TORRES DEL PAINE, BLOG 9

A combination of the strong wind rattling the dome last night and that chocolate dessert I didn’t have the will power to turn down at dinner kept me wide awake last night. I finally gave up and took half a sleeping pill around one a.m. The good news is that we have another late breakfast so I got to sleep in.

As we walk to breakfast the temperature is definitely colder, the wind is gusting, and it is raining hard enough that we get a little wet. The towers are lost in the misty clouds so this is the first morning we haven’t had a clear view of them. Paul and I both have porridge this morning which is very tasty and the hot concoction helps warm us up. After we finish eating, we make sandwiches for our lunch. I also grab the chocolate bar that Paul has left beside his plate. Never pass up chocolate just don’t eat it late at night!

The logo on Eco Camp van

My energy is fairly low this morning due to this “half” cold I have come down with and add that to the rain, cold, and windy conditions my enthusiasm for hiking is not high. Paul and I put on rain pants and also affix rain covers to our day packs. I place my camera in Paul’s pack as it will be easier for me to get to it in his pack then it would be to take my pack off to retrieve it. Okay, maybe part of the reason I put it in his pack is because I don’t want the weight. We walk to the reception area in spitting rain and load up in the small vehicle with four other people. The man who was helping scout our way to the parking lot yesterday, the expat Russian man, and two Canadian women are our tour companions. Angie informs us that the man who was supposed to drive us this morning was coming from Port Natales last night and his vehicle blew over. Geez, I knew that the wind was strong last night but to blow a vehicle over it was really gusting. The good news is that the driver is fine.

A lone guanaco we pass by as we hike

We have more good news when we arrive at the head of the Fauna trail because the rain has stopped falling and the air has warmed up, however the wind is still blustery. As I mentioned I am a bit off my oats today and I walk right by two people who obviously are watching something. Paul stops me and says, “I can’t believe you didn’t see the Rhea”. Sure enough, a Rhea is eating grass 20 yards away. How did I miss that? Even then I didn’t get my camera out to document the big bird.

Angie talking about this bush and its berries which we sampled

Angie stops now and then to talk about some of the plants we are seeing. She also tells us about the time she was taking this hike and a female puma walked onto the trail in front of her. I don’t remember how far ahead the puma was but Angie said that the big cat continued on the trail for nearly the full length of the hike and would glance back at the young woman from time to time to keep an eye on her. Angie admitted she was a little afraid at first but soon realized the feline was not interested in her and like most animals wanted to walk the “path of least resistance”. That would get your adrenalin pumping.

One of the views from our high spot

Angie leads us up a steep path to a cliff with an overhanging ledge where there are some prehistoric paintings. I am panting by the time we reach the top but the climb didn’t seem to bother anyone else. Once I catch my breath, I admire the incredible view from our lofty perch. We also peer up at the deep red paintings that some ancient people painted on the ceiling of the overhang. Angie explains that researchers can’t pinpoint the date of the cave paintings but put the creation of the art at three thousand to eight thousand years ago. I comment on the size of the hand print because it is larger than my hand and our guide tells us that there was a race of people who existed here that were very tall. I do remember reading about the “giant people” that Fitzroy and Darwin encountered on their adventures in Patagonia. Perhaps the people who created the paintings were derived from that race of people. There also is a figure of a man and the other figures are probably guanacos but you have to use your imagination on these figures. We stay here to eat lunch and feast our eyes on snow-capped mountains or the lagoon below us occupied by Coscoroba Swans.

Some of the prehistoric paintings. that is a big hand

As we make our way down the trail there is another group climbing up but they stand aside to allow us to get by them. The remainder of the trail is fairly easy, some ups and downs on hills of course but nothing like the steep incline to the paintings. As we near a small water hole which is surrounded by green grass, we find a group of guanacos grazing. There are two small babies with them which are really cute but I notice one adult, ears flattened back, moves closer to them when we draw near. Angie is very cautious about an adult guanaco that is just a few feet from the trail but it is grazing and seems unconcerned about our guides close proximity and the animal doesn’t move as our guide passes it. I am watching two adults to our left that are staring at a lone guanaco that is approaching the herd from the right.

Cute baby guanaco

The camouflaged guanacos running towards the intruder, they do blend into the background. They are nearly at the trail we were just walking on

I am next to last in the group and I caution Nick, the expat Russian, that I am not liking the guanacos body language. I hesitate to walk by them because they have their ears laid flat and their shaggy necks stretched out. I make the decision to hurry by the sour looking animals and catch up with the rest of the group as does Nick, (we were both taking photos). We have barely made it past the surly duo when they begin barking and run towards the strange guanaco. The intruder holds his ground and when the front-runner reaches him the two feuding guanacos raise their front legs slightly off the ground and crash their chests together and bite at each other. However, the trespasser is smart enough to know that one against two angry defenders is not a fight to pick and turns tail, running off as fast as he can. The guanacos oddly enough chase the interloper just a short distance then come to a halt as they watch their enemy running away. I guess they don’t want to leave the herd unguarded.

The guanacos mean business, these are the chasers

This is after the brief clash and they are watching the enemy retreat. The back fellow sustained a bite as he is bleeding on his side

We end the hike at a ranger station where our driver is waiting for us. We were on the trail for three hours which was just right for me as the strong wind takes a lot of energy to hike in. When we arrived at Eco camp at mid-afternoon the rain started to fall again. We felt so lucky to have had no rain fall while we were hiking. The other people who took the longer hikes weren’t so lucky as they ended up hiking for several hours in the rain and cold. Nick’s wife was so chilled she was shivering when they returned to Eco Camp.

Another lovely view

We have reached the end of our hike. Notice the directions on brown sign about how to react if you meet a puma.

At our briefing this evening, Paul decides he wants to take the medium excursion which is tracking the wild horses that can be found in one area of Torres del Paine park. The hike isn’t that far but the drive is long and there are no trails to follow when you do hike. Paul doesn’t really care about the horses but would like to see some new country. The easy excursion is just riding in the van and stopping at viewing areas, most of which we have already visited. I hem haw around and agree to sign up for it too, with the option of canceling if the weather is really crummy and if I am not feeling better.

We walk back to our dome in light rain and it is still pattering against our dome when we go to bed. I wake up at midnight with chills and a clogged nose. It seems my cold has hit full force so I take some cold medicine and as I drift off to sleep admit to myself, I will have to forego the outing tomorrow. When the alarm goes off, I wake up to hear rain still splashing against the plastic walls of the dome. I tell Paul that I am not going on the excursion. Paul replies that he was hoping to talk me out of going because I have no energy when I succumb to a cold. I can’t argue with that.

I do go up to breakfast with Paul and this morning the towers are completely hidden by fog and clouds. When we get to the communal dome, I tell the guides that I will not be going on the wild horse outing as I am not feeling well. The concerned young women encourage me to drink some ginger tea then ask if I want housekeeping to clean our room. I tell them that the cleaners aren’t necessary and then ask them if I should make a sandwich for lunch. Marcella says that the chef will have a hot lunch for me and anyone else who is in camp at one o’clock. Paul and I walk back to the dome in more rain, the good thing is that there is very little wind.

Paul leaves at eight and I crawl back into bed and fall asleep. I wake up to someone knocking at our door and assume that the order to not clean our room wasn’t given to the staff. When I am opening the door, I hear Paul say “I’m baack” which really confuses me. Paul tells me that there is a vehicle stalled on the bridge and they all waited in reception in hopes that they would get a call that the car had been removed. When the problem still existed a half hour later Marcella and Angie told everyone to come back in an hour in hopes the problem would be fixed. We can’t figure out why someone just doesn’t pull the car off the bridge. I go back to sleep but wake up when Paul leaves to see if the outing is back on. I wake up around ten and since Paul is not here, I assume he is on his way to track wild horses. I also note that the rain is still falling and I can hardly see our neighboring dome through the foggy gloom.

I made good use of our comfortable bed today.

I spend the rest of the morning reading a book on the Kindle and blowing my nose. It is a good thing I brought lots of Kleenex! I am not the only one in camp with a cold as several other guests and a couple of guides had been fighting colds or sinus infections when we got to Eco Camp. I walk up to the communal domes at one o’clock surprisingly hungry. When I walk in, I think I am the only guest here but then I see the two people who got left behind on our Gray Lake outing already eating lunch. I know they were signed up to go on the wild horse outing except they weren’t going to do the hike. I ask them if they decided to stay in camp because of the weather but they inform me that the excursion was canceled.  It seems the car that was stalled out wasn’t on the bridge but trying to drive through the water that was flooding the road that leads to the bridge! The river is out of its banks and no vehicle is going to be getting across that body of water by car any time soon. Some of the group, including Paul, decided to take a trail from Eco Camp instead of just sitting around camp but the man and wife weren’t interested in that and I don’t blame them.

The couple from Georgia, kindly ask me to join them and I tell them that I have a bad cold and would hate to give it to them. They shrug and insist that I join them any way so I do. I apologize again for not paying closer attention to where they were as we were wandering around lost. The woman tells me that she can’t walk very fast due to asthma and admitted how frightening it was to be left behind. We move on to more pleasant conversation as we eat our hake, (fish), which I am able to actually taste despite my clogged airways. As we are finishing lunch Paul and the rest of the hikers walk into the dome, all dripping water on the floor. Paul says that it only rained hard at the end of the hike so they aren’t soaked but Angie does tell me her shoes have water in them. They hiked around six miles but were thwarted from going further by a stream that was too swollen with water to safely cross. I can’t say I am sorry I missed that hike.

Paul and I go back to our room and I sleep for another two hours while Paul reads.  We also pack as best we can as we are supposed to be leaving tomorrow to start the last part of our tour here which is puma tracking. The problem is we need to get across the river and we wonder if that will be possible. It continues to rain and for the first time our dome is a bit chilly despite the small gas stove turned as high as it will go.

The first bridge,(well side of the bridge), is the one we drive across to get to Eco Camp. I was really trying to get a photo of the old historic bridge in the background. Anyway, we won’t be driving across the bridge tomorrow!

When we arrive at our departure briefing the guides tell us that we will be leaving in the morning but we will be crossing the river in a zodiac as the river is still out of its banks. The news gets even better as we must be at the river for the first zodiac in order to beat the crowd of people who have to get out tomorrow. That means we will leave at six fifteen and take our breakfast with us. I am quite nervous about crossing a flooding river in a motor boat but one of the friendly guides assures me that it is quite safe.

At dinner we sit at the table with Marcella, Angie and another young couple that are leaving tomorrow. The blonde woman is quite gregarious and has us all laughing throughout the meal. Somehow, we get on the subject of shopping online and one of the things she talks about is acquiring clothes from a site called Rent the Runway. This site lets you rent designer clothes for special occasions. The outgoing woman gives an example of being able to rent an eight-hundred-dollar dress for eighty bucks. I must have an odd look on my face as she looks at me and says “you know, renting it for a wedding where you need to have a nice dress”. What she doesn’t know is that I am seeing in my mind the reaction of people in Wabaunsee county seeing me in a dress let alone in an eight-hundred-dollar dress and my vision is quite hilarious.

When the young lady finds out we are ranchers she thinks we should let her come and do an internship at our ranch as her dream is someday owning acreage of her own with a variety of animals on it. The sociable woman then says she would love to come to our ranch and cuddle the little calves which horrifies me. I blurt out to her “that if you try to cuddle our calves it is likely the cows would try to kill you”! Suddenly there is complete silence at our table as four sets of eyes are staring at me in disbelief. I tell my audience that although our cows are normally gentle, when they calve it is like a switch flips in them and they are going to protect their calf against anything that they perceive as a danger. Again, stares of disbelief. I try a different angle and say our cows are not dairy cows they are range cows which means they aren’t handled every day like dairy cows. Finally, Paul and I tell them about our neighbor that was nearly killed by a cow as he was tagging a baby calf. We tell the group that if he had not been able to roll under his pickup it was likely the cow would have killed him. Even then our neighbor spent a few days in the hospital recuperating from the beating he took from his cow. I hear one of the guides say something like, I guess I need to learn a little more about cows. I am a bit surprised that Marcella and Angie aren’t somewhat aware of this as they work in such a harsh environment and see the cruelty of nature too. Ah well, maybe Paul and I gave them a glimpse of reality ranching rather than the Disney World images that most people have.

No matter how cute no cuddling the new calves! See how alert mama is?

I must say our entertaining table mate leaves us completely flabbergasted when later in the course of our conversation she tells us that they pay fourteen dollars for a dozen of free-range, organic eggs. I think Paul and my mouth literally drop open. Holy smokes, I can buy ten dozen at home for that price. I believe all of us at the table learned a lot from each other tonight.  Nancy

TORRES DEL PAINE, BLOG 8

What a sight to wake up to in the morning

Paul and I have a lazy morning since our breakfast isn’t until 8:30. The towers are stunning early this morning but a bit later clouds obscure the top of the peaks and there is a full rainbow spanning the mountains. Boy, does the weather change fast here.

A couple of hours later this is our view of the towers

After we eat breakfast, we walk through the door to the next dome to make a sandwich for our lunch. There was a bag of dried fruit and nuts plus a chocolate bar by our breakfast plates to put in our sack lunch too. There is an array of breads, meats, and toppings to make a super sandwich but I keep mine simple. Chicken with some lettuce and mayo. Paul and I wrap them in cling wrap and place them in the brown sack that Eco camp supplies. Perhaps I should explain the communal dome setup. The first dome you walk into is the bar, the second dome is the main dining area and the third is where they lay out the fixings for lunch in the morning but at night guests also eat in this dome.

We take our lunches back to our dome and then decide to walk down the hill to the visitor center. The trail is steep and due to some rain last night a bit slippery but our trusty hiking poles do their job in keeping us upright. The visitor center is really for backpackers to register with the park. The center also has supplies for backpackers to restock their empty packs. The offerings are mainly food but there is also pricy clothing for sale from jackets to hiking pants. We don’t stay long since there really isn’t anything to see. Besides buses are arriving disgorging hikers ready to tackle the trails making the long but narrow building quite crowded.

Paul and I trudge up the steep incline to Eco Camp and as we near the area where the common domes are situated, I spot the mother fox. She is trotting across the grass with a large rodent in her mouth. Paul and I try to follow her but soon she has melted into the trees on the east side of the communal domes. Paul continues walking in the direction the vixen went but I run to the communal domes. There are two doors that take you to the walkway which leads to the area where our dome is, in essence a shortcut. I know the female fox is taking the rat to her three kits and since the playful youngster we saw yesterday was on the side where the superior domes are, I’m betting this is where she is heading.

Mama after she made the delivery of the rat to her kits

I pass through the doors and am halfway up the walkway when I see mama trotting across the parking area headed for our territory. Yep, just as I suspected the vixen moves into the bushy land around the domes. I watch as mama fox stops and seems to listen before moving on to another area. Paul has caught up to me and we try to follow the searching fox as best we can but since we are not allowed off the walkways it is a bit difficult. We find ourselves backtracking towards the communal domes as we watch the vixen disappear into the brush growing next to the staff’s dome. We hear some yapping then after a bit the female fox reappears without the rodent in her mouth. I finally manage to snap a quick photo before she trots off probably in pursuit of another rodent since one rat isn’t going to satisfy three half-grown kits. Well that was very cool.

A close up of the red fox

The morning is simply gorgeous and Paul suggests we take advantage of it by walking the trail behind the yoga and massage domes that sit close to our dome. We never booked a yoga session or a massage but lots of people did! The trail is called “Contemplative Trail” and oddly enough no guides talked about it as far as we know. It turns out to be a beautiful trail that wanders through trees and across a small stream. There are picnic tables scattered here and there along with wooden benches to sit on so you can contemplate. As we climb to higher ground, we have a nice view of the towers. We don’t have time to walk to the end of the trail as our departure time for our excursion is fast approaching and we need to return to our room to get our packs.

Paul hiking the Contemplative trail

A nice view from the Contemplative trail

The white van is fully loaded as we prepare to depart at noon. There are three guides and I believe fifteen guests. It is a long drive to the lake and we will break up the journey by stopping for lunch at a visitor center. We drive by a trio of guanaco in pursuit of an interloper and Marcella talks about how the guanacos’ try to castrate their enemy with their teeth. We have heard this story from another guide too and took it with a grain of salt. However, as we watch the aggressors chase the poor intruder, they do stretch their long necks out towards that sensitive area between the fellow’s legs whenever they get close to their foe. Hmm. The angry guanacos are certainly tenacious as they continue to chase the trespasser for a good mile or more. The quartet is beginning to slow down as they veer away from the roadside. However, when I look back at them, I can see the silly things running still intent on punishing the interloper.

The trio of Guanaco who were chasing the intruder. Not a clear photo as I took it as we were driving

Further down the road we come upon a sight that is just the opposite of what we witnessed with the fighting guanaco. Standing on the edge of a high cliff is a single guanaco that is taking its job as sentry very seriously. Even though it is mid-day the light is very nice and our driver stops the van so we can admire this iconic scene. The guanaco is standing like a statue gazing out over the landscape. What a view he must have up there. There are a few guanacos at the base of the cliff and these are the fellow herd mates that he or she will warn with a barking bray if it spots a puma in the vicinity.

Guanaco on sentry duty

Eating lunch

White-tufted Grebe

After an hour or so we stop and have lunch near a lake which proves to be a popular place as many people are picnicking here. Despite the strong wind which makes eating outside a challenge it is worth it as the view is stupendous. After we have finished eating we go to the visitor center which is also next to a beautiful lake, perhaps it is the same body of water as we aren’t far from where we ate lunch. We walk out on a deck by the lake and I do a little bird watching before we go back into the building for our briefing on tomorrows excursions. We will be getting home late which is why the guides are giving us are options now. Felipe, the first male guide we have had while here, then takes us to a three-dimensional model of the park and points out our camp, trails and lakes making the layout of the park a little clearer.

3d model of Torres Del Paine

Lake next to the visitor center

As we continue on towards Gray Lake we are treated to beautiful views of lakes and rugged mountains. The wind certainly hasn’t gone down as an occasional gust will buffet our van. I can’t imagine we will sail in this and in fact the guides keep telling us not to be surprised if the cruise is canceled. When we pull into the parking lot our escorts are on the radio with the boat operators trying to find out the status of our expedition. Now it is our guides turn to be surprised as indeed the boat tour is on. I am not sure if I am happy or sad about this!

Yes this is a hotel. You must walk across a bridge to get to it.

Our first task is to get to the boat which means hiking for thirty minutes or so. We arrive at a swinging rope bridge which spans the river we need to cross. Only six people are to be on the bridge at a time and since there are people on both ends of the bridge this is going to take some time. One group will cross from our side of the river and then six people will come across from the other side. The wind is having fun with the bridge and most people hang onto the rope as they traverse the bridge. A few times we watch as the wind pushes the bridge hard enough that it bows in the middle causing the people who are on it to stagger even though they are holding on. Paul, remembering the time he had his glasses blown off as we crossed a swinging bridge in New Zealand, takes off his glasses and puts them in his pocket. Good idea!

The swinging bridge we crossed to get to the boat

Felipe and five of our group crosses first, then Paul and I are in the second group. Oh boy, it is really windy and we hurry across as fast as we can despite having to catch our balance at times. After the adventure on the bridge we are walking on a very nice trail through a grove of trees which block that awful wind. The calm doesn’t last long as when we step out of the trees into the open, we are blasted by a head wind. There isn’t a trail here, just an expanse of rocky ground. I would guess we walk a 1/8th of a mile to the gravel levee. On reaching the embankment we turn right and start walking towards the docked boat which looks like it is a mile away. Holy Smokes, the wind literally blows us and everyone else sideways and at times it changes direction just enough to stop us in our tracks. I am sure I might have been blown over if I didn’t have my trekking poles to help brace me. Paul does see a boy get blown down and once we are on the boat, we hear a passenger say his wife was knocked over. People are hanging onto each other in order to stay upright and if it wasn’t so scary and irritating it would have been quite comical. The wind is blowing sprays of water off the lake to add to everyone’s misery and even small pebbles are being moved around.

The catamaran we took to the glacier. The small boat is a shuttle boat

With my head down I keep trudging towards that darn boat and at some point, I yell to Paul that I can’t believe I paid money to do this. I really wasn’t completely joking either! Most of our group is huddled near a large rock which is blocking the wind a bit when we arrive. Marcella laughs as we walk up and facetiously asks if we are having fun. Paul tells her that I said I wanted my money back which brings more laughter from our cordial guide.

By the time we get on the boat, which is a catamaran, most of the seats are taken and Paul and I end up at the back of the boat plus we are sitting facing the back of the catamaran. Oh well. Our seat companions are part of our group which we got to know last night at dinner. They are US citizens but immigrated from Russia a few years ago. We settle in and listen as a pleasant woman narrates interesting facts about various things as the big catamaran floats across the lake. Amazingly, the catamaran feels quite stable in the rough waters to me but a young girl, maybe six, sitting two seats over from us becomes violently seasick about a half an hour into our trip. The poor thing.

Some of the scenery as we sailed for the glacier

It is obvious why they call the lake, Grey Lake, because that is the color of the water due to dissolved minerals and sediment. Because of the strong wind, no one is allowed to go up on the open deck while on the way to the glacier. With water splashing on the windows it is impossible to take photos of the bobbing ice burgs unless you go to the front of the boat where those windows are more protected. I take advantage of that a couple of times as do other passengers.

Paul and Felipe. Paul moved here after we got underway. I chose to stay at my window seat.

It takes an hour and a half to reach the massive glacier. We are told to put on our life jackets and then the crew allows us up on the deck to get an unobstructed look at the ice field. The pilot slowly cruises alongside the glacier allowing us to snap photos of the incredible ice forms. Maybe the most striking thing about the glacier ice is the many hues of blue that can be seen in one section of ice. Once we have floated along the length of the glacier, the captain turns the catamaran around and we glide past the sculptured ice again.

A small section of the glacier

Close up showing all the blue tones running through the ice

Paul and some other passengers enjoying being up top. Ice burg in the distance

It is time to leave this incredible creation of mother nature but we are allowed to stay on the deck because the crew has to pick up some hikers that were trekking the W trail and the pickup point is just a short distance from the glacier. The big boat just noses close to the shore and the crew drops some steps down so a dozen hikers can board. I notice a chunk of ice that has washed ashore and I snap a photo of the interesting shaped ice. Imagine my surprise when I see this piece of ice sitting on top of the ship’s cooler when we return to the cabin.  The narrator had told us that glacier ice was used in the drinks they served on board but I hadn’t really thought about where they picked up the free ice.

Getting ready to pick up backpackers

The chunk of ice on shore

The same chunk of ice which will now be served with drinks 🙂

The red and white boat docks in the same spot that we started from and no the wind has not gone down. As we are disembarking, the woman who was our narrator is telling passengers that they can take the shuttle boat back rather than trek along the wind-swept levee. I ask what it costs and she replied nothing. We see three of our group climb into the shuttle boat so Paul and I decide to follow them as do the expat Russians. Once we are settled on the zodiac, we see Felipe and the rest of our group huddled together not far from the shuttle boat. We wave at them so they know where we are and Felipe acknowledges our waves by giving us a thumbs up. The father/daughter duo that is in our troupe comes over to get on the boat too but they are told there is only one spot available so they go back to rejoin the group who will have to brave the wind as they trek back to the van.

Ice burg that looks like it is a sculpture. I definitely can see a face.

I am so happy that we are not having to take that miserable walk and even though the boat docking is a bit dicey it was well worth it. As the seven of us walk up the road the road splits but there is no signage to indicate where the roads lead. A guide who is leading several people who were on the boat motions for us to follow her. We fall in behind and soon we are at a motel, called appropriately the Gray Motel. When we tell the young woman that we aren’t guests here she looks at us oddly. We then tell her we need to get to the public parking lot where our van is. The guide who doesn’t speak much English enlists a staff member to take us to the edge of the hotel grounds and instructs him to show us which way the public parking lot is. We follow the small man to the hotels parking lot and since he speaks no English, he uses his hands to motion us in the direction we need to walk.

The rare Huemul deer, a doe

We start down the road and I note that there is a gravel road separated from us by a narrow field to our left but that isn’t where the hotel man directed us to walk. We continue to follow the dirt road and as we pass a meadow, I see two deer grazing. Are you kidding me, I excitedly tell everyone about the deer. No one cares except Paul and I so I guess they don’t know that the Huemul deer is on the endangered list. We were told that the chances of us seeing them were next to none. Even though the buck and doe are a quarter-mile away I use the full zoom on my camera to take several photos, then Paul and I hurry to catch up with our companions. I can’t believe we just saw the Huemul Deer!!

It gets better! There is a buck too.

The road turns into a trail and pretty soon we find ourselves back on the rocky open ground we walked across to get to the lake levy this morning except there is a body of water separating us from the grove of trees we hiked through. Are you kidding me? We walk up to the water and there is no way we are crossing this. Paul and another man start walking alongside the water but I insist we need to go back to the hotel as I think we will have to take the boat again in order to get to that darn windy levy so we can walk back the same way we came. Paul calmly says he thinks we are on the correct side and continues to walk along the water’s edge which before long becomes the fast-flowing river. I am adamant that we are on the wrong side of the river but Paul and another man who is walking beside us insist we should continue on a bit further.  Next, we reach some trees and here we find a well-trodden trail which Paul and our new friend insist we follow. This man’s friends and the Russian immigrants who are trailing behind us say nothing but keep looking back the way we came probably wondering as I am if we should just go back. So much for thinking we saved time by taking the boat!!

It seems we have been on this trail forever when Paul spots the swinging bridge in the distance to our right. The man’s friends and the Russians have fallen farther behind but I beckon to them so they know we are in familiar territory. However, the trail doesn’t go to the bridge but curves around and we walk out of the trees into an open field. The trail then turns back to our right and ahead of us we spy the empty parking lot. As the three of us pick up our pace to reach the concrete lot, we hear someone calling to us. Our van is parked on the gravel road we saw when we left the hotel parking lot. Good grief.  We turn and walk down the road and when we reach the van the Russians are already there. They must have seen the vehicle and heard our guides calling and cut across the narrow expanse of grass to have beat us to the vehicle. The other man’s friends haven’t shown up yet and we sit and wait and then we wait some more. Where are they? They weren’t that far behind us but truthfully once we rounded that curve, I didn’t look back anymore to see if they were still with us.

I think this is an Andean Goose. No time for photos while we were lost so will fill in with calming photos

The couples friend tries to get off the van to go look for his lost companion but Marcella says no she will go. Marcella is gone for maybe twenty minutes and tells us when she returns that she ran all the way to the beach and saw no one. The very calm guides decide we should drive to the hotel, there is no phone service here, and see if the lost couple managed to get back there. Nope, they are not there either. Felipe decides to walk the trail again and our van drives slowly back to the parking lot. On the way I see the deer again, which one of our guides had never seen until now, but everyone is too upset to care and rightly so. As we approach the empty parking lot, we spot the couple up by the ranger’s station. How the heck did they get there? Somehow, while we were walking to the van and no one was paying attention to the trail they must have hiked by us and ended up in the parking lot. Finding no vehicle, they must have gone to the ranger station to get help. What are the chances of that they could bypass us in that short span of time? Crazy.

The couple was upset and scared which is understandable. It seems they lost sight of us when we walked around the curve and they went the other way. Figuring out they were going the wrong way they backtracked and found their way to the parking lot. Many mistakes were made but pointing fingers isn’t going to change anything but I have a feeling things will be a bit more regulated on this excursion after this. The upside of the whole folly was seeing the beautiful Huemul deer and that is what I will choose to remember.

Just before twilight in the park. Nice half-moon over a mountain

Our driver is driving as fast as he safely can since we are running late and dusk will soon be falling over this beautiful land. The other upside of our debacle is that we are seeing the mountains in gorgeous light as we scoot down the rough roads. The wind is doing its best to push the vehicle around and at times it gusts hard enough that small pebbles smack the side of our car. Yikes. When we at long last arrive at Eco Camp we are told to go right to the communal domes and have our dinner. After all it is nine-thirty! Still, we are only forty-five minutes later than our expected arrival time would have been without our misadventure.

We were told later by one of the guides that the sustained winds at Gray Lake were 60 miles with gusts up to 80. I believe it as in Kansas we can have sustained winds of 40 to 45 miles an hour and compared to what we experienced at the lake today that would feel like a gentle breeze. Nancy

TORRES DEL PAINE, BLOG 6

A final look from the ferry

We exit the ferry and begin the short drive to Puerto Varas. Rafa contacts his office and gives the staff our flight reservation number so they can check Paul and I in for our flight tomorrow and print our boarding passes. A short time later, Rafa gets a call saying that they can’t find me online. I tell Rafa to have them take out the hyphen in my last name as that is probably the problem, computers hate that hyphen. We know I am in the system because we have the form where all our flights are listed and my name is on that. Nope, they call back and say that taking the hyphen out didn’t work so Rafa suggests that we go to the office and see if we can get this problem solved.

There is no place to park, so Rafa stops in the street in front of his office and we hop out of the car taking our packs with us. Once inside, one of the young women calls the airline and gives them my passport number. Nope, they can’t find me. Come on!! Time for plan B.  The women look at the emails they have received from Swoop to see what they can find. In the meantime, Paul pulls out our paperwork from Swoop with all our flight information. Aha, it seems Paul has written an L instead of an I at the beginning of the flight reservation number. Within minutes we are checked in and our boarding passes printed, what a relief. We feel terrible to have wasted these helpful women’s time and apologize to them numerous times. Also, we misunderstood that I was the only one they couldn’t find in the system. It was in fact both of us that they couldn’t find since the reservation number we gave them didn’t exist.

Flowers lining the sidewalk on the way to Mero Gaucho hotel

Rafa has been circling the block and once he sees us emerge from the office, he stops the car and we jump in. He takes us to Mero Guacho and helps us carry our luggage into the hotel. We tell Rafa how much we have enjoyed our time with him and that he made us feel like friends not clients. We then say goodbye to this man who gave us such a wonderful experience on Chiloe Island. It was a privilege to be guided by Rafa who showed through his actions and discussions his passion for birds, and nature in general.

The owner of Mero Guacho, a young woman, checks us in and helps carry our luggage to our room which happens to be the same one that we had before. When we are settled in, Paul checks our email and there is bad news about Taz. Dr. Amy says she sent me an email on Sunday telling me that Taz had taken a turn for the worse and she made the decision to put her to sleep. Why the email didn’t get to us I don’t know but, in a way,, I am glad it got lost as the sad news probably would have taken some of the joy out of our time at Park Tepuhulico. Truthfully, I had a feeling that Taz was not going to survive and I had been preparing myself for the announcement from Dr. Amy that she couldn’t save my cat. There were so many things going wrong with her system that I wondered how she could overcome them all. Taz has been in our lives for eight years and I will miss her.

Taz always followed me when she was younger but refused to let me carry her. The creek didn’t stop her from coming along on my walks

Taz was sure I couldn’t see her. If it was dark and she closed her eyes she was hard to see

Paul and I aren’t very hungry but we do agree that a beer and an appetizer sound good. We return to the Tea house where we had that great sandwich our first night in Chile and the waitress seats us. When we ask what beer they offer we are told that they don’t serve beer. Imagine that, a tea house doesn’t serve beer :). The helpful and friendly demeanor of the Chilean people shows up again as the waitress gives us directions to a nearby beer pub.

On our way to the pub several people greet us with “Ola” and two older men even tip their hats to me. I love it. We find the pub and are seated upstairs on the balcony that overlooks the lake and the two prominent volcanos. The view is spectacular despite the smoke that is filtering across the face of the volcanos from a wild-fire.

This was our favorite beer in Chile. The label has a the famed Paine Towers on it.

As we are waiting for our beer and appetizers, (fish and chips for me, a bowl of fries for Paul) we are trying to figure out who sang the 70’s song that is being played in the pub. A young man seated at the table next to us leans over and says “Cream” and “Eric Clapton”. Of course. This leads to an enjoyable visit with the young couple from California as we sip on our Austral beer and eat the huge plate of appetizers the waiter brought us. When we finish eating,(we both leave food on our plates), we say so long to the personable couple and walk down to the lake.

Having fun in Lake Llanqihue. You can see a line of smoke on the horizon

Even the dogs join in the fun

It is a nice day but still cool as Paul and I both have our coats on. We had commented to Rafa about people being in the water at other places and how cold it must be. His reply was that people must take advantage of the “three days of summer” they receive in Southern Chile. We watch the beach goers romping, sunbathing, some throwing mud at each other and all having a great time then we return to the main part of Puerto Varas. I need to find someplace to buy some throat lozenges and know we passed a pharmacy when we were here a few days ago. We finally find a small pharmacy and with hand gestures get across to the woman waiting on us what I am in need of. I have been experiencing some ear drainage which is now making my throat sore. These symptoms generally mean I will have a full-blown cold in a day or two. Great!

It makes me cold just looking at the people in the lake

We get prepared as best we can for our departure in the morning, shower and I go to bed early. Paul is reading on the Kindle as I drift off to sleep.

We are up at six-thirty and have our usual breakfast except we take the blueberries we bought yesterday to top off our cereal. We check out of this lovely hotel and the owner tells us that our driver is waiting for us on the street. We settle into the mans very nice car and he drives the back roads to Puerto Montt. I think he did this to avoid the morning traffic but we can’t ask as he doesn’t speak English. Our driver deposits us and our luggage in front of the small terminal. We give him a tip and wave goodbye.

The Sky Airline desk is not even open but there are a few people already in line to check in. We join the line as I read somewhere that the small airlines here sometimes over book so even though you have a reservation it is best to be at the front of the line. We probably wait a half hour before the Sky staff show up and then it takes them some time to get the computers up and running. When they do start letting people check in the process goes quite fast.

No photos for this part of the blog so will fill in with some from Chiloe Island. This man is holding the meat from abalone. I ate that?

When it is our turn to check in the friendly man helping us tells us to put our check through luggage on the scales. We sit our two small cases on the scale and the guy, his eyebrows raised in surprise, asks us if that is all the luggage we have to check through. Paul says yes and adds that this is more than we usually have on our trips. He compliments us on traveling light, hands us our official boarding passes and passports and we walk upstairs to where our gate is.

We go through security which is much easier than in the states, you don’t have to take your shoes off or take liquids out. We take a seat close to where we will be lining up and I people watch as we wait for the boarding call. There is a young African man who has arrived shortly after we did and he stands, ticket in hand in front of the boarding area, even though there are no staff around and no lanes set up. When the boarding staff arrives, Paul and I get up and move close to the boarding area. A man sets up two lanes showing the row numbers which tell you which line to get in. We are in the second line and we end up being at the head of the line. Other passengers are getting in line except for the young man who had been standing here for the past half hour. He is looking at his ticket and seems completely at a loss. I hesitate and then walk over to him and look at his ticket. I point to his seat number and then point to the line he belongs in which is the one we are in. As he turns to walk to the back of the line, I take his arm and motion for him to get in front of Paul and I. It didn’t seem fair that he had been standing in line long before the rest of us only to end up at the back of the line.

Some of the crafts we saw for sale on Chiloe Island

We have to wait until the arriving passengers have unloaded and then for the passengers with lower row numbers to make their way onto the plane. When our turn comes, we filter into the narrow aisle of the plane and the young man hesitates and looks back at me. I look at his ticket again, and show him where his seat is which is two rows behind us. He smiles gratefully and soon we are taxiing down the runway on our way to Punta Arenas. At the end of our two-hour flight as we are leaving the plane, I look back and see the young fellow smiling broadly at me and I give him a big smile in return. We have been helped before on our travels so I know how grateful you feel when someone takes the time to give you a hand.

Old door at The Chonchi church

We have a momentary worry when one of our checked bags shows up quickly at the baggage claim and then no other luggage comes at all. There are still other people waiting and all of us breathe a sigh of relief when the belt begins to move again ferrying more luggage into the small airport. Our suitcase is one of the last to show up but at least it showed up! As we walk into the lobby a young woman walks up to us and asks if we are the Millers. Yes we are, and as usual we are so happy that someone is here to claim us! It seems we are the last of eight people to arrive that are going to Eco camp as the other guests arrived on earlier flights.

When we saw round bales they were wrapped in plastic

The young woman who greeted us introduces us to our driver, Pedro, and we follow him to the van where we add our luggage to everyone else’s. We climb into the van and find a seat. Everyone has been given a sack lunch as we have a five-hour drive ahead of us. The first part of the drive takes us through very dry seemingly inhospitable landscape. Paul taps me on the shoulder not to far into the drive and points out the window to the left. A condor is flying quite low to the ground and I have my second surprise on this drive. For some reason I assumed condors were only to be found in the mountainous areas. Grassland along with some small lakes is the next region we drive through and we see Rhea’s, Guanacos’ and lots of ducks and or geese. It is a bit tough to tell when you are driving past the fowl at sixty miles an hour. The third thing on this drive that seems out-of-place are Flamingos huddled together in a small lake. I knew we would possibly see Chilean Flamingos but seeing the pink birds later on with a snow-covered mountain in the background just doesn’t seem right :).

Scene on our drive to Torres del Paine, there are Rheas in this photo but they are very camoflaged

Man on horse back with a huge flock of sheep

We stop at Puerto Natales where the office of Eco Camp is and get off the van where we are welcomed by Marcella, a lovely, personable, young woman. We follow her into the building where we fill out forms with our passport numbers among other info. Since we will be arriving at camp rather late Marcella also has us give her our order for tonight’s dinner. There are two starters, four entrees and three desserts to choose from. Gee is that all the choices we have? I’m kidding of course.  Once we wrap this up, we load back into the van along with Marcella who will act as our guide for the rest of the journey.

Chilean Flamingos

Guanaco’s grazing

There are more Guanaco scattered throughout our drive. They look similar to llama and in fact both are a member of the camelid family. As we drive by a few Rheas’, Marcella tells us that the dad hatches and raises the young. She then says there is a male Rhea in the area that is raising ten chicks which is highly successful. Darned if we don’t see that family of eleven as we are on the final leg of our journey. Pedro stops the van and we join a few other people on the side of the road, admiring and taking photos of the Rheas’ as they feed on the green grass next to the black top road. The fowl pay no attention to us until one guy decides to cross the road and get right next to them, (why I don’t know because he has a huge lens on his camera). Dad decides this human is too close and he leads his youngsters away from the road and the intruder.

Male Rhea with ten large chicks

The guy with the monster lens ventures to close and Dad says it is time to go

The famous Paine towers. You can see two of the spire like rocks clearly, the third one only has the tip showing next to the snow covered peak

We also make a stop at a beautiful lake with the famous Paine towers in the background. The scenery in Paine is stunning and rugged. We finally arrive at Eco Camp, (it has been a long day), where more staff are waiting to welcome us. Everyone is assigned one person who takes them to their domes. Marcella ends up showing us to our dome. Since we booked so late, we are in a superior dome, it is larger than the common domes and we have our own bathroom. Yes, it is more expensive than the common domes but the private bathroom is worth it to me.

We were in dome number 5

Once Marcella shows us around the unique abode, pointing out the light switches and explaining how the toilet works among other things. Yes, we need to be shown how the toilet works as it isn’t like your normal toilet. No toilet paper can go into the bowl, (well we haven’t been able to put toilet paper in any toilets so far!) and the flush is worked with your foot. Very little water is used with this toilet, I’m talking a few inches of water. Pretty amazing.

Part of the main area. We never used the wood stove as the small heater in the bathroom was kept the dome warm enough.

This plastic window, well the dome was all plastic, looked out on the Paine towers.

Our dome is the closest one. Not a bad view!

When Marcella leaves, we get settled into our dome and then go to the communal area. We are part of the Safari group and all of us gather in one corner of the bar. Welcome drinks and finger food are set before us while three lovely, very fit, young women, (are they cloning these guides?) begin to explain the excursions we can choose from for tomorrow. One hike is very hard, the second excursion is classified as medium, and the third hike is easy. Paul had asked Rafa’s advice before we left, (I think Rafa guided here for a few years), on what he thought we should do. He told us to take the easy ones, telling us you guys are naturalists and on the easy hikes you will stop and learn about the things you are seeing. According to Rafa the other hikes, esp. the hard ones there is no time to stop and enjoy things. Of course, it could have been a polite way of telling us you aren’t fit to do the other excursions!

Paul as we are walking to the communal domes.

Once the cheerful women finish describing the excursions, I know I am taking the easy one. The hard hike to the base of the towers is over twelve miles, the last mile or so you are clambering over big boulders which can be slippery. The second one sounds very intriguing but it is a fourteen-hour day since the start of the trail is two and a half hours away. I’m not feeling very well and I sure don’t want to be out fourteen hours. The easy excursion is a three or four-mile hike, after which we will go to a ranch for a Chilean barbecue. It sounds perfect. I tell Paul if he wants to go for the medium excursion it is fine with me but he agrees that the easy one sounds great, so that is settled.

Part of the bar in the communal dome

We finally have dinner at ten o’clock and I eat very little since it is so late. We still need to shower and we don’t get to bed until 11:30. Another reason to have chosen the easy hike as we don’t have to get up as early as the people who chose the other two hikes. Nancy