Torres del Paine National Park

This past Thursday, I went on the most amazing tour in Patagonia. We stayed for 3 nights in Puerto Natales in an amazing hostel called Backpackers Kaweskar and did a day long tour into Torres del Paine National Park. We woke up early to eat a big breakfast in the hostel and then hopped into a small van at 7:30 AM. There were 7 of us- me and my 2 friends, 3 other Americans studying in Santiago, and a French woman who teaches French in London. We had a driver as well as a tour guide and we started heading straight to the park once we collected everyone from their hostels.

View from Laguna Amarga (taken on Emily's iPhone.. I haven't uploaded my pictures yet!)

We spent the day driving around, stopping at beautiful lookouts to see condors flying above, guanacos (similar to llamas) eating grass, and the sights of Torres del Paine. Many people head into this park to do a circuit called the W which lasts 3-5 days, and you camp along the path. Everyone we met had an amazing experience doing it, and I think it would be really fun to come back here someday and do it!

Lake we hiked along (again, picture from Emily's iPhone)

 After driving around for awhile, we got out of the car and did a 2 hour hike along beautiful scenery, past a perfectly blue-green lake, and to a good spot to look out over the water at the towering Torres above us. It was an amazing spot to sit and take pictures!!

Lago Grey

Finally, we drove for an hour or more (we all fell asleep) to Lago Grey- where the winds nearly pushed us all over as we walked along the pebble shore around the lake to get close to the icebergs! It was amazing to see icebergs for the first time and also to see someone paddle boarding in the middle of the lake. From the lake, you can barely see Glacier Grey in the distance- it is crazy that the lake used to be filled with icebergs and even before that, the entire thing was a glacier. It was scary to think whether or not these icebergs will even exist in the future. The backpackers who do the W trail end up walking past Glacier Grey, but otherwise it is a long trip out there.

We made our way back to the hostel, all sleeping in the van. It was an exhausting day but a really exciting one as I saw what most people consider to be the highlight of national parks in Patagonia!! Of course, I wore my Patagonia apparel :)

My trip is ending soon but we have had a blast so far and don't want the vacation to end!

marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa