Sunday, December 4, 2011

Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia

From Ushuaia we flew to El Calafate, a pretty little tourist town. Ten years ago, they got an airport and the town has grown from 6,000 to 19,000 and the number of tourists annually has quadrupled to 400,000. The attraction is the Perito Merino Glacier. The walkways and infrastructure are very good. There is even wheelchair access..

The next day we left Argentina and crossed back into Chile to Puerto Natales and from there we went to Ecocamp in the Torres del Paine National Park. The scenery is absolutely spectacular and we were so lucky with the weather, so hopefully the pictures will say it all, although they don't show the miles of winding gravel roads.

Perito Merino Glacier
 Up close and personal to the Perito Merino Glacier, near El Calafate, Argentina.
 Main street in El Calafate.
 Bus station in El Calafate. Stray dogs are everywhere, but they are nice friendly dogs.
 A church in Puerto Natales.
 Nata, our guide from Ecocamp. She was excellent and also looked after us like a mother hen.
 Our view of sunrise from our Dome Home, Ecocamp.
A little later in the morning.
More spectacular geology.
Avalanche in French Valley.
 Bill relaxes after 4 hours of hiking up French Valley.
 A woodpecker does his thing.
 A bridge made to fit!
 Virgin slipper orchids.
A pair of speckled ducks.
 Guanacos.
 Waterfall near Lake Pehoe.
 A walk through a Lengua (Nothofagus) forest to Lago Grey.
 Grey Glacier.
Near Grey Glacier with some bergy bits floating by.
Our Dome Home is on the left.
Last view of Torres del Paine.
 Gauchos along the road.
 Woolshed Patagonian style.
A rhea poses nicely. Like emus, the males look after the chicks.
 Penguins relax on the beach at Seno Otway, near Punta Arenas.
 A magellanic penguin heads back to his/her burrow.
 Some more wildflowers. They were beautiful and there was a great variety, but because of the strong winds, I had difficulty keeping them in focus.
 The Magellanes regional flag.
 Christmas is coming in Punta Arenas.

2 comments:

  1. Fascinating again, Kate! Interesting to see what is like home, and what is not like home. I love everything from the tiny flowers to the huge scenery.

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  2. Fabulous scenery Kate. I am taking note of some of the places you went to and will search them out. We go to El Calafete before Ushuaia.

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