Oct 1, 2005 - Torres del Paine

Verslag van 5 dagen Torres del Paine (1-5 oktober) Dag 1 Met een minimum aan bagage, slechts twee dagrugzakjes, begint om 7.30 onze ¨W¨. Om 10.00 bereiken we Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, vanaf de oostelijke oever van Lago Pehoe vertrekken we korte tijd later met de eerste boot (een catamaran) van het seizoen naar de overzijde van het meer. Vanaf hier begint de hike naar Refugio Grey, 3,5 uur lopen. In tegenstelling tot de bewegwijzering ploeteren we ruim 4,5 uur door, langs en over adembenemende valleien. Dag 2 Vanuit Refugio Grey...

Aug 25, 2005 - Kickin' Back in Torres del Paine

Hi Everyone! We have just arrived back in Puerta Natales after doing a tour, a bit of camping and a walk in the Torres del Paine National Park. What can you say about this place, well in Yoshi language, it is super speccy!! The tour started off nice and early and did a few blockies of the town, picking up dudes from the hostels. We ended up with us two, a couple of poms, a couple of germans and a dude from peru and a lady from spain. It was a good friendly group and they all loved our little guy, the piggy. We found out thet the roads here...

Jun 2, 2005 - Not Just a Walk in the Park

I know that I've been gone for a few days, but don't think that I've been sitting down on the job. Two large blisters and half-a-dozen pairs of wet socks later, I have just returned from 5 days on the 'W' trail in Torres del Paine National Park. In the warmer months, the trail's hiking traffic can resemble a Los Angeles freeway. In my 5 wintery days, I met exactly 3 hikers - all on solo outings: Francois from France; Elmer from Holland and Tomasso from Italy. There're a number of reasons why there are so few people here this time of the...

May 20, 2005 - Puerto Natales and Torres Del Paine

Back on dry land again, and luckily we didn't have that persistant swaying feeling you sometimes get for a few hours after getting on the boat! Puerto Natales proved to be a really nice town, with a fantastic location looking out across the waters to snow-capped peaks and pure countryside. The main reason to stay here (apart from recovering your stomach after either drinking too much or rough seas!) is to visit the fantastic Torres Del Paine National Park which is close by. We'd been a bit unsure about whether it was worth visiting the...

Apr 22, 2005 - The Navimag Ferry, Torres Del Paine National Park and the Perito Moreno

I`m afraid that these are probably not the best photos I have of the Torres Del Paine National Park, but it`s now been a week since I finished; a week in which I have laboriously been adding photos little by little and I can`t add any more without waiting another hour to load three photos! In addition, I`m afraid that the camera was out of action for the Navimag ferry journey which preceded the Torres trekking - problems of the broken adapter and lost memory card variety. This is a real pity as it was a highlight of my trip - I spent hours...

Apr 8, 2005 - Trekking in Torres del Paine, Chilean Patagonia

We were a bit skeptical at first as to whether or not the weather was going to be bearable for the five day trek, but we borrowed some warm clothes from our friends in Bariloche, rented a couple warmer sleeping bags and gave it a shot. Needless to say it was a good decision as the weather ended up being great and the scenery was spectacular. The Torres del Paine is one of the most renown areas for trekking in South America and it is quite easy to see why. The park has a network of hiking trails that are periodically connected to various...

Mar 25, 2005 - Trekking au parc national "Torres del Paine"

A peine débarqués en Patagonie, nous partons pour cinq jours de randonnée a travers le plus fameux parc national du Chili, le Torres del Paine. Nous appréhendons quelque peu les prochains jours car nous n'avons aucune expérience de trekking en montagne, encore moins en portant un sac à dos rempli de plus de 15 kg. Heureusement nous avons rencontré d'autres voyageurs un peu plus expérimentés et surtout trés sympathiques (Florence et Jean-Mo) avec qui partager l'aventure. Un suédois particulièrement cool se joint à notre équipée. Autre...

Mar 12, 2005 - Chile - Torres del Paine

To quote " Torres del Paine is not a mere park, but a park of parks, a destination of travellers to whom a park is more than a place in which to be entertained, but rather an experience to be integrated into one´s life. Torres del Paine is the sort of park that changes its visitors..." Absolutely incredible - stunning scenery which hopefully the photos will go someway to convey. We spent three days hiking and camping for a hardcore experience and boy do our feet know about it...bring on the laundromat! The granite pillars, seldom summited,...

Mar 4, 2005 - Chile/Arg - Journey to the End of the Earth / Torres photos

Patagonia, meaning 'Big Foot' in Spanish, was the name given to the first people who roamed this area, the size of their feet made larger by wrapping them with layers of animal furs. The region covers the bottom half of both Chile and Argentina, from and including the lake districts in the north and continuing south until the end of the world. Literally. It's a very large area yet has one of the lowest population densities in the world. Little wonder. Part of it is a rugged, desolate, no-man's-land exposed to wild wild winds that ravage and...

Feb 27, 2005 - El Calafate...home of an advancing glacier, and well..not much else

So, my parents got a little exposure to the backpacker way...arriving in a town with not much planned..the only difference is that they booked a hotel the night before we got down there..so it wasnt truly the authentic experience. We had no tour set up to see the Glacier, and no transportation set up to get down to Torres Del Paine park.. El Calafate is a town that only exists because of tourism to Glaciares National Park. It's still 50miles from the park, but its the closest town, so it gets all the tourism. We booked the ¨standard tour¨...

Feb 4, 2005 - CHILE - Torres Del Paine

We travelled from El Calafate in Argentina across to Puerto Natales in Chile from where we set off to go trekking around the Torres Del Paine National Park. We walked around what is supposedly ´one of the wildest and most beautiful treks (The Paine circuit) in the world', we were not disappointed. Walking(and carrying all your own gear and food) for 6 days, 115 km, we were tired but the views were worth it. We were in much need of a shower and decent meal when we got back to Puerto Natales as we had lived off super noodles, rice and ready...

Feb 2, 2005 - Torres del Paine

So I'm back now from a week's camping and walking in the Torres del Paine National Park. My first time walking with proper big hiking pack, with sleeping bag, mat, stove, clothes and food (hired tents at the sites). I walked the classic "W" route, more or less, and added extra on at the end. The walking isn´t easy, most of the tracks are stoney, sharp stones that twist your feet, with some steep ascents made more difficult by carrying the heavy pack. Once you start on the route there's no getting off (and believe me there were times when I...