Puerto Natales is the launching pad for the Torres del Paine National Park, one of the crown jewels of Chile. The town is very much dedicated to facilitating outdoor activities for tourists and providing lodging for those who have finished doing just that. The entire town fits within a 2 x 5 block rectangle. We had planned to stay there only 3 nights so that we could do a day trip of the park (we wanted to camp but lacked equipment and time) and a jaunt to see a glacier. But as fate would have it we ended up staying 4 nights because the woman at our hostel who "helped" us plan the tour to the glacier as our first activity failed to tell us that we each had to bring our passports in order to see it.
You see, the glacier, called Perito Moreno, is technically in Argentina. On some level we knew that, but since we were going with a tour company, and we had just learned in school all about how Argentina and Chile are brother countries, blah blah blah... plus there's that whole thing with the European union where everyone is super chummy so they let you go anywhere you want and they'll just pretend like you're from there...We didn't know if we were getting ourselves into something like that, or what. And since we did not automatically know (NOR WERE WE TOLD) that it was absolutely necessary to have your actual passport on you in order to enter Argentina and see the glacier, only one of us (ahem...me) had their actual passport on them.
Thus we arrive at my latest lesson: When life won't let you cross a border...go to a tourist attraction inside the country you're already in! And if you can't do that, make yourself into a tourist attraction! (I will accept NO responsibility for any clothing shed or tattoos acquired in pursuit of this)
So after waiting around for 3 hours at the customs station in Chile (and calling the tour company frantically to ensure spots for the glacier tour the following day so that our money wouldn't be wasted) we bummed our way onto a full tour of the Torres del Paine National Park.
This is the sunrise. That's how early I got up to NOT go see a glacier.
This is what the sun did once it got going at Lago Amarga.
There are a number of different lakes and attractions inside T de P National Park, this lake is like the prelude to some of the other attractions, the most famous of which are the Cuernos del Paine and Glacier Grey (which we did not see on this trip).
One thing I've learned about Chile is that it has this eery way of being familiar and new all at the same time. For example, these may look like ostrich (or maybe they don't I realize the picture is quite far away, sorry) but they are actually rheas. A flightless bird native to Patagonia, that is significantly smaller than an ostrich.
And these may look like llamas but they are actually guanacos, which, when you get down to it, is even more fun to say, don't you think?
In this picture the actual Torres del Paine peaks are behind me shrouded in clouds. Thanks Mother Nature, thanks.
As bummed as I was about Mother Nature ruining my previous shot, I was more sad to find that certain matters that should be left up to the all mighty MN are sometimes not. As some of you may know, T de P National Park recently suffered a humongous fire that was started accidentally by a visiting tourist. Talk about a guilty conscious, huh? "Listen Chile, I'm so so sorry I burned your most treasured, one-of-a-kind landscape to the ground. Won't let it happen again!"
Although the actual fire was months ago, recovery is slow as you can see from my pictures. But before I go and wallow too much I should mention that blue and brown are opposite ends of the color wheel so the two make each other pop reeaal nice in all of my pictures. (If you have blue eyes you should go put on a brown top right now, and vice versa for those of you with brown eyes. Go put on something blue. Seriously, go! You're welcome) Although the ashy hillside wasn't that picturesque on its own, it certainly brought out the best in the sky and the water. See for yourself!
Check out the change in water color here: I call that ice blue in the far back, and turquoise-cerulean in the foreground.
The last major stop of the day was at the waterfall called Salto Grande, translation: Big Jump. Hahaha! I had to laugh at the originality.
