World Chile Magallanes Torres del Paine National Park

Alex's Semestre en Santiago!

Patagonian Paradise Oct 24, 2009

wow. What an increadible week...I dont even know where to start!

So for about a full five day trip, my group flew down to Patagonia, Chile. Patagnia is the wayy southern region of Chile. It is pretty much the south pole, or at least feels and looks like it! After an overnigh flight, our first destination was puerto Natales. A small town/city on the water. It was real cold and windy here when we first arrived, but it was also beautiful. From my hotel window I could see all the mountains across the water. Luckily we had a free day so we used some time to catch up on some sleep in the hotel room. Then, we ventured off into the sleepy touristy town to find some lunch. We had a relaxing day in preparation for some hard core sight seeing in the next few days.

The next morning we woke up at 6:30 am to go on a boat to the glaciers. When we arrived at the boat, they told us we couldnt go out on the water because the winds were too strong. (At least 40 miles per hour I think). We were able to switch our days and instead of doing the boat, we went to the torres del paine national park all day. Once we got to the park, the views were amazing. We could see enormous snow capped mountains, and the two huge stone rocks which are called the torres del paine. In English that means blue towers (I think). We drove further into the park to see some more bautiful lakes, mountains, and waterfalls. It was all unreal. At one pont, our driver let us get out of the car at one of the most windiest spots. I have never experienced wind so strong. It literally blew you over!

Around lunch time, we stopped at a restaurant which overlooked the most amazing view of the day. It was sort of like heaven. On top of it all, I ate a delicious piece of steak! The day ended with a walk around a prehistoric cave, and finally we got back to Puerto Natales and got some sleep!

Luckily the next day was great weather and we could go out on the boat! It was another very early morning. Breakfast at the hotel is also another subject I should talk about. Eacho morning we got lots of bread and jam, and 2 chocolate bars! One of which is a super ocho. Conveniently, this is the name we gave to our group, since there is 8 of us.

The boat cruise was also amazing. On the way to the glaciers we nacigated through fjords and in between mountains. We even saw some sea lions and waterfalls. The first glacier we only saw from the boat, but it was still beautiful. For the second glacier, we went on a little hike in order to get close to it. Just looking at it was mystifying. We learned that the glacier has been shrinking rapidly. I feel lucky to have seen it before it starts melting away completely. In general I feel extremely lucky to have seen all this natural beauty. It makes you feel so small and insignificant when you see something so amazing.

On the way home from the glaciers,we got some complementary whiskey and then we stopped at a little town on the water for lunch. Here, we got some complementary pisco sour! We were loving how AU sponsered activities provide us with so much alcohol! Along with our pisco sour, we had the pleasure of watching an actual animal be roasted over a fire for us. We then continued to watch the man cut up the animal for us. I have never felt like such a carnivore! The lunch was delicious though, and of course we got a glass of wine.

Once we arrived back in puerto natales, we had another relaxing evening. The next morning we were off to punta arenas, the capital city of the area. Once we got there, we relaxed some more, and headed out into the city. All we could wonder was why on earth people would want to live in this freezing windy city! We walked to the port where we could look out onto the Strait of Magellan. Its crazy to think that we were actually that far south! That night we had one of the most delicious pasta dinners, with complementary pisco sour of course. After dinner, our whole group decided to discover the nightlife of punta arenas...the super 8 took on punta arenas!

Our last day of the trip could have been the strangest day. Our tour guide took us around the city for a tour...some of the places were interesting and pretty and educational, while other places, such as a used car lot, baffled us a little. We were trying hard to enjoy it all even though we were all absolutely freezing and being blown away by the wind. Our last stop on the tour was a really neat cemetary with lots of mosoleums and huge gravestones. After the tour, it was time to eat again, and then head off on the plane back to Santiago. It was sad that the amazing week was coming to an end. This also made me realize how sad I will be to leave Chile. The country is way more amazing and beautiful than I ever could have imagined. I still have to pinch myself when I think back on all the amazing places I have seen.