Patagonia es Bonita

Not sure where to begin. It´s been almost 2 weeks now and I´ve done so much. Hike 8 or 9 hours to Fitz Roy. It was brutal. Sprained my ankle, but the view was worth it. It was just amazing. You see the peak close up with the two glacial lakes below it. We have been VERY fortunate with the weather. Fitz Roy is known for not being seen. Patagonia is known for rain and unpredictable weather. We had both. We saw Fitz Roy and all it´s glory. We had unbelievably warm weather. I wasn´t but other people were wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts. We also camped out and hiked Torres del Paine for 2 nights and 3 days. We did what they call the W trail. The first day we hiked 8.5 hrs and saw the 3 famous peaks of Torres del Paine. Next day was 4 hrs and the follow was 6 but I think I stopped around 4 or 5 because of my ankle. I´m not sure I enjoy the act of hiking but the final outcome if it is worth it. It´s beautiful here. I definitely recommend it. And if you can learn to speak basic or conversational Spanish, your trip will be enriched a little more. The locals are very friendly and funny but they are more open if you speak or try to speak their language.

I also went to Punto Arenas to view the Otoway Penguin colony. I got some cool photos there. At first, I thought I wouldn´t be able to get very close to them, but as we kept walking we discovered spots where the babies settled near the boardwalk. They were a bit stinky but adorable! Today I took a tour of the Beagle Channel. I saw some Sea Lions and Cormorants (sp?). Tomorrow I´m planning to go diving. Everyone thinks I am nuts. Apparently I´m the only one on the boat tomorrow. I guess they´re right. I´m actually looking forward to it because I get to say I did it. I don´t think I will get to see much besides some kelp, crabs and star fish but I enjoy the actual act of diving... even if the water is only 4 degreed Celcius. I´m only doing one dive so hopefully it won´t kill me.

So far, what has been memorable? Definitely Fitz Roy. It was really beautiful. The majetic peaks with the beautiful glacial milky blue lakes sitting in front. I also walked on a glaciar but that wasn´t as exciting. It was fun for the first hour but it got a little old quickly. It was similar to walking on large large piles of ice cubes. Not really what I expected. I was hoping to try the ice climbing but it was sold out way in advance. Note to self... book early if I want to try ice climbing in Patagonia.

Torres del Paine was a more impressive natural wonder than Fitz Roy. If you do one, you have to do the other. Camping was interesting. We shared tents and really got cozy with our tent mate. My tent mate is cool so we had fun just chatting for a bit and going to bed. We had a 4 star camping experience. For dinner, we had an actually dining room with ceramics and silverware and a chef. Split pea soup, turkey with rice and dessert. That was only for 1 night though.

Considering how bad my memory is, I think I will take away the following things when I get back home.

1. The beautiful colors of Patagonia. Rich greens mixed with red, purple, white, and yellow folowers.

2. The friendly people. We´ve encountered great people along the way and the international group in my tour were also amazing and caring.

3. The difficulty of reaching each of the sites. The remoteness of the destinations are both a mix of pain and pleasure. Because they are remote, they are not over run with more tourists than they already are. Think unpaved highways and 12 hr bus rides. (But there is are signs of highways coming up.) Then again, it´s difficult to get from one destination to another which is why I went with an organized tour.