adequately prepared for such an adventure, but it is totally on the list! Even though it was pretty overcast in the morning, it was on and off sunny, and we were still able to enjoy the views!

I can't recall if this is a lake or river or what the name is, but it was our first view of water with the glacial coloring!

The Cuernos in the distance, along with some ice burgs!

Glacier Grey peeking out on the left! Also you can tell it was quite windy by the waves on Lago Grey!

The wind was pretty impressive to us (40-50 mph), but later in the day the tour guide informed us that it wasn't a particularly windy day. As evidence, he showed us a nice photo of three large tour buses, which had been full of people, that had blown over. Imagine trying to set up a tent in 100 mph winds! Nope, lol.

Lago Pehoé, incredible color from the glaciers!

Zoomed in a bit on the Cuernos (it was a bit tricky at times to take photos sans other people)

Salto Grande waterfall

The views made being buffeted by wind and being chilly well worth it! It was actually hard to go back to the bus with views like these to enjoy. Aside from enjoying incredible landscapes, we also got to see quite a few guanaco, which are the parent species of the domesticated llama, and also a few Ñandú, or rhea.

This lake is the only one not fed by glaciers, thus the deep blue color!

Sunscreen is a good idea, even when it's overcast!

Guanaco!

Ñandú (Rhea), I love their ear holes!

I never get sick of looking at mountains!

The bus picked me up at about 7:30 am, and by the time we returned to Puerto Natales, it was around 6:30 pm. We immediately headed to Mesita Grande again for some pizza. Naturally, at that early hour, it was all gringos eating dinner, but an early dinner and early bedtime sounded perfect!

Pizza and a Pisco Sour. So good!

On Saturday, I had to be up at about 5:30 to eat breakfast before catching the taxi to the bus station for our 7 am departure back to the airport in Punta Arenas. I should mention that my stay at Hostal Morocha was great during my time in Puerto Natales!  I would definitely recommend it!  They were very accommodating, and I even got tasty breakfasts at the early hours in which I departed! Speaking of food, the food on Sky airline on the way to and from Punta Arenas was awesome. There were two actual meals each way (there was a brief stop in Puerto Montt). On the way back to Santiago, one of the meals was an empanada, with a hot dog and cheese inside. I'm pretty sure that won the award for most oddly chilean meal I've had!  All in all, it was a great trip!

Check out that glacier! This was from the flight to Punta Arenas.