Thursday 4 April 2013

Puerto Natales. 30 & 31.03.13

Puerto Natales is the gateway for the very well-organised Torres de Paine national parque, perhaps the jewell in the Chilean mountain landscape and known world-wide for its A-class trekking opportunities. We spent four enjoyable days based there.

 

 

It is not often you look at icebegs a few yards from the lake shoreline, and get to handle small fragments of decades-old ice from them.

The above iceberg is about 50' high. That is a very big G&T.
My only complaint about the location of this hotel? We were not staying there.

Although we enjoyed both the the park and the town, I must apologise to all the Torres del Paine fans out there; they say the first cut is the deepest, and for me Fitz-Roy won my heart and did not relinquish its grip on me.

 

Leaving Puerto Natales on April 1st we enjoyed a blistering southwest tailwind across the flat, exposed pampas, but this posed another problem; what of finding a sheltered campsite that night?

Problem solved when we spotted an unoccupied gauchos 'bothy' just 50m off the road. A quick inspection revealed a clean room, four bunk-bed frames and a wood stove.....I gathered just enough wood for a fire that night and in the morning, which staved off the 2 degree temperature. Perhaps I should introduce a star rating system for these bothys? It was rather cosy actually, listening to the wind howling outside, the interior far more attractive than its outward appearance suggest.

 

 

1 comment:

  1. Dave, these photos are magnificent. We continue to enjoy following along with you. All the best, Jamie & Sue.

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