Torres del Paine, the 8th wonder of the world
30 November: We made it to Chile!! We were a bit impressed by the idea of crossing the border in spanish, with a canadian motorhome, a french citizenship, a norwegian adresse and so many restrictions on the food allowed in the country…but everything went very smoothly and rapidly. Directly heading to the centre of Puerto Natales, we meet with Seb, Claire, Jean and Justine to plan our days together in Torres del Paine. After a few hours, we are all set, and leave for 4 days in the park.
Glad to announce that we found some available campsites! Not so easy when you have to fit 9 persons in the busy Torres del Paine National Park…
02 December: First sights of the mountains, after a rainy and windy introduction, we are finally enjoying a view of Los Cuernos, from the Pehoe campground
No time for too much contemplation, we drive to Hosteria Las Torres, on the eastern part of the park. This is where we will start our hike towards the base of de las Torres lookout. We are all packed, and start with a 6 km trip to the Chileno Campground.
Following the Rio Ascencio and enjoying the wildlife
A male torrent duck and its chick
White-crested elaenia
Crested caracara
Camping on wooden platformes, the kids are delighted and the night is not even cold.
03 December: After a good breakfast and despite the rain, we set our course to the las Torres lookout, 4 km from the Chileno campground. The kids amaze us, and the hikers around us even more, as they do not seem affected by the distance, the weather or the slippery slopes.
Here they are, our 5 little hikers at the lookout…Theotime, not particularly tired, even asking which one of the Torres we will be climbing that day! No more climbing planned for the day, but a 10 km hike down to our starting point, where we will be camping for the night.
Down at the campground, enjoying the Torres del Paine…now under the sun!!
A lot of wildlife to spot, and the babies are flourishing all around the park!
04 December: We continue our route further east to Laguna Azul. Las Torres are once again hidden in the clouds, but our little Norwegians don’t mind the overcast weather and plunge into the lake. We finally learned a few hours later that swimming is not allowed in the National Park, a shame as it makes very nice pictures!
A last evening with good friends. Seb, Claire and the kids are heading north on the next day from Puerto Natales, while we are going south. Traveling together has been amazing and we will miss them. Farewell, and see you next summer in the northern hemisphere!
