More of Torres Del Paine and another perspective from Millie

Salto Grande

These pictures were taken in the Torres del Paine Nat'l Park in Southern Chile.  It was so beautiful.  The waterfall you see connects two lakes in the park.  It was so beautiful!  Words wouldn't do it justice.  The trip into the park was so glorious.  I never thought we would see such wonders.  I always secretly wanted to go to Patagonia but thought it an impossible trip.  Although the Torres were shrouded in clouds, it didn't detract from the beauty of the terrain.

Torres Del Paine

Jay and Sally Karren, Ida Murphy, Perry and Frances Roberts, Rina Onate, and Van and Millie Layman

 Rina and Ida

 This is off the internet

 This is off the internet

 Behind Grey Lake

This is another picture

 Millie glad for lunch

A toast to our trip

 

We were in Torres Del Paine Chile March 8, 2013.  I have always wanted to go see it since my missionary days in Chile.  There are no words that will really describe the grandeur of this national park.  It surely is a paradise for trekkers as well.  We were lucky to have a private tour in a van with an English speaking guide.  I listened more to the Spanish part to truly understand.  There were 8 of us and we had a great time.  We stopped at Grey Lake and had lunch at a hotel there.  It was cloudy and we for sure didn't get clear pictures.  But that did not deter us from taking many pictures.  The clouds added mystery to me!!  We saw Grey lake and glacier, The towers, Salto grande, and many other random peaks and valleys.  I will see how adding these pictures goes.  I have not been having alot of luck always.

Animals in Torres del Paine

A guanaco

In our day in the Torres del Paine we were able to see several animals.  The guanaco is the most plentiful.  There are about 5,000 in the park.  There are 200,000 in the Tierra del Fuego.  They are protected by law.  They are related to the llama family.

More guanacos

We also some flamingos, a fox and rhia's.  But I must say the most majestic of them all is the condor.  We saw as many as 5 flying together.  We just stood and looked up in the sky and were in awe.  I felt fortunate to see that many.

 

If you look real hard you will see the condor in the picture.

The hotel we stayed at in Punta Arenas was very nice.  Our only complaint was that the whole hotel ran a little warm even without the heater on.  Other than that we enjoyed it alot.

Our second floor balcony

Name of our hotel

The ship Victoria museum Punta Arenas, Chile 5 March 2013

On our way back from the visiting the penguins we stopped by this museum.  It was too late as it was closed but very interesting to look at that ship and understand that Magellan and his crew circumnavegated the world in it!  Enjoy!

Magellan and his crew circumnavegated the world in this ship.  Unfortunately Magellan was killed in the Phillipines in a battle.

The musuem

 Tells a little about the museum

 My picture of the Victoria

The ship used by Chileans to claim this territory for Chile in 1848

Eating in Punta Arenas 4&5 March 2013

Sally Karren and Frances Roberts what will we eat?  At Brcolino's

Rina, Millie, Van, Jay, Sally, Frances, Perry and Ida at Brocolino's

 Sally says "hey I am having Aphrodisiac soup"

 

 

 Dreams hotel for dinner

 Millie having hot chocolate at Chocolatta

 Chocolatta

 Millie looking at the cruise ship on the strait of Magellan at Dreams hotel

 Cruise ship on the strait of Magellan

 Dinner at Dreams hotel

Seafood soup!

 

Anytime you travel eating out as a group is always fun.  The hard part is deciding where to go and what is our budget!  I always go to trip advisor and check out the reviews to decide where to go when in a strange place.  We had pretty good luck for the most part!



Trip to Otway Sound to see Penguins

Factoid on the Otway penguins

Didn't know that Penguins burrow

 Our first penguin near his burrow

 Telling us to be good!

It was about an 1 mile walk to the beach

 Signs for the Penguins

Signs for the penguins 2!

 Ida Murpy and Van in the back of the Van

Millie and Rina

 

We had a great trip to see the penguins.  It was about an hour and 1/2 from Punta Arenas partly on scrub board roads.  It was the end of the season so we weren't sure we would see penguins or not.  As you can see see we saw a few.  We had a good time as you can see from the pictures.