El Fin Del Mundo

Last night, we slept through some of the strongest sustained winds that I’ve ever experienced.  It was different from the past few years’ hurricanes (Irene upstate and Sandy in Brooklyn) in that there wasn’t a big storm, with rain and lightning – just lots and lots of wind that kept coming.

Today is our fourth day in Southern Patagonia.  We’re in Torres del Paine National Park, the iconic Patagonian destination, just back in our warm cabin after a wet and windy day hike.  Our original plan was to camp here, but we realized we weren’t properly equipped.  And though I’m usually up for camping, I’m thankful that we were not outside during last night’s cold, wet wind.  I’m not sure what kind of equipment would be proper here, but it sure wouldn’t be the tent O and I used last summer in the Adirondacks.

We arrived here yesterday, after a six-hour drive from Punta Arenas, the southernmost “major city” in Chile.  Punta Arenas was spread-out, empty and windswept, a prosperous looking port town with a navy base, long-distance ferries, a lot of Art Deco architecture from the 30s and 40s, as well as some Italianate buildings, and a lot of bungalows clad with aluminum.  It seemed like a Southern California town relocated to Alaska.

Early morning departure on the Straits of Magellan

On Tuesday, our only full day in Punta Arenas, we set off early in morning (8am, which is actually pre-dawn) for a two-hour ride on an old ferry to the Isla Magdalena Penguin Sanctuary, in the middle of the Straits of Magellan.  Although it is late in the season, with the penguins departing daily for warmer waters, the island didn’t disappoint.  We saw thousands of penguins strutting around, mostly in pairs, and in various states of losing their old feathers and showing off their new ones.  As a consequence, the entire island seemed to be coated with a fine layer of penguin fluff.  The fact that the penguins had no apparent fear of the boatload of humans on their island made the whole thing vaguely reminiscent of the Galapagos, although a lot colder.  Fortunately, we were spared the worst of the famed Patagonian winds and the trip was warm and pleasant.  We got back early enough for us to spend the afternoon relaxing.   Being antsy, I took off on a long walk through the city to get a better look at some of the architecture.

We checked out the penguins

And they checked us out

Punta Arenas Deco House

Jews in Patagonia!

Yesterday, we hit the supermarket after breakfast, to stock up on food for our four days in Torres del Paine, and then hit the road, our little Chevy wagon stuffed full of luggage and supplies.

Stocking up for Torres del Paine

The drive out here was stunning.  Three hours of open and empty road north of Punta Arenas – flat, flat, flat, huge mountains in the distance, past many sheep and cattle farms, and a few wild rheas or "ñandus" (Patagonian ostriches).  Also saw groups of pink flamingos in the many lakes along the way – their whitish pink a surprise against the endless variety of brown.  After three hours, we stopped in Puerto Natales for a brief lunch and fuel stop and then continued north along mostly unpaved roads to the park.  Unfortunately, the park was pretty well clouded in, and so we only got occasional glimpses of the famed towers that give the park its name.  Nonetheless, the hour and a half drive through the park was dramatic, with glimpses of huge snowy mountains plunging into freezing green lakes.  By dinner time, we had arrived at our cabin along the Rio Serrano, just outside the park’s southern boundary. 

Patagonia through the windshield

By dawn, the wind had died down, and we drove back into the park to attempt to stay dry during a day hike up to a mirador, and then out to the shores of Lake Grey, to see the chunks of glacier that had broken off and were floating like miniature icebergs.  We certainly made the most of the day, but the weather wasn’t completely cooperative – the clouds moved in and we got snowed on for the first time this “winter”.  After a few hours, we were back in the Chevy, eating our sandwiches and on our way back to the cabin.

Tomorrow, we’re going to attempt one of the more ambitious seven or eight-hour day hikes in the park.  As I write this, there’s alternating clouds and sun, with a lot of rain.  And the wind is blowing hard.