Today was our second day in Puerto Natales. It´s a small town that serves as the gateway to Torres del Paine. Other than the park, there´s not a whole lot going on. Our options were limited, but we settled on a boat trip. The "21 de Mayo" (they name a whole lot of stuff after dates around here) vesseled us up and down the fjords of Southern Chile.
The first major point of interest was a colony of Cormorants, birds that look similar to penguins. It seems that once they find a spot, they stick with it. They are always in this "Barrosa" or point. It´s even on the map. There were a hundred or so of these guys scattered on the rocks, some of them even taking a dip in the icy sea water. I guess they really are just like penguins.
Next up were sea lions. It´s not their nesting season, but we were hopeful that we could catch a glimpse. We were lucky enough to spot three of them hiding in a small cave near the water. They even got a little feisty. We think they knew they had an audience.
The Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers were up next. The Balmaceda is easily accessible from the water. We were able to sail right up to it. On the sobering side, we were told that this glacier is showing the effects of global warming. Twenty years ago, its face extended all the way down to sea level.
At the end of our loop, we got off the boat for a hike to the Serrano glacier. It was a lot different than the other ones that we´ve seen. Not nearly as wide as the Moreno, we were still blown away by its size. It towers over the lake, extending up into the steep mountains.
To start the long trip back, we were very excited to dig into our packed lunches. It´s weird what you miss when you´re traveling. It is very difficult to get a good sandwich here unless you really like ham. Even the places that say they have sandwiches, really only have 10 different types of ham sandwiches. After striking out in El Calafate, we (ok, Chris) was very excited to find peanut butter in the supermercado. After 3 weeks, PB&J never tasted so good! To top it off, the crew went around offering everyone small glasses of water with glacier ice. We´ve been very careful with water, but Chris figured, "What the heck?" Well, we clearly hadn´t understood what we had been offered because that first sip was a doozey. It was actually vodka and glacier ice! But still, a damn fine lunch!
Today was our second day in Puerto Natales. It´s a small town that serves as the gateway to Torres del Paine. Other than the park, there´s not a whole lot going on. Our options were limited, but we settled on a boat trip. The "21 de Mayo" (they name a whole lot of stuff after dates around here) vesseled us up and down the fjords of Southern Chile. 
The first major point of interest was a colony of Cormorants, birds that look similar to penguins. It seems that once they find a spot, they stick with it. They are always in this "Barrosa" or point. It´s even on the map. There were a hundred or so of these guys scattered on the rocks, some of them even taking a dip in the icy sea water. I guess they really are just like penguins.
Next up were sea lions. It´s not their nesting season, but we were hopeful that we could catch a glimpse. We were lucky enough to spot three of them hiding in a small cave near the water. They even got a little feisty. We think they knew they had an audience.
The Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers were up next. The Balmaceda is easily accessible from the water. We were able to sail right up to it. On the sobering side, we were told that this glacier is showing the effects of global warming. Twenty years ago, its face extended all the way down to sea level.
At the end of our loop, we got off the boat for a hike to the Serrano glacier. It was a lot different than the other ones that we´ve seen. Not nearly as wide as the Moreno, we were still blown away by its size. It towers over the lake, extending up into the steep mountains.
To start the long trip back, we were very excited to dig into our packed lunches. It´s weird what you miss when you´re traveling. It is very difficult to get a good sandwich here unless you really like ham. Even the places that say they have sandwiches, really only have 10 different types of ham sandwiches. After striking out in El Calafate, we (ok, Chris) was very excited to find peanut butter in the supermercado. After 3 weeks, PB&J never tasted so good! To top it off, the crew went around offering everyone small glasses of water with glacier ice. We´ve been very careful with water, but Chris figured, "What the heck?" Well, we clearly hadn´t understood what we had been offered because that first sip was a doozey. It was actually vodka and glacier ice! But still, a damn fine lunch!
7 comments:
Hi Jen and Chris!
I just wanted to say thanks for this great blog! It is incredible. I love reading about your adventures and seeing the amazing pictures. Wishing you happy and safe traveling!
Debbie
It´s funny that you just wrote! i was just saying the other day that I hope Debbie and Matt are reading the blog. Glad to hear you´re enjoying it. Hope Matt enjoyed the frisbee golf photo. You guys will have to plan a trip here so Matt can play disc golf all over every town! Hope to see you when we get back between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Ham? I thought there would be an abundance of beef products, not pig. It is 1:10 AM, Sunday morning, what is the time difference? Still can't get over the colors of the glaciers... and to think, all with a Kodak Brownie. Well maybe the photographers had something to do with it. Keep sending!
i LOVE ham!
That is an amazing picture of the sea lions! The one is like "Yo! What up, kid?" And the other is like "Step off foo'! Don't you know I'm straight gangsta!"
Oh damn!
Hi Jen & Chris
Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip with all of us. The blog is just amazing. Love your pictures and even the video is so clear.
Have fun and be safe
Love you
Aunt Joan
I know what you mean about a good sandwich. Joe and I always found lunch the hardest meal when we were travelling. We never knew what to do for a quick bite. Eventually we just started eating cheese and crackers and nutella on bread. Congrats on the peanut butter!
Love Cara
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