Torres Del Paine

Torres Del Paine

Torres Del Paine is a fantastic Natural Park, located in Chile. The Park is quite close to El Calafate, but unless you’re on foot, or by bike the tour goes via Puerto Natales. At least if you are going by bus.  By private car it is not necessary to go all the way. When you have crossed the border at pass Guillaume there is a road directly to the park.

The park Torres del Paine includes the massif Paine with the three towers (Torres), that has named the park. Hiking around the massif, which is not part of the Andes, are very popular. There are various popular routes, which takes everything from 1 to 9 days to get all the way around.

You do not have to hike the mountain to enjoy this beautiful park. On the road through the park, there are many places where you can stop and admire the many lakes, rivers and the stunning scenery. I don’t think I’ve seen so many different colors of water in one place. Depending on whether it is a lake, or a river, where the water comes from, it is everything from white, gray, turquoise, light blue or deep dark blue. It is an absolutely fantastic view.

The road through the park

There is only one way through the park, and from north to south between the two CONEF admin offices, it is about 100 km. It is gravel road going up and down and by bus it took me about 2 hours with a few stops along the way. By car you can get into the park from the south, but the bus only goes to the north entrance Amarga. It is the one that is the closest to the massif and where most people do the climbing. Since my hotel was far south, it meant that I first drove all the way past the park to the north entrance. Then through the park, to get to administration office at the south, where I was picked up by a car from my hotel. It was a long trip, but I was happy, I got to see the park immediately, although without stopping to enjoy the views and take pictures.

When I was reading about Torres Del Paine during my planning, I thought immediately that I had to see it, but in my research, I also found out quickly that not hiking and without a car, it would be a challenge for me to get around in the park, so I had booked a hotel where they arranged tours and I luckily got a super experience. The hotel did everything to give me a great time and some amazing experiences, and the weather was with the exception of the last day OK. It was very windy but – as mentioned several times earlier – it is always very windy in Patagonia. The weather also changes quickly, so you can have four seasons in one day.

My hotel was actually just outside the park, I found out, but besides having to show a ticket to get into the park again, it did not matter. The hotel was beautiful placed at the Serrano river, and I had a stunning view of the Paine massif from my room where I could see two of the three towers. Hotel guests are mainly staying in small cabins, but I got a room in the main building. It was very nice and it also meant that I had a kind of Internet connection most of the time. My experience so far is that Wifi is available almost everywhere, but it does not mean that you have internet, and here for example, I was not able to download my mails.

Getting around

Climbing is, as mentioned big in Torres Del Paines. A trip around the massif entirety is called the O-trip. The most popular is the shorter W-trip – so named because the route forms a W. In addition there are shorter walks including some view points where you can get up to get the full view of the Three Towers or the Gray Glacier. There are a lot of people on these trips, and you have to book accommodation well in advance. I was told that in some places, it was almost like on a Saturday morning shopping tour. Probably a little exaggerated, but it is a popular place with many people.

For a day trip through the park, you get to see the massif from below, which is also impressive. You will also see rivers, lakes, waterfalls and plenty of time to enjoy the views, which is as mentioned already exceptionally beautiful. On other excursions you can take a Zodiac boat on the Serrano river, take a boat trip to Gray Glacier or climb up to look for condors on the condor mountain. With a car, you can of course stop where you want and go on a lot of different tours, go fishing and enjoy nature with the variety of animals found in the park.

In the northern part of the park there are large colonies of guanacos, but throughout the park. you will meet small flocks or individuals here and there They are food for the puma, which mainly appears early in the morning and after sunset. There is also a rich birdlife and as mentioned among others, the many kondors.

There are several types of geese and the small Rhea – an ostrich look a like and they both have some special behaviors. When the female rhea has delivered her babies, she disappears and leave the male to care for them😀. The geese always live in pairs, and if the female dies the male stop eating and die shortly after. If the male dies the female will just find a new mate❤. I was also lucky enough to see a gray fox.

December is the time when Guanacos gives birth, and especially in the large flocks, I saw there were a lot of kids. They were constantly crossing the road without caring about cars. I was also lucky enough to see a baby being born. From some distance, but suddenly the kid dumped to the ground while the mother was standing up. Within seconds, she began to nudge the kid to get it up on the tiny legs. Very uncertain, but up it came. The mother supported, but it was not many seconds after birth before it began to walk. Amazing experience and my guide in the car had never seen it before.

On another trip, I went with a Zodiac boat on Serrano river. The trip started just outside my hotel, but was about to be cancelled because of a very strong wind. With about a fifteen minutes delay, we got an ok and took off after having put on a big long, warm and waterproof coat and a lifewest. It was a wild ride on the river in the wind, but also a surreal experience otherwise. I was, on the first part the only guest, so I experienced the luxury of having my own guide. On the return journey there were an additional 4 guests. We initially met over lunch and despite the fact that we did not all speak the same language, it was a really nice and fun lunch, and when we parted again after a challenging ride in the boat, it was almost like saying goodbye to longtime friends. We were literally shaken well together in the boat.

Summary

It was certainly not the cheapest 4 days on my trip, but they are also on the very top of my experiences. Partly because of the amazing beautiful nature, but also because the hotel and especially the two guys who run the excursion department was so enormously sweet and helpful. On the trip through the park, they had no other guests, but to avoid that I had to pay for 2, they had arranged that a young German who worked at the hotel, came with us just to get to know the park. So here I had a full day with three people to look after me. A driver, a guide and the young German “apprentice”. Two days in a row to be at the center and with so many to take care of me. What an experience for a couple of days.

On the return journey leaving the park I had the same route back to Puerto Natales by bus through the park. Unfortunately, it rained, but despite of that, it was still a beautiful tour through the amazing scenery once more. It was also fun to see all the tired young people that had been trekking for a few days. It did not take long before they were all fast asleep.

With a combined trip to El Calafate and Torres Del Paine you are filled up with nature BIG TIME. The combination of mountains, lakes, glaciers, rivers, animals, and stunning colors in the surrounding landscape is truly amazing and images that will stay with me forever.

A little story about bus and borders.

In continuation of my experience at Iguazu, I was also here close to losing my bus because of the queue at the border. It was far less dramatic as I luckily have no idea of the consequences if any, if I had lost the bus. I had bought a ticket from El Calafate to Torres Del Paine and according to plan, I would have an hour between the two buses in Puerte Natales. I had expected, I would be able to exchange money and buy some supplies for my days in the park. I knew that it could take time at the border, but I assumed the bus company knew from experience how long time that should be allocated, so it was only when we stood at the Argentine border and it took a really long time, that I became a little worried. Normally, check out goes quickly whereas check in and especially to Chile takes a lot of time, as they check all the luggage. It was fortunately reversed because the time of check-in went very quickly. They were really efficient and incredibly helpful. At the Chilean border, I asked our driver, while waiting for the last passengers, if I would still be able to catch the bus to Torres Del Paine and got the answer – maybe. He told me how long time the journey would take. Calculating the time I could see we would have to leave soon, but it was possible. Since it was the same bus company, I thought that they would hopefully wait, so I was optimistic. If I had known the time it took to get through the park, I would probably have been more nervous because that time was not included in my arrival time either.

We arrived 5 minutes before departure, and they helped me, so I quickly got my luggage and there were also a number of other passengers, who arrived at the last minute so I made it. However, I did not have time to buy anything nor time to change money. It is not possible to bring food, fruit and vegetables into Chile. They are very strict, so I had nothing edible. I knew, I probably would not be able to buy anything once in the park, so it was hotel menu for the next days and no cash. Luckily, I could pay entrance fee to the park with my creditcard, and on the bus ride back to Puerto Natales, I was allowed to pay in US $. There is always a solution.

I am going to cross the border several times more on my trip, but luckily going forward, I am not going to catch another bus but will be going directly to my accommodation. No more just in time border experiences 😀.

Thanks for reading the blog and you can view more pictures here: