Patagonia: Unbelievable sights, indescribable feelings

Punta Arenas

Just prepare yourselves for the longest blog entry to date :) After finals and a semester that seemed like it was never going to end, it was FINALLY time for my long waited journey to Patagonia. The obsession all started when I first applied to the Chile program and heard about this marvelous land, and then I saw the movie 180 Degrees South and I knew it was a place I had to see. It definitely did not disappoint.

Isla de Magdalena- The Penguin Island

The journey started with a flight to Punta Arenas. It’s one of the southern-most cities in Chile and Antarctica is only a boat ride away (But really, it is, I just wasn’t willing to shell out $600). The first thing I noticed when we got off the place was the sky. The clouds are absolutely incredible down there, and the way the sun hits them at different times of the say just creates a constantly changing, beautiful painting that just sits above you. Bonus, since it sits basically at the bottom of the earth, it stays light until about 10 o’clock around this time of year. As summer continues it stays light until 11 and the sun rises close to 5:30! Incredible.

Lago Peohe- Torres del Paine National Park

Torres del Paine

One of my days in Punta Arenas was dedicated to visiting the Isla de Magdalena. It’s an island inhabited purely by penguins!! Unfortunately the trip cost way more than it was worth, but it was still pretty neat. We took a boat about 45 minutes off shore on some of the most turbulent water I have ever experienced. It was fun for me, every time the boat jumped a wave it was like a mini stomach-falling-up feeling. Unfortunately not everyone on the boat was on the same page as me and weren’t too thrilled with the choppy waters. The captain of the boat even decided to cut part of the tour short because the winds were creating too dangerous of weather conditions (We got a refund, but it was barely anything). The island itself was absolutely freezing and I found myself wondering how on earth all the penguins could keep warm, even though these weren’t the same type of penguins, I couldn’t help but have flashes of March of the Penguins running through my mind. I really wanted to pet one, but they are surprisingly fast, oh well.

Near Glacier Gray- One of the first views

The crew with all our gear

After the penguin island, definitely the most thrilling thing to do in Punta Arenas, it was off to Puerto Natales (confusing, I know) to kickoff the backpacking journey. In both PA and PN me, Hannah, and Christina decided to couch surf to save money. In PA, Marcelo was our host and he was just the best! Such a nice guy and gave us a big breakfast both days we stayed with him. PN, was a little bit of a different story. We were hosted by a family, instead of an individual, and it was quite an interesting experience. The night we arrived there were 16 other people sleeping there… 16! Keep in mind that this was by no means a big house. I don’t know how we all fit, but there we were on the living room floor with mattresses and sleeping bags. I mean it was free, sometimes free things aren’t always what you expect. The mom, Gloria (yup, the same name as my host mom in Santiago) good a delicious pasts dinner for everything though. They usually ask people to contribute some other aspect to the dinner, like bread, salad, dessert, what have you, to make it like a community thing. Good thing there were French people staying there, they made a delicious crumble. Us Americans? We bought ice cream :)

After a night in Puerto Natales and running around the city renting tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads, we were off on a bus into Torres del Paine National Park. In the morning we met up with Lauren, who was just getting in on a flight, and were able to catch the 2:30 bus into the park. I will just start by saying that we all underestimated our backpacking abilities. The hike itself was not the incredibly difficult part, it was the extra 30 pounds on your pack that caused some pain.

A humble campsite

We decided to hike the W starting on the glacier side, we heard it was a little easier that direction. That required us to take a short boat ride across Lake Peohe to the trailhead. This was where I first encountered the most turquoise water I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t clear, it was just bright blue, and I was in love. We got off the boat at 7:30 and decided we had plenty of daylight to make it to the first campsite. Wrong. We should have cared a little more when people were giving us strange looks, but we were on a tight schedule! Plus, it just makes for a better story. Day 1- packs don’t hurt too badly at all; It’s just a matter of getting used to the bulkiness on your back. So the map said it was a 3.5 hour hike to the refugio campsite, we learned that we almost always took longer than what the map said. So the rain started to fall and darkness descended and we finally arrived at the campsite at about 11:30. If it weren’t for the rain, I really believe it would not have been that bad. Everything just got soaked though in the tent set up process, literally soaked. I don’t think I could have been more miserable that night. I just remember looking at the clock every hour and just wishing it would be 7am and we could start hiking again. In the morning the people working at the refugio, where people actually got to stay inside, let us dry off our stuff in front of the fire. It was quite the night and none of us we in a really chatty mood. After trying to change our plan about 5 times, we just sucked it up and went with the original one and headed off to the next destination.

After that night, it was pretty smooth sailing. I mean it was hard work, hiking for 6 hours a day and then setting up camp and sleeping on the hard ground, but a part of me absolutely loved that. I have always been a fan of camping, so combining it with hiking just created an experience that I absolutely fell in love with. The views I cannot stress enough. The was something gorgeous to marvel at with every turn, and when you finally arrived at the top of a really steep uphill you were rewarded with a gust of wind and some spectacular scenery. The park in general was just so varied in terms of nature, mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, woods, plains, just everything all in one place. Definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in my life.

Thanksgiving dinner :)

All the bumps along the trail were pretty manageable, except for the last huge bump that hit me on the 4^th night(thank god it was the last night): the 24hr flu. Yup that’s right, shivers and shaking, fever, vomit, the whole shebang. I got really lucky because we were camping near a refugio that had a bed available so I was at least able to sleep indoors and near a bathroom (which was utilized a fair amount throughout the night). The day after was equally as miserable. I have never felt so weak in my entire life. Taking 1 step felt like it took every ounce of energy that my body possessed, I just knew that as soon as I was done, the trail was done and I would be on a bus back to Puerto Natales. Definitely a low point in my life, good thing I was surrounded by gorgeousness and 3 incredibly supportive friends that got me through. Hannah even had to carry my bag the last part of the trail. What a CHAMP, she carried two backpacks on the 5^th day while I was struggling just to get myself down the mountain.

 

All in all it was an absolutely incredible experience, it was definitely hard as hell at some points, but I think it was all worth it. Everything just seemed to be intensified down there: the wind was gustier (there were times when I literally could have been blown off the trail/mountain, even with a 30 pound pack on my back), the water bluer, the trees greener, the rain wetter, the cold chillier, and the sun stronger, but all this led to views that were prettier than a lot of things I’ve seen in life. 5 days and 4 nights, eating nothing but cliff bars, peanut butter, bread, nuts, and jerkey (the occasional tea when campers were feeling friendly) but I made it out alive.

After hiking, it was back to one more night in Puerto Natales, with the crazy couch surfing family. We arrived at 4 in the afternoon. I crashed at 5 (still feeling sick at this point) and slept for 16 hours, some much needed sleep. The next day Hannah, Christina, and Lauren left to start their trip in Peru while I stayed and decided to explore Patagonia a little more. To Argentina!

Punta Arenas

There was surprisingly a lot of snow

What a view!

Chasing waterfalls

So obsessed with the color of the water

Bus ride to Argentina

Puerto Natales

The countryside

Perito Moreno- Parque Nacional de los Glaciares

Argentinean Patagonia was just as incredible and breathtaking. A 5 hour bus took me across the border and through kilometers and kilometers of pampa, littered with herds of sheep, to the town of El Calafate. If it weren’t for tourism, this town would not exist. It is composed of fancy restaurants, hotels and hostels, a supermarket, souvenir shops, and outdoorsy stores selling all the high end products, gore-tex central. I was traveling alone at this point and I really liked the freedom. Obviously I love having company, but everyone likes alone time, sometimes I think I need more than most people haha. Anyway, the major attraction was the giant glacier known as Perito Moreno. It absolutely blew my mind! I felt so small standing next to this wall of ice, watching parts of it break off (sometimes with a mini explosion-like effect) and slide into the water. I picked a bench and just watched it, in complete awe of the grandeur of nature. Then I ran into some Israelis, who I had first met in Torres del Paine, and decided to be social and hung out with them for a while. We actually ended up at a lot of the same places, at the same time so we got to be friends.  

Such a massive glacier!

Fitz Roy Peak- far right

After seeing the glacier, I headed off the El Chaltén, the supposed trekking capital of Argentine Patagonia. I wasn’t up for another whole circuit (not that I even had the time), but I did go on some  substantial 5 hour day hikes. Even though I was still in the Parque Nacional de los Glaciares, El Chaltén is more known for their mountains. Once again, nothing but incredible views. The main mountain peak, Fitz Roy (sooo Spanish-sounding, I know), just towered over the trails and provided for more amazing photo ops. I really wish I had more time here to explore, but I was running short on days and I needed to get all the way back to Punta Arenas (where I originally started) to catch my flight back to Santiago. Three busses later and I was back for one final night at Marcelo’s. My flight left at 6am, so I was picked up by the transfer at the brutal hour of 4am and driven to the airport. I spent the entire 3.5 hour flight asleep, only to be woken by coffee and delicious airplane snacks. Before I knew it I was back on the Santiago metro, a long way away from those unbelievable sights and indescribable feelings.

Lago Argentino

 

So many pretty clouds!

Could have stayed forever