Feb 19, 2013 - On board ferry

2/19/2013 There are 8 cabins with 2 beds and a private bath on board and they come with a private dining room which is really nice as we have table service and do not have to stand in the long lines for meals. Instead of departing at 8 AM we departed about 10:30 AM. The ship is old but fairly well maintained. It reminds us of our crossings from mainland Mexico to Baja except there are more passengers and the trip does not arrive in Puerto Montt until Friday morning. We have seen some wonderful scenery already and even a few glaciers....

Feb 18, 2013 - Puerto Natales boarding the ferry

2/18/2013 A lazy morning as we board the ferry this afternoon. Off to the store to buy our goodies for the trip. Oops, came out of the store and noticed a very low outside tire on the rear passenger side. Had seen a advertisement for a tire shop, drove there at 2:30 and waited the afternoon opening at 3 PM. The tire shop manually jacked the rig up, manually removed the tire using a cheater bar, found the screw in the tire, removed, patched and re installed. Out by 4 PM at a cost of 3,000 Chilean dollars. Picked up the laundry we had left...

Feb 17, 2013 - Puerto Natales

2/17/2013 We are off to drive the road through Torres Del Paine. The day was spent mostly on dirt roads, but the views of the mountains were spectacular. Hope we get a chance to upload some photos, breath taking! After driving over 120K of dirt we are ready for an early evening back at the boat harbor. Tomorrow afternoon we board the Navimag Ferry from Puerto Natales to Port Montt. This trip is supposed to be a great highlight and we are looking forward to our 4 nights and 3 days of not driving and having all meals prepared for us.

Feb 16, 2013 - Puerto Natales

2/16/2013 The sleep last night was mostly good, but some of the local hot car drivers did not seem to appreciate our taking up “their” area and would come by and rev their cars, but no problems. We are off Puerto Natales this morning. Puerto Natales is the jumping off point to visit Torres Del Paine which we will do tomorrow. We have found that there are no campgrounds in town, but have arranged to park at the harbor. The town is much smaller than Punta Arenas and much more laid back. The town caters to hikers going to the park and...

Dec 24, 2012 - Week 13 - Torres del Paine, Puerto Natales, Navimag (Chile)

The third day of the ‘W’ trek in Torres del Paine national park started with a 2.5 hour trek up the central branch of the ‘W’ to the closed climbers camp, Britanico then a further 45 mins to the Britanico viewpoint. Having left our bags and tent at the campsite the walk felt really easy and we quickly made our way up the valley to the glacier viewpoints. Sadly it was pretty overcast so the view was limited but rumours of a puma sighting spurred us on. After retracing our steps back to camp to pack up the tent we carried on a further 2.5...

Feb 14, 2012 - Torres del Paine Natlional Park

We arrived late last night in Puerto Natales, Chile. Today, Jim went to Torres del Paine National Park while Dean, Lia and I did laundry, grocery shopping, post office, and prepared dinner and a Valentines day cake-from scratch in a hostel kitchen. The next day we all went went to the National Park together. (The photos of the park are actually from February 15.) It is difficult to explain the beauty of the park. It is completely breathtaking. I hope these pictures will let you experience a little of what it was like to be...

Jan 1, 2011 - Puerto Natales

We woke a bit late but had a fine talk with Swiss couple who are going N. Bon gave them some info on Ecuador incl Galapagos, they had been to Torres del Paine trekking and had a great time, mainly because the weather was perfect, even one day w/o wind. We waited for Barbara and meanwhile fixed stuff for a lunch should she like to eat something. Mari went to her Hindu temple thing so when Barbara did arr at 12:15 it was just Jake, Bon, and I...Barbara filled us in on the latest happenings in Chaiten, the govt having second thoughts about...

Apr 22, 2010 - Trekking plans from Puerto Natales

So bloody cold here I am now living in fear of what might become of me up in Torres del Paine National Park - about 120km from here in Puerto Natales. FOUR layers and I am STILL cold and that´s here at sea level. Hmmmm. Looks like there are not a lot of people heading into the park judging by how quiet the town is. The mountain ´refugios´ (aptly called refuges aren´t they? that´s the wooden accommodation situated at the top of the mountains close to the key look outs in this huge national park) are pretty empty it would seem so looks like I...

Feb 17, 2010 - The "Milodon" and Puerto Natales!

Unfortunately, the next day was grey and rainy so a decision was made to do other things rather than an 18 kilometre walk in the rain. We visited the Cave of the Milodon......see following quote pulled off the net! There are statues of the Milodon both in the cave and in Puerto Natales. "The Cave of the Milodon, an impressive 30m (98 ft) high structure, situated on the edge of the Benítez hill, shelters a figure of the mythical animal encased in fiberglass . The first indications of the milodon go back to 1896, when Hermann Eberhard found...

Dec 27, 2009 - Boat trip - Serrano Glacier

We feel accomplished! Okay, now you have to understand that I haven´t been on a real boat in a long time. Just the thought of going on a boat makes me sick and when I found out Rob had the same problem I knew he was the guy for me. But, even with all of that...we still decided to go out on a boat (in very unforgiving conditions) to see the Serrano Glacier. You only live once, right? I´m proud to say that even with the rocky moments, we didn´t get sick (Rob had one small nauseated moment but was a real trooper) and we even met some new...

Dec 26, 2009 - Rob´s Guest Blog/Puerto Natales

Let me set the scene for you. It´`s 10pm, the sun is still up, sundown isn´t until 11pm, and I`ve had 2 pisco sours and the bottom third of Sara`s wine, so I'll try to be as coherent as possible. Since we last left our two heroes..... XMAS NIGHT 8PM We left our very cozy hotel for a walk into town. The sun was shining and the water looked inviting from our oceanfront room. This is when I made my first big mistake of the trip, leaving my warm clothes behind and heading out in jeans, a fleece jacket, and the fe Euro hat I bought for the trip....

Dec 5, 2009 - Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales today and tomorrow to relax and get ready for the Torres Del Paine hike- 5 days in the mountains!! So, keeping with the tradition we will try local speciality-Cordero Asado or barbequed lamb.Tomorrow is Sunday, so it will be relax,walk on the main street and laundry before the walk. Weather is supposed to be OK so- fingers crossed...it will be only windy...