Patagonia Pt. 2

A photo tour.

Welcome to the wide open roads of Patagonia. It's common to go miles out here without seeing anyone. And cops? We could count them on one hand this trip. That made for some quick driving. On our last day, I routinely hit 170 kph, which felt to me like 80 mph. It wasn't until I got out the converter app on my phone that I realized we were hitting 105.

This photo was taken outside Puerto Natales, the last town before arriving at Torres del Paine National Park. Stopping for gas here is a must since it's another 90-minute drive into the park and out.

We spent most of the trip on slower gravel roads. Here's one approaching the park.

Dani by the side of the road. The park getting closer.

For three nights we stayed in a two-bedroom cabin just outside the park. A place called Hosteria Lago Tyndall. Here's the view from our door. Sunrise was around 4:00 am. It got dark by 11:00 pm.

Horses are everywhere in Patagonia. We stepped onto a neighboring property only to realize it was a horse ranch and we were surrounded.

Other horses, like this one in the distance, appear to be free to roam.

One of many shots of the park's mountains.

Just inside the park.

We stopped at one of many scenic overlooks and met another Brazilian who snapped our photo. The water down there really is that kind of bright emerald.

A bridge leading to some hotel worth staying.

Patagonia.

Me looking like an idiot.

We drove around twisty dirt roads and found the mountains in our face again every few seconds. The view never got old.

Dani and I decided to climb a steep hill. Dani wisely stopped halfway up.

Most of the plant life is dry and beaten from the wind. Some flowers found a way to survive.

These skeleton-like trees were everywhere. A constant reminder of the unforgiving landscape.

One of many glaciers in the area. This one crawling down the face of a mountain.

The trademark wind of Patagonia. It actually made me stumble at one point. And here, on top of this rock, I had to really be careful. You can see it made short work of my heavy sweatshirt.

Best part of taking these photos? Afterwards, we found CLP $6,000 on the ground (US $9.63).

There was a perfect rainbow circling the sun our first day in the park. I've never seen that before. Is this common near the poles?

Sometimes on the road you just have to stop and capture it.

We came upon a bed of gravel edging the water big enough to fit a football stadium. In the distance were glaciers.

Even in the middle of nowhere, Dani wants to look good.

This wood/rope bridge had a whole lot of bounce to it. When we first came upon it, there were four people crossing. We waited.

Another good spot for photos.

The wildlife in Patagonia is odd to the say the least. It's like the region is a support group for animals that have a hard time fitting in anywhere else. We saw ostriches and armadillos. Here is one of several alpacas.

Penguins as well. We drove pretty far out of our way to see these fellows.

There were about six on the beach, just in from a day's fishing.

We also came upon one dead one, which I suppose made the tour unique.

There were also the puppies that lived on the hotel grounds. Here's Dani carefully balancing her open container in order to give this little one some love.

On the way home, we stopped in Puerto Natales for a bite at Restaurante Kosten. We had the "Patagonia Pizza" topped with lamb and onions.

Patagonia. I'll never forget this trip. Dani and I loved it. A destination for anyone who wants to see the world at its most beautiful.