Patagonia

me somewhere in the park
see all photos »

Patagonia! I have always wanted to come here and here I am, really excited to be in this extraordinary place. I flew down on Thursday, 2 stops along the way, then a bus ride up to Puerto Natales, gateway to Torres del Paine national park, famous for its trekking. Well there was to be no trekking for me- we are just getting into winter here and it is cooooold. Cold for me, little California girl, but I guess the real cold is yet to come- apparently last August it got down to -25 degrees celsius! Now it's about 1 degree celsius and when the wind isn't blowing it's really fine.

waterfall in torres del paine
see all photos »

I spent yesterday on a car tour of the park- that's about all there is to do here and it was really nice to be driven around in a warm and cosy van. One other woman was on the drive with me- I think there are a total of about 5 tourists in town right now- this town thrives on tourism in the summer but now many of the restaurants, shops, and hotels are shut down. I am the only guest at my hostel, Dos Lagunas. I am well taken care of- Alejandro, my host, fixed me eggs and bacon this morning. And best of all, he gets up early and turns the heat on. My room has heating too, I can be indoors without my down jacket on- nice! Hot water too- when I was in Valparaiso I didn't shower for 4 days because the hotel was so cold (colder inside than out), and there was no hot water! Here I am truly living in the lap of luxury.

the iceberg
see all photos »

Besides staying in a great place, highlights of Patagonia so far include seeing icebergs and pink flamingoes. These things just make me really happy. And there is no one else around! Luckily there was the one other woman on my tour, at least we could take each other's pictures- but most of these things I am enjoying in total solitude- it's kind of strange- I was so excited to see flamingoes this morning I was laughing and ooohing and aaawing- and I was the only one to hear me. This place is cool.