Patagonian Adventure

Already for a long time we had often been talking about and planning a trip to Patagonia with our friends Auli and Viki. Finally we made a visit to them to make all needed plans and reservations for the trip. After that the dream of Patagonian adventure started to come true. Even the flights would last more than thirty hours we waited anxiously for the journey. We had already read about places like Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine National Park from which we had pictures in our minds. The plan was to drive around the area and make a few days hike at Torres del Paine.

We explored Torres Del Paine surroundings with our four wheel drive to find, or at least see a flash, of a Patagonian puma. They were smarter than us and we didn´t see any. Then we drove to the starting point of our hike via Lake Amarga where we wished to see Chilean Flamingos. These species are the most southern in the world and we succeeded to meet them. Those pink birds were somehow unreal in this unfertile environment.

From the Lake Amarga you can see the tree granite boulders which are the signs of Torres del Paine National Park.

We started our hike from Las Torres. The route took us to the valley of River Ascencio. First we climbed two hours to a ridge from where we started descent to the Camping Chileno where we mounted our camp. The climb was heavy with all the outdoor equipments and photographing gear. But as usual it was worth it because of the beautiful sceneries.

Next morning we hiked to the tree towers, Torres Sur, Central and Norte. Weather was excellent with only a few clouds in the sky. Climbing was now much easier than the previous day without the heavy back bag even though it was steeper. It wasn´t just walking, we took some breaks from time to time. While sitting and resting we saw local birds like Patagonian Sierra-finch, House wren and Caracara.

                                                   

 

When we arrived up to the site Base Las Torres we saw that huge, mainly black coloured Andean Condor gliding over us. This bird is the biggest in the world with wingspan even more than tree meters. Andean Condors are scavengers with head and neck of reddish bare skin. These creatures are gorgeous. When we looked up to these awesome birds, there had gathered clouds in the sky. The weather changes fast indeed in the mountains and maybe the change of weather made the condors fly more actively. They used upward moving air skillfully to save energy and glide smoothly.  Occasionally they stopped gliding and made fast turns with hanging legs to take a rest on a cliff.

The descent down to the camp was nice and easy. We did it very much in peace just enjoying the Nature and sceneries. Those were amazing days during an unforgettable trip far away from homeland in hospitable and friendly southern Chile.

Olli