New Years at ‘El Fin Del Mundo’

(** Hey all! We are about 1 month behind on our posts and are currently in Brazil!  Please check back often as we intend to catch up over the next couple of weeks!)

After bussing further and further south and reaching southern Chile, our previous stop at Puerto Natales was to be our southern-most point on the trip.  However, after coming this far, we figured what’s another couple hundred miles… let’s keep on truckin’ south until we run out of road.  :- )

 Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world and is part of the ‘Tierra Del Fuego’ (land of fire) region of Patagonia… a desolate and wind-blown place. 

Tierra Del Fuego is actually disconnected from the mainland and getting to Ushuaia would require us to cross the Straight of Magellan.  Not the most comfortable ferry crossing but interesting for sure:

The next day we took a small boat tour through the Beagle Channel… named after Darwin’s famous ship that surveyed the area in 1830 (see, we are learning a couple things along the way!)

The “southern most structure in the world”, a lighthouse in the Beagle Channel. Ushuaia’s most notable landmark.

Sea Lions…

As we came up to this island full of black and white birds, Jen and I were excited to see more penguins! 

But, as they started flying off we realized we were not so lucky.  :- )

Trees growing sideways due to the incessantly strong winds:

 

 

Being the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia is the most popular port city for cruises to Antarctica.  We would definitely not have the budget for that… maybe we can start saving for a 25 year anniversary trip:

Other random pictures around town:

Racks of pork roasting in open fire pits:

A huge penguin just roaming the streets!

Spanish to English translation fail:

 

New Years 2012

In Torres Del Paine, we had met David and Lily, who were also celebrating their honeymoon.  We kept in touch and were able to meet up in Ushuaia for a bit before new years:

As you might imagine, Ushuaia is not exactly known for its night-life.  Nonetheless, we were able to find a friendly pub to ring in the new year.  Some pals of ours we met earlier in the evening… Michael and Catherine.

Outside after New Years, the sun was still setting.  This would definitely rank up there with one of the more memorable places to bring in the new year!

Torres Del Paine Trek, Patagonia

 

We would have one last big trek for this trip… from El Calafate, we would go still further south to experience one of Patagonia’s premier parks—Torres Del Paine.

Occasional wildlife sightings during the many, many hours on the bus.  Guancos… looks like a half llama, half deer:

  

Rheas… huge, flightless birds that resemble ostrich:

After arriving in Puerto Natales, Chile, we had two days to get situated, buy our supplies for the trek and rent the rest of our equipment (a stove and pots and pans). 

Our food for the six day trek… lots of carbs and sugar:

The two basic treks in Torres Del Paine are “the circuit” or “the W”.  The full circuit typically takes 10 days and covers more terrain and elevation than the 5 to 6 day ‘W circuit’.  In the very early stages of planning this trip, Jen and I were thinking we should take on the circuit.  However, after our experience at the Huerqueque Lakes trek we had a change of heart and opted for the easier, more leisurely (but no less beautiful, so they say) W circuit.

Headquarters to Campamento Torres

A 8:00am bus out of Puerto Natales got us to the park and on the trail around 11am.  Our first day would be an ascent from headquarters to Campamento Torres.  Climbing along a riverbank, we would get our first views of “Los Torres”, the stone towers for which the park is named. 

   

A lone guanaco along the mountainside:

Making our way up through a river valley:

After about 8 hours of up hill hiking, we reached Campamento Torres.

 

We fumbled our way through our first dinner on our rented stove & pots… spaghetti.

It would be another 1-hour hike up (way up) to get to the ‘mirador’ (lookout) of Los Torres.  Since we got in late and were pretty tired, we decided to go up, without packs, early the next morning.  We were fortunate to have clear views:

 

Campamento Torres to Los Cuernos

After coming back to camp, we had some breakfast and packed up the tent.  Back down through the valley we would go… this time, with SNOW! 

Back down to the valley floor, the snow had stopped and for most of the day we hiked along Lago Nordenskjold, a gorgeous glacier-fed lake.

 

What made this section even more unique was the emerald green color of the lake.  We later found out that this color is caused by the “rock flour” that floats in the water.  As the glaciers grind along, they pulverize the rock below to a fine powder (rock flour) that then gets swept into the lakes, changing the color to emerald when the sun shines through:

 

 

 

Campamento Italiano and through the Valley De Frances

The next leg of our trek would take us still further along the lake’s rocky shores:

Big winds created small waves and swept water right off the surface:

Eventually, we would head inland (away from the lake) and up through the ‘valley de Frances’, closer to the glacier that feeds Lake Nordenskjold:

A look back at the lake from up-valley:

At campamento Italiano we found a spot in tent city.   The camp was nestled in the valley, at the base of big mountain.  All afternoon and evening we’d hear the loud rumbling of what sounded like thunder.  It was actually the sound of big packs of snow falling down the mountain as they melted.  We were able to catch one on camera: 

Grand Paine and Lago Grey

The next segment would take us to the park’s west entrance at Grand Paine lodge.  From here we would set up camp, leave the packs and complete the last ‘leg’ of the W circuit, north along Lago Grey (fed by Glacier Grey).

Icebergs from Glacier Grey swept down-lake by the winds:

We hiked against the strongest winds we’d experienced while in Patagonia:

 

Our first Christmas away from home

We definitely missed not being with our family on Christmas, but we tried to make the most of it:

Tent city at Grand Paine

The occasional holiday decoration or trekker wearing a santa hat would remind us that it was Christmas

Christmas Dinner… spaghetti (for the third time in 5 days!)

The next day, we caught the catamaran out of the park… a few last pictures on Lago Pehoe before heading back to civilization:

 

Back in Puerto Natales, we treated ourselves to a belated Christmas dinner/ celebration for finishing the last of our treks for this trip!

 

A couple days after we had left the park we found out through one of our trekking friends, that Torres Del Paine was on fire and everyone was being evacuated!!  (No, it was not us who started it!)  Apparently, despite the strict ‘no ground fires’ policy they have throughout the park, one person started a ground fire and it raged out of control.  We felt extremely lucky to have made it out before then and felt bad for any of the people who were put in danger. 

And with that, our trekking section of the trip is complete!  While it was thoroughly enjoyable to be completely self-sufficient for 6 days, we are looking fondly to the next section of beaches and a bit more relaxation!

Next stop:  Ushuaia for New Years Eve!