I headed to
Puerto Natales, Chile, and from there took a bus to Torres Del Paine N.P. . I spent 8 days and 7 nights hiking the circuit around the entire park. Just before I set foot upon the trail I ran into an Israeli guy, Amos, and we decided to undertake the adventure together. Amos, besides being a laid back good companion turned out to be loads of help on the journey owing to the fact that his father is 100% Argentinian, and therefore he spoke fluent Spanish (he also spoke Arabic, English, and of course Hebrew fluently - skills that caused him to be assigned to the Intelligence Department in the Israeli military (namely his talents in Arabic).
Sadly, I did not pack lightly, but rather loaded my bag full of heavy canned foods and the likes. At the start of the journey my bag weighed about 85lbs, and forced me to constantly eat in order to save my back and feet. Amos was amazed at how much I could carry, but far more impressed with the amount of food I consumed in the day during my breakfast, brunch, lunch, after lunch snack,
pre-dinner, dinner, and
nighttime treat. We hiked about 6-7 hours a day up and down through the mountains of the park, and experience the worst winds and rain of our life. Fortunately, we were blessed with good weather at the main attractions.
Map of Torres Del Paine N.P.
Me and my big bag in the beginning
en route to
Campamento Seron
We experienced nothing but constant rain showers the entire day and night before this lovely photo was taken.
Amos and I happy that the good weather finally arrived.
Me going out on a limb at
Laguna Cebolla
Amos and I in front of some famous (forgot the names) peaks
The one thing that kept us going
during our hikes was the knowledge that we could buy
Gato Negro (cheap delicious box wine) at the camps
An endless glacier, Grey Glacier - this photo was taken after climbing over the
Paso John Gardner, the most difficult part of the trek.
Amos shaking his trekking poles after realizing were halfway through the trek.
We had to rappel down this cliff section, bags and all. This is a Chilean couple in the photo, and we ended up having to climb back up the cliff for their gear because they were scared of heights.
Me in front of the Grey Glacier.
Great shot of the
Cuernos del Paine
Panoramic view of Valley
del Frances
Cuernos del Paine and
Nieto
The Torres
del Paine were a bit clouded over when we visited, but still visible enough to get the gist.
After 7 nights of camping and eating cold food (my extremely expensive stove sprung a leak in the fuel line the first day), Johnny my hostel owner and ex-gaucho filled my gut with some
tasty steak and vino.
A look at the Johnny´s rustic hostel.
I took a local bus out to main lakes and was struck with some form of food poisoning on the way out there - causing my body to get extremely tired and be overtaken by the shakes and chills. I was determined continue with the bike rental though, and ended up riding for half and hour until i reached the beach and then promptly fell asleep. When I woke up I ralphed all over the place, got back on my bike and rode to the main scenic viewing point, snapped a couple of shots and raced back to my hostel and bed.
