Torres del Paine NP, Patagonia

  Punta Arenas, Chile
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

WOW, we have travelled almost to the bottom of the earth and found paradise.
After a 4 hour flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas(the most southerly inhabited town in Chile), followed by a 5 hour drive, the last 2 on dirt roads we arrived at Hotel Explora hidden away amongst the mountains in seclusion.

Explora hotel nestled in the mountains

Breathtaking scenery and a picture-perfect view from our bedroom window. What a welcome.

Our view from the hotel

What a wonderful time we have spent here in Torres Del Paine National Park. We did 3 full day hikes with picnic lunches,4 half day walks, a walk and boat trip to the  edge of a glacier and ice fields and also 3 trail rides on horseback.

Liz well-wrapped up to vist the Grey glacier

The horse riding was an unexpected highlight as we both really loved seeing the scenery from a different perspective, not to mention a rest for weary feet. We only did the 'easy' rides but graduated from walking to a few spells of trotting and loved it.

Riding the Pampas

The Gauchos who look after the horses and lead the rides are so helpful and we shared traditional mate tea with them in the stables after the rides.

David sharing Mate tea with a Gaucho

Hard to believe that we have ridden with Gauchos across the Pampas of Patagonia. We even crossed rivers and went up and down some hilly terrain.The horses were so well trained and we had Chilean saddles which are large and comfortable and well padded with sheepskin. One day we had a typical Chilean barbecue lunch of lamb cooked slowly on a cross and it was meltingly soft.

Guacho lamb barbecue

The Gauchos cooked it, basting it throughout the morning, at one of the stables areas and carved straight off the whole lamb on the ´cross´. Rather different from Aussie barbies but the salads were similar except that there was a plate piled high with whole, peeled Hass avocados. They are plentiful, inexpensive and delicious.
We also saw lots of wildlife;

Guanaco mother and baby

the Guanacos(similar to a llama) were beautiful and fairly tame and one could get quite close before they moved away.

Guanacos

Condors, kestrels and other birds could be seen. Pumas live there but are rarely seen and we saw much evidence of their prescence in the carcasses of guanacos.
So after all this we feel very fit; fresh air, exercise, spectacular scenery and delicious food make a great combination. We finished every day with a swim in the heated indoor pool followed by soothing our aching muscles in an outdoor jacuzzi at the edge of a lake. Some brave(foolish?) people jumped in the freezing cold lake after the jacuzzi but ´jumped´ out even more quickly.

David in the jacuzzi

David was one of those people but I was not.
We had heard and read so many good things about Patagonia but it has exceeded all our expectations.

Hike to French Valley

It is a really special part of the world and we hope to return some day to explore further.
We have just stayed overnight in Punta Arenas before flying north to the Lakes area tonight. Unexpectedly we have got lots of odd jobs done here, in about 2 hours we got a watch battery fitted, a new zip bought and fitted to my waterproof walking trousers(all for less than $8 and with a smile) and this blog finished as we have fast internet in this, the Cabo De Hornos hotel. 
In the main square there is a huge monument to Ferdinand Magellan,  the first European to discover the area, and the toe of one of the Ona Indians around the statue has been polished to a shine. Tradition has it that if you touch(some say kiss) the toe you will return to Punta Arenas. We both touched it so hope that the tradition is correct.