Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine

Saturday 23rd January

Had my only breakfast at Hostal Blunes this morning; didn't miss too much yesterday. It was the usual bread, cheese, ham, jam with some fruit juice and instant coffee. I had always imagined that Chile, being a Latin country, would have a strong coffee culture but the default seems to be a Nescafe powder that I don't think we have seen in Britain for 30 years!

It’s a damp grey day. Checked out at 11, picked up my laundry and got to the bus station with almost an hour to wait. Quite a small bus, seating about 20, and full; I thought the seat next to me was the only empty one, until a minute before we set off, when it was occupied by another huge fat guy! Luckily I remembered to put the arm rest down earlier so at least the blubber spilt out over the aisle and not over me. Departed at 1235. Once we left the urban area the landscape was the same as yesterday, an endless expanse of grass and scrubby little bushes, none of them over a foot high. We did pass some lakes, guanacos and herds of sheep, including one being driven along the side of the road by traditional looking "sheepboys"?  They look like cowboys out of Westerns, not shepherds out of nativity scenes. Realise the proper term is "gaucho".

The weather brightened up for a while and then started raining seriously. Not much to see out of the window so listened to some music. Two hours into the journey there was slight change in landscape, trees! Not huge, majestic ones but rather pathetic and wizened specimens with silvery grey trunks and branches.  Many looked half dead and covered with pale green cotton wool. Later I learnt that the trees had been deliberately burnt to provide more grazing land and that the “cotton wool” is a lichen. Some signs of crops being grown and occasionally saw some cows. At 2.45 some blue sky was visible along with hills, and in the far distance, mountains with patches of snow. About this time the big guy decided to move up to the front and chat to the driver. No idea why but it suited me fine. The scenery definitely improved as we got closer to Puerto Natales and pretty much on time we arrived at the bus station. 

Google maps works brilliantly most of the time but occasionally goes completely haywire. I could see where I was with a little blue dot and I could see "Hotel Bellavista 23-26 January" shown as a yellow star just a few blocks away. Easy, I thought. First problem was the howling gale; I had been expecting Punta Arenas to be windy but it was nothing compared to this. My bag on wheels had completely different ideas about where it wanted to go, and they were all downwind! But then I got to the yellow star and thought "this doesn't look like the place I booked". I looked at the booking details "Hotel Aquaterra"! So why did Google decide I was staying at Bellavista? I haven’t a clue! I should have checked, but it is so tempting to follow that yellow star! Puerto Natales isn't huge but it was the best part of 800 metres to where I wanted to be, luckily downhill with a following gale. The hotel is quite upmarket and very central, although the room is fairly basic. After sorting myself out, I set off to explore the town, which is quite pretty, particularly round the main square, although other parts have a bit of a “wild west“ look about them.

Pretty Town Square

This little locomotive in the town square, built in Bristol, was used to ferry workers along a 4km stretch of railway to a big meat packing company on the outskirts of town.

The Church in the Town Square

Boats in the Harbour

Traditional Style House

Touch of the Wild West? 

I found plenty of tour agencies and booked a tour to Torres del Paine, the National Park which puts Puerto Natales on the tourist map, for tomorrow. Then walked down to the seafront which has great views across to the mountains, provided you can stand up in the wind. Now my itinerary was fairly fixed I wanted to book the boat trip from here to Puerto Montt. The ship only leaves once a week so the plan is to go to Calafate after here and then come back to get the ship leaving on 2nd Feb. According to the map, the Navimag office is close to the hotel but all I could find was an agency that looked very closed. So went back to the hotel to book it on line. The website worked OK and has the advantage of an English version. But when I click "CC type cabin to share" it won't let me. Which is a bit of a blow since the only option it offers is a BB cabin, not shared, which costs far more, an arm and a leg more! But I'm probably never going to be here again so eventually I bit the bullet and clicked "buy". 

Later in the evening I went out to the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) restaurant which looked suitably busy and gets a good write up in Wikitravel where I ordered the lamb, which is what Patagonia is famous for, and got half a sheep! But it was good, if rather more than I had expected. Back to the room and finally filled in and submitted the BA delayed luggage claim form. 

Half a Sheep! 

Sunday 24th January

Buffet breakfast at 7.00, a reasonable selection of bread, ham, cheese, fruit etc. Real coffee, very strong but not particularly good. Waited in the pleasant lounge area until the bus arrived about 0845; I was the last pick up again. We set off in rain and, although we had a few dry, sunny spells, that set the tone for the day. Stopped at several viewpoints but the tops of the mountains were hidden in cloud. We had more success on the wildlife front, seeing a large herd of guanacos, which didn't seem at all bothered by our presence, and a flock of rea. Nathalie, our guide explained that both are completely wild and protected. Later we saw a grey fox but it looked much like the ones that frequent suburban areas in England, except for the colour.

Wide Open Spaces

Guanacos

Saw the cascades on the Paine River which were impressive and on the way back came across two guanacos sharing an intimate moment in the middle of the road. Not at all put off by a busload of tourists, they just continued as we took photos through the windscreen of the bus. Eventually, since they showed no signs of giving up, the driver managed to squeeze past them. 

Cascade on the Paine River

Love among the Guanacos

We stopped for lunch next to Pehoe Lake which would have had a great view except for the drizzle. I had a sandwich and a cup of press-the-button-and-get-a-cappuccino coffee at an extortionate price of 2000 pesos. 

Pehoe Lake

Lichen, not cotton wool

This is the view I had hoped to see. OK maybe not the Gauchos.

Reality! 

After lunch we drove to Grey Lake to see the mini icebergs that have calved from the Grey glacier. From the car park we could see them looking like blue plastic toys, far too blue to be real! I was chatting to a couple, Venezuelan woman and Italian man, who I was amazed to find have been living in Singapore for 15 years! We walked across a little suspension bridge, with a limit of 6 people at any one time, in gentle, light rain. From there we set off along the beach of coarse grey sand which extended into a spit across the lake. It was then that the full force of the gale hit us. It nearly blew us off our feet into the lake and the light rain turned into high-speed face-stinging sleet! We got half way along the spit and, realising we weren't going to get any better view of the blue icebergs, decided to turn back. By the time we got back to the relative shelter of the car park we were all soaked. 

Blue Icebergs from the Grey Glacier

It's windy!

Seriously Windy!

While waiting for us in the car park, our driver and Nathalie, our guide, had taken pity on a bedraggled group of trekkers and offered them a lift back to Puerto Natales, so as a result of the re-shuffle I got the seat next to the driver again. Before coming to Torres del Paine, the idea of trekking had rather appealed, and if I had been much fitter I might have given it a try. The scenery is magnificent and I am sure you can see far more from the trails than you can from the roads. Unlike in Tierra del Fuego, here I can see the attraction. But considering how unpleasant the weather can turn in the middle of summer and seeing the look of misery and dejection on the trekkers' faces, I am very happy to get into a dry bus knowing that I can look forward to a hot shower and a warm bed for the night. Another member of our group was a woman from Hong Kong who told me she had come here almost by accident during a holiday in Australia. She had been trekking and camping in many exciting places including Mount Kilimanjaro but said she had never been so cold and scared as on that windblown spit in the lake. I don't think she has ever gone camping in Scotland.

The last stop on our tour was a huge cave mainly famous for the remains of a massive, extinct, sloth-like creature, the mylodon, that were found here. The cave was formed by water erosion of soft sandstone beneath a harder rock, unlike most caves which have formed in limestone. It had the great virtue of sheltering us from both rain and wind. 

The Milodon Cave.
You only realise how big it is when you see the people on the path

Nathalie, Our  Guide

From there we drove back to Puerto Natales where I stopped off for a hot chocolate and rhubarb pie in a little cafe called Books and Coffee. Not very impressed; the pie was mostly pastry and the filling didn't taste of rhubarb or anything else except sugar. The hot chocolate was DIY, a cup of hot milk and a tin of hot chocolate powder! As a result I didn't feel hungry until quite late when many places were closing. One of the pizza places looked busy so I ordered a Hawaiian pizza and a beer. The beer was fine but the pizza was on a base of white soft bread, nothing like a proper pizza base. Looking at the kitchen I realised that the lack of a pizza oven should have been a give-away. Noticed that everyone else was eating huge sandwiches. Lots of serious looking trekkers here so I guess they need the carbohydrates.