Torres del Paine National Park

We went back to Chile. There we meet Alex again. Now his girlfriend Viktoria is also with us. We rented a car to explore "the end of the world".

Jürgen and I took the bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales. There we met Alex and Viki again. The two flew to Punta Arenas by plane and rented a car there. We had already agreed on that. The bus ride was pleasant and we took a small border crossing in the middle of nowhere.

The next day, THE hike of all hikes in Chile was scheduled. Torres del Paine is a must-visit for every traveler in Patagonia. It is evident from the crowds of visitors here. There is the option to do a 5-day or 10-day hike. There are huts and campgrounds available. If you want to do either of the hikes, you have to reserve a spot months in advance. Since we didn't have a reservation, we only did the day hike. But it was sufficient. We set off for the park in the morning. It is 2 hours away from Puerto Natales, where we stayed. At the park entrance, there were 4 buses and everyone wanted to buy their tickets. We drove past the buses and parked behind the house where the tickets are sold. There was a huge line of people at the main entrance. So I just used the back entrance. We quickly got our tickets and could move on. We parked at the starting point of our tour and set off. The trail was really beautiful, apart from the 1000 other people, and we encountered horses a few times. They supply the huts. We filled up our water at a small stream in between and continued uphill bit by bit. The first and last part were very steep and strenuous. The middle part followed the river through the valley. We crossed smaller streams that came down the mountain several times.

Then we finally made it. The view that awaited us was truly impressive. The three rocks, including glaciers, and then the blue lake. The meltwater was running down the rock wall. The effort was really worth it and we now understood why so many people pilgrimage here every day. Now we deserved something to eat and unpacked our lunch package.

When we finished eating and taking pictures and started our way back, it started raining. The rain didn't stop. So we hurried on the way back. We still arrived at the car completely soaked. Here we were immediately asked to drive back to the main entrance because the road was flooded. But it was not because of the rain, but because of the excessively warm temperatures in the past few days. There are still many glaciers down here. But they naturally melt in the warm weather. For us, driving through the flooded road was not a problem. With our pickup, we were high enough, but others with regular cars were already struggling.

The next day, Alex and Viki planned to take a boat tour to a glacier. Unfortunately, it was also canceled because the way to the boat was flooded. So we quickly planned an alternative program. We were mobile and could stop anywhere. Since there are plenty of animals to see here, we kept an eye out for what we could find. On the way, we saw two Andean condors. Really impressive birds. Unfortunately, they fly too high to photograph. We then continued to the Condor Look Out, a short hike to a rock where 2 condors nest. The view from up here was really beautiful. On the way back, we also saw the condors. With my binoculars, we could observe them well. Unfortunately, they were too far away for the camera again.

Our next stop was a waterfall. At the parking lot, we were greeted by an armadillo. Of course, I had to touch it. At first, it ran away, but eventually, it let me touch it. The waterfall was also very beautiful. But the highlight here was definitely Gundula the armadillo.

On the way back, we stopped at flamingos, rheas (a type of ostrich), and guanacos (a wild llama species).

In the evening, we got a recommendation for a restaurant with good local cuisine. Here, a guanaco was served directly on the plate. It tasted really delicious.