Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile

Hopefully, leaving our misadventures behind us in Punta Arena, we got in our rental car on the 26th of December and made the three hour drive to Puerto Natales. 

Puerto Natales is a port city in Chilean Patagonia. The drive was uneventful. We saw many many sheep, some gaunico's and got pretty close to the Argentinian border. It was very very windy (something we were going to get very familiar with) so we didn't stop to take any pictures.. 

But the moment we got close enough to see the city.. it was pure jaw dropping magic and pictures do not do justice to the beauty. 

Their city's mascot is a Mylodon, a prehistoric giant ground sloth that lived in Patagonia over 10,000 years ago. 

We stayed in an Airbnb we could not find.. the GPS coordinates were way off and the host did not speak English and we felt our bad luck following us around.. but once we finally found it.. it was the prettiest place. The view.. horses grazing in the distance.. definition of idyllic. We all got our own bedrooms which the boys loved and the host left us a box of adorable gingerbread cookies. Oh and did I mention they had an indoor pool on the premises? 

After a quick dip we headed out for dinner. Sunset was around 10 pm and it really threw off our internal clock. We didn't realize that by the time we sat down for dinner is was almost 9pm and you couldn't guess it.. the city was buzzing with tourists and the restaurant still had a wait. 

We ate pizza. You will just have to use your imagination as there are no pictures. We were starving. 

The next morning we made the journey to Torres del Paine National Park. It was an hour and a half away. I bought tickets in advance online. 

Once you enter the national park the roads become unpaved and rather bumpy.. there was no check post.. no one checked out tickets.. but the views.. and the wind.. wow. 

Our first stop was Laguana Azul. Gps become sketchy and we were convinced we were headed in the wrong direction.. It was the sign clearly stating Laguana Azul - that way, that convinced us to carry on. 

We come from that winding road on the left.. and parked by the lake before starting the hike. 

There were multiple trails.. we choose the one to the Sierra Masle lookout point which was just an hour long.. the Patagonians' don't exaggerate about their wind.. it was wild and kinda exhilarating. I will post videos on my Instagram hopefully soon so keep an eye out for them.

Next stop was Cascada Rio Paine, a very beautiful multi step complex waterfall on del Paine River.

This was an easy lookout point with a designated parking and no hiking needed.

Next up was Mirador Nordenskjold Lake

We saw many many guanaco's - the cousin of an alpaca and llama. Two even put on a show.. you can see the video here.

The weather was mad.. we were adding and subtracting layers all day. And that wind I keep telling you about.. see my hair.. 

Torres Del Paine is famous for its stunning landscapes and it's many multi day hikes. We are not big hikers.. a three hour loop is our max so our trip incorporated look outs.. the park had many of them. 

Our last stop of the day was Salto Grande Waterfall - a 15 minute walk from the parking lot and then if we continued on for another hour we would get to Mirador Cuernos. Cuernos means horns in English. You will see in a few of my earlier pictures three spirals jutting out in the distance. Those three granite towers are the torres of del paine, the horns. 

Once we got the the parking lot of the waterfall it has started to rain and the wind had really picked up.. I can not describe to you this wind.. I was on the fence about this whole thing. We didn't see many people hiking with kids but M was our cheerleader pushing us along.. just a little bit more.. he encouraged. 

as you can see the layers are back on.

With the weather the way it was a one hour hike might be too much so we said we'd walk the first twenty minutes.

It was so beautiful we said we'll walk another 10 minutes.. just over the hill. 

above is a little video demonstrating the wind I keep talking about. At some point along a narrow turn the wind literally knocked H and me off our feet and we ended up falling in a thorny bush. Awesome. Most of us was covered but we did get a few thorns stuck in our palms :(

A few hikers on their way back saw us and insisted we continue.. we had to.. the view was worth it. 

They were not lying.. 

The lake you see in the background is Nordenskjold Lake.. the Mirador was yet to come. It was just around a bend and over a hill and M said just ten more minutes.. 

and then we were there.. what a sight to see. 

And that wrapped up day one in Torres Del Paine.

The next morning we returned again... this time we entered from a different entrance and the road really was horrendous. I must also mention no one had at any point stopped us to ask for our tickets. We rarely saw a park ranger. We had 12pm tickets to board a boat to take us to see the Grey Glacier. The roads were really slowing us down and we missed a turn and we were pretty sure we were going the wrong way.. we had no internet.. we just watched our blue dot on the map and were pretty much winging it. We stopped at a lookout point that had a map and were looking obviously lost when a man came up to us. He and M shared a name and he pointed us in the right direction and not to get all spiritual on you but you've got to believe.. we do.. that sometimes God does intervene and send a little help your way.. even in the most seemingly insignificant moments. M's namesake was that for us. 

We barely made it in time. 

We drove by an trailer that had been flipped over.. wind?

We picked up our tickets from the front desk of the Lago Grey hotel and she pointed us in the the direction of the boat. We had to take a short hike through the woods and then would find ourselves on a beach were we would have to walk a bit more to the boat. Sounded easy enough.

And it would have been if not for that pesky wind. We were walking with it so it pushed us forward, the grainy sand pelting us.The walk back took us even longer to make as we were now walking against it.

the water was also very chopping and D and I did not take it well. 

We saw icebergs

again standing upright was a challenge.. these pictures make it look like a beautiful sunny day but we were hanging on for dear life.

Gray Glacier measures roughly 28 kilometers (17 miles) in length, covers over 270 square kilometers (104 square miles), and stands approximately 30 meters (100 feet) high at its face. It is uniquely blue.

Glacier Grey as seen from above (photo captured by the International Space Station)

It is believed that 18,000 years ago the original glacier covered all of Argentina and the south of Chile. Unfortunately, today the glacier is rapidly shrinking and receding at a rate of approximately 100 meters per year. How does this affect us?

Glaciers act as Earth's protective cover, reflecting sunlight back into space. As the white ice of glaciers disappear, the darker surfaces absorb more solar energy, heating the planet further. Rising sea-level exposes an additional 200,000 to 300,000 people to annual flooding as well as many other issues. 

I don't want to end on a downer so on a happier note - M and I celebrated our birthdays over the weekend and celebrated with some breakfast. 

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