After arriving to Puerto Natales on November 28th, with 4 friends that I had met on the boat (see previous post), also backpackers: Michelle and Tom from Canada, Spencer and Rowan from the USA, we rented a car and went to the Torres del Payne national park, where we did two days of camping and hiking. Because of its reputation, the park is a little crowded with tourists, but the views it has to offer are definitely worth it.
Exit way in case of tsunami
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park – The team
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park – In the car
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park – Drinking mate
Torres del Payne park – The famous towers
Torres del Payne park – The famous towers
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park – Warming up to the fire after swimming in the river at 2°C
Torres del Payne park – In the car
Torres del Payne park – An iceberg, and the Grey glacier in the back
Torres del Payne park – the Grey glacier in the back
Some big piece of ice 🙂
Torres del Payne park – The Grey glacier, closer
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park – We can see the iceberg from the last picture, on the left
Torres del Payne park
Torres del Payne park
Then we spent two more days not far from the park, to keep exploring this beautiful region.
A condor came to say hi
A condor came to say hi
Camping
Camping
Camping
Camping
I learned how to make “smores”: A marshmallow and a piece of chocolate between 2 crackers
Having drinks in a rather nice setting
Having drinks in a rather nice setting
These flowers are called “shoes of the Virgin”
Lago Sofia
After that we went to Punta Arenas, at the very south of Chile, on the night of Saturday the 2nd. We only stayed a day there, we found it less interesting than we thought it would be.
On the road
Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas
On Monday the 4th, our team that had dropped from 5 to 3 members, after Tom and Rowan’s departures, left to Argentina, in the car of a couple met the day before in our hostel, that accepted to take us in their rental car. We got to a village called Tolhuin, on the side of a lake, where we were able to walk around and keep exploring the beautiful region that is Patagonia. We camped in a charming old campsite, with 2 old hippie owners.
The switch to Argentinian Spanish was liberating for the 3 of us, as Argentinians are much easier to understand than Chileans.
Crossing in ferry
Tolhuin
Tolhuin
Tolhuin
Tolhuin – There are some good products in Argentina
Tolhuin – Spencer fishing
Tolhuin – In the camping
Tolhuin
On December 6th, we went to Ushuaia (pronounce Ussuaia), hitchhiking: I was very proud to introduce my 2 friends Michelle and Spencer, to this way of travelling I particularly enjoy. An Argentinian guy picked the 3 of us up, he was kind of the Argentinian cliché: He spoke loudly, and a lot about himself. We stayed 3 days in Ushuaia, partied a bit (I had missed it a little, I had not had a lot of occasions, as I travelled alone) and visited the surroundings, with especially a boat tour to an island where we were able to see penguins, and we also hiked up to a glacier above the city.
Arriving to Ushuaia! Mission accomplished, it was my goal since Montreal 🙂
Pizza
Crêpes
We cooked in the youth hostel
to be sold only in Tierra del Fuego
Sea Lions
Sea Lions
Sea Lions
The lighthouse of the end of the world
Cormorans
A sea lion that is not in great shape
Penguins!
Penguins!
Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Ushuaia
On Sunday the 10th, I left Ushuaia towards the North (can’t go south anyways, as it’s the southernmost city reachable by land on the planet) , but this is another story, which I’ll tell in another post.
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