Torres del Paine - Patagonia 2014

Aussies!! On the way to our hotel in Punta Arenas from the ship, we travelled with 2 other couples who turned out to be Aussies also going to Torres del Paine and then El Calafate.  We introduced ourselves; learned one couple is from Darwin (Di & Stewart) and the other from Echuca (Maureen & Dick).  Will be good to travel with some like-minded people.

Our brief time in Punta Arenas was spent walking its streets past very beautiful historical buildings and the back blocks.  We also enjoyed a Chilean speciality… the Completo or Chilean hotdog.

view over Punta Arenas

 A Completo comprises the bun, layer of chopped tomato, sauerkraut, sausage, mashed avocado and creamy mayonnaise on top, served on a narrow plate the width of the bun and a knife.  It sounds a little weird but it actually tasted good, especially when you’re trying it in a packed Chilean ‘hamburger joint’.

Next morning we joined our new travel companions for the 7 hr. road trip to Torres del Paine National Park, including a lunch stop at a sheep ranch where we were served more tender lamb, Chilean wine and other veggies.  Other tourists joined us at our table, 2 girls and a couple from Brazil and 2 video makers from Chile.  The conversation was fascinating, despite the mixture of languages and accents.

As our road journey progressed, we were all waiting to see our first glimpse of the Paine Massif, especially the Torres del Paine, sometimes called ‘The 3 Spires’ which is what the park gets its name from. With a setting sun, we did get a first tempting but cloud surrounded view of ‘The Spires’.

clouds teasing us with views of The Torres

Our hotel, Las Torres, is beautifully located near the base of one section of the massif with tantalising glimpses of ‘The Spires’ peaking out from behind it and the massif made the hotel look very small and insignificant indeed.  The hotel was very comfortable and located on the only remaining private land within the park’s boundaries.

hotel is little white strip bottom left of massif

Our alarm went of at 7am and we peered out our window, hoping we were in luck with the weather, which has a reputation for being extremely changeable and fierce at times.  It was still very dark but we could make out that it wasn’t raining or blowing a gale, but there was some cloud in the sky.

Why were we awake at this hour, simple, we wanted to try and capture the sunrise and its impact on ‘The Spires’.  With cameras and tripod we headed out with a quick stop at Reception.  We wanted to know about pumas (mountain lion type cats) being in the area as heard about during dinner.  When asked about pumas, the guy behind the counter, shrugged his shoulders, told us he knew nothing and then simply finished with… “good luck!”.

So off we went, walking off into the darkness, every little sound catching our attention, particularly one, eyes peering into the darkness catching sight of a man on horseback that loomed out of the greying sky and passed us.  After 30 mins walking, we found a place we thought would give us the best view we could get and simply waited for the sun to join us.

The effort and wait was worth it, first because of the great sunrise we got behind us and then as the sun made its presence felt, the change in colour which appeared in front of us on two of ‘The Spires’ themselves, the third unfortunately hidden from us.  

The whole sunrise inspired colour impact lasted a mere 3-4 minutes before the magnificent massif turned its natural light grey.  We count ourselves very lucky to have seen it based on what guides constantly told us about the weather.

By the way, we also learned over breakfast from our travelling companions, that the specific noise we heard on our walk out into the darkness was from a grey fox and it is a noise they make when there are puma around.

Torres del Paine is known to the Chileans at least, as the 8^th Wonder of the World.  A few facts first, it was created in 1959, has a surface area of 227,298 hectares and averages 155,000 visitors a year.  We engaged in 2 full days of wandering throughout the majority of the park by car, boat and foot.  We got close to the granite spires of Torres del Paine, the Cuemos del Paine, a massif of uniquely contrasting (grey & black) sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and the tallest peak of Cerro Paine Grande at 3,050 metres. 

The rustic boat ride, including a zodiac transfer from shore, took us across the Grey Lake and very close across the 3 faces of Grey Glacier, which happens to have some of the deepest blue ice we have ever seen.  

Cara Cara getting stuck in

There were also numerous animals in this park, some of them eating and some being eaten.

Torres del Paine is yet another place requiring adjectives to try and describe it.  Words like primitive, raw, huge, jagged, breathtaking, demanding and panoramic come to mind because of the profound impact the massif or the numerous lakes has on you, no mater from which location within the park you are observing it.  It also seduces you with multiple and unexpected scenes of serenity.

You will notice there are quite a few panoramic photos in the link attached below because this place naturally inspires this style of photography.

For more photos of Torres del Paine just click on the link below:

CLICK HERE for more photos of - Torres del Paine 2014

As a humorous aside, we did have a very funny experience one night over dinner with our new Aussie travelling friends.  A film crew from Channel Ten (Places We Go – Saturday afternoons) doing a feature on Chile and was seated at the table next to us.  We had noticed them doing filming the day before and again as we walked in for dinner.

Our dinner was progressing well along with a few local cocktails (Pisco & Calafate Sours) and we again noticed we were being filmed from a distance enjoying ourselves.  A little later when the laughter at our table had begun to increase, a waiter came up to us and asked if we would mind reducing our noise a little.  Reason, the Aussie front man was interviewing the owner of the Hotel right behind us.

Well then the fun really began and whilst we did reduce our noise, we started trying to make the cameraman laugh, gave the interviewer wind up signals out of camera shot, all of which cause our waiter to retreat to the furthest wall from us and crack up with stifled laughter.  With his interview over, the front man thanked us and told us he also found the whole thing very amusing.  Their show goes to air supposedly sometime in June this year.

Torres del Paine really is a place of striking place of raw natural beauty!

Southern Patagonia - Argentina to Chile- Sailing 2014

With the Captains greeting and safety drill briefings out of the way, the MV Stella Australis departed Ushuaia and back south down the Beagle Channel towards the Drake Passage, our destination being the famous Cape Horn.

The ship and our cabin is very comfortable, including large multiple lounge areas complimented by large sink into leather lounges and a dedicated dining room.  We will be on board for 3 nights.

The overnight journey was very smooth as was the soft voice over the intercom waking us up at 6:30am requesting us to be fully dressed, including life jackets, in the briefing room by 7am.

The plan was to land by zodiacs on Cape Horn itself!

The ship manoeuvred into a small bay about 300 mtrs from the landing spot below the 160 stairs we would need to climb in order to reach the lighthouse constantly warning all ships of the dangers of ‘The Horn’. 

The 160 steps and lost seaman memorial above them

Another briefing the night before on Cape Horn shared there is believed to be almost 10,000 sailors who have met their ends whilst trying to ‘round the Horn’ in the days of sail.  Sometimes it has taken some sailing ships due to very bad weather, almost 3 months, just to get around this spot.

Cape Horn and lighthouse

So we waited and waited and waited, all 83 passengers on board keen to actually step foot on Cape Horn and meet the Chilean family of 3 and a dog, ensuring the lighthouse is always working.

Unfortunately due to the prevailing winds and rough seas, the Captain took the decision that safe zodiac landings were not possible.  Damm!  So the ship backed away from this little bay and moved back out to sea, despondent passengers returning to their cabins to stow all their gear.

The ship had approached Cape Horn from the north side and would normally return back again into Patagonia via the same route but the Captain made another decision and one that does not usually occur as we found later.

He headed south briefly and we actually ‘rounded the Horn’!

the proof!

Fantastic… as this is an opportunity that doesn’t happen very often anymore once the Panama Canal opened.  So our first breakfast on board was enjoyed in the knowledge of what had just occurred.

Our ship was now heading back north and past Ushuaia, bound for the narrower waterways of southern Patagonia and hopefully, weather dependant, zodiac landings ashore.  The MV Australis is a very comfortable way to go sailing around these waters and the service aboard is excellent.

So during our trip over the next few days, apart from enjoying great food, Calafate Sours and multiple educational briefings, we made 3 zodiac landings at:

Wulaia Bay – here we visited a site Charles Darwin also spent time in, studying the local aborigines known as the Yaghan who were not well treated once the Europeans arrived.  We chose to climb a small mountain to get great views of the bay.  Joining us on this climb was a very sprightly 80 yr. old call Anne, quite inspirational, considering how wet and slippery the track was.

Aguila Glacier – with the ship anchored in a fairly narrow channel with small pieces of floating ice in it, surrounded by tall snow capped mountains.  Once ashore we walked the shoreline whilst light rain and mist kept us company, following an inlet to the foot of the glacier.  The glacier whilst quite small had the classic blue colour scattered within its jagged face.  Some of the plants along the shoreline also looked like an assortment miniature bonsai.

Magdalena Island – Magellanic penguin time again after a pre-sunrise landing and here there were thousands of penguins to enjoy either lining their burrows with plant matter, squabbling with each other or getting ready to head to sea whilst keep a wary eye open for the lion seals from a nearby island.  The sunrise over the island helped finish off the MV Australis experience for us.

early landing ashore

Having enjoyed a very comfortable trip and associated experiences over the last few days, our ship, with the help of 2 small tugs, moored itself for our departure in Punta Arenas, Chile.  The ship and its staff were very good, but it was now time to spend time on land again and continue our wander further north to Torres del Paine.

For more photos of Sailing Southern Patagonia just click on the link below:

CLICK HERE for more photos of - Sailing Southern Patagonia 2014