Travel to Puerto Natales

A 3 hour journey lightened by the views of animal life. We did see some llamas, but they were farmed.

 

Hotel Altiplanico

 

 

The hotel was superbly minimalist. The outside walls were turf and the roof was lawn.

On the fjord in front of the hotel there were many water birds.

Saw this vertical rainbow from the breakfast table - bad news about what's on the other side of the rainbow. I don't think the boat trip to Torres del Paine is going to go without a hitch.

 

Fjord Journey

The Rock Cormorants do look very much like penguins. Hundreds rest on the cliffs.

The two Sea Lions were part of a group on the rocks.

 

The waterfall was a bit lost on us after visiting Iguaçu. The glacier was at the end of a nice walk after leaving the big boat.

We saw a kingfisher dive for the fish in his mouth. Lightening fast.
Nearby were wild, very sweet, yellow raspberries. Ate lots.

 

After a nice lunch we transferred to zodiac boats to continue our journey. Some light showers but visibility not that good. We had to leave one zodiac and walk around the rapids before getting into another zodiac to fish our fjord journey.

 

 

We completed our travel to the hotel by car, stopping on the way for photos.

The Caracaras have spotted a road kill in the ditch and are gathering to feed.

 

Paine River Walk

The river was pleasant enough but walking up into the woods was a bit tedious. The trees are 3 types of beech with few birds.
Cloudy, so no views of the Torres.

The view from our hotel was across the water with ice floes from the glacier towards the Torres. The glacier makes the valley very cold.

 

 

East of the Torres

Guanacos were everywhere in this part. They jump over the facing very neatly.

The cameloid features are unmistakable.

 

Condors were flying from their high rock nests. The open wing feathers are unmistakable. Very impressive in flight.

 

 

We were told that these were cave paintings. Some others close by were washing off with the water seepage. Open mind on these!

The view to the right is about the best we got of the lower Torres - lots more mountains behind the cloud.

 

San Pedro de Atacama

The view from the plane looked intriguing. On the way to San Pedro we stopped off to look at something similar on the ground. It's certainly hot here, a most welcome change from Torres del Paine.

We will be walking close to here this evening, in The Valley of the Moon. We're at 2800m altitude.

 

We walked down to the town from our hotel. It's quaint and definitely retro-hippy, with appropriately attired tourists.
Our lunchtime restaurant was nicely airy. We were not prepared for the huge portion sizes, however. The beer ensured an afternoon siesta.

 

 

Walk in the Valley of the Moon

 

This was a magical walk through the salt rock formations. It's not water but salt in the last picture! As the sun sets, the rocks begin to contract, crackling as they do.

We arrived at the end of the 2 hour walk with our guide Juan, to be greeted by some lovely canapes and good Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Apparently prepared by our multi-talented driver Fabian.

 

 

Salt Mountain Range Walk

We drove from San Padro up to 4800m, taking in the views of the high Andes to the small village of Manchuco. The villagers were doing a roaring trade with the bus tourists by selling them llama espedatas. A bit of a conflict here, as the llama is much revered by the indigenous people and not eaten.

The church in the upper part of the picture is a compromise between catholicism and local religions.

 

There has recently been an important festival to revere the llama. This is done by decorating the animals with coloured ribbons.

All the llamas are actually domesticated. Apparently no wild llamas are now found in Chile.

 

The path is a very old one from the times when the Incas used llamas to trade items from the mountains to the coast. Pampas grass grows widely.

The local people cultivate crops, including maize and quinoa. Ancient irrigation systems still function.

 

After 2 hours of walking, we ate our lunch in the shelter of of an open room in an abandoned village. Nice stone bench and table!

The old cactus wood beams can be seen on dilapidated buildings. The pestle and mortar was about 60cm high and presumably for communal use.

Walled terraced cultivation clearly took place. The inhabitants decamped to a less remote village in the early 1900s.

 

As we got lower down, cacti grew. Lower down the pampas grass got bigger. It mainly grew close to the small water course that flows down the valley.

We were collected at the end of the valley in the small town of San Jose.

 

 

Walk up Toco Mountain

We drove to about 4800m before we set off in blue skies to walk up Toco mountain. As we get higher we can see across to Bolivia and what is known as "Bolivian Winter" on its way, i.e. Snow.

 

Ian spotted the local active volcano sending out a plume of smoke, something it does quite a lot.

The going definitely got tougher. It was walk about 100m and then wait for the heart rate to recover for a minute or so before progressing. We reached the top at 5652m or 18,554ft.

 

We only stayed at the top for about 20 mins to have a snack and take photos. The walk down to the transport was a lot quicker than the walk up.

You can see a radio telescope in the distance. There are large optical telescopes not far away, taking advantage of the elevation and lack of light pollution.

A lunchtime beer was not required to cause this afternoon's siesta!

 

Tatio Geysers & Hot Springs

 

We left at 05:30 to visit Tatio. The early morning light is necessary to see the full effect of the hundreds of openings in the ground. Breakfast admiring the views, including the smallest cameloid of the area, the Vicunã.

We then drove to a lake to see pink and black flamingos.