Torres del Paine

Today was nature day, which is quite an understatement. I took an all-day tour with 4 other people in a van to the national park "Torres del Paine" which means blue towers. I'm told that "paine" is an indigenous word meaning blue. I am somewhat (maybe more than somewhat) color-challenged. I couldn't see any blue in the mountains, but I did see dark and light rocks. These peaks are about 7800 feet high and rise up from almost sea level. This dramatic ascent is so typical of the Andes, absolutely breath-taking. The Andes do the same thing at their northern end near Merida in Venezuela, and in the middle near Machu Pichu. The only difference is that at Machu Pichu, because of the difference in latitude, the steep cliffs are covered with vegetation. Here, they're covered with snow! The Towers are a must-see for chilenos and for people visiting Chile, kind of like seeing Yosemite. Quite a few Europeans come here to go backpacking. It's not quite like what it is in California. One hikes on well-worn paths, and spends the night in a "refugio" where a bed and fire await, much like hiking in the Swiss and Austrian Alps.

This beautiful area has been turned into a national park. There are several trails all around the beautiful mountains. Backpackers are welcome but must camp in only designated places and cannot leave the trail. To do so is called "wild camping." Torres del Paine reminds me of the well-tended Swiss Alps, where one should not walk on the grass. In January and February, which is high summer, I'm told the area is pretty packed with backpackers. So these rather strict rules make sense. The result is that the place is quite clean and orderly. There are certainly many other andean mountains in Chile where one can go "wild camping." This is now the first week in March. Summer vacation is over. School started up again last Monday. The number of visitors has dropped dramatically. Even the weather has decided it must be fall. It was cloudy and threatening all day and began raining about 3 p.m. I'm glad we had as dry a day as we did.

Driving there, we traveled past quite a few "estancias." These are common in both Chile and Argentina; basically, they're large ranches, or country estates, devoted to cattle or sheep raising. Frequently, they offer rooms to tourists, providing meals, horsebackriding, etc. I can easily envision these incredibly independent-minded german and scot pioneers setting up cattle or sheep ranches here and battling the elements in order to build a succesful farming operation. The result is that many of these ranches and ranch homes are well-established and quite beautiful. The independent conservative spirit of these early settlers has no doubt affected the chilean mentality of today.

Enroute we saw half a dozen condors flying high overhead above a large herd of cattle. We came across numerous guanacos. Guanacos are Chile's version of a llama. They're smaller than a llama, but bigger than an alpaca, but share the same camelid heredity. They're protected now. The only predators are mountain lions, of which there are quite a few.

As luck would have it, a mountain lion had taken a guanaco the night before (or so we suspect), not far from our road through the park. Our eagle-eyed tour guide spotted the carcass as well as a fox feeding on it. We all got quite close to it. The fox was not about to give up lunch just because of some curious humans. Obviously, his hunger overcame his fear. In the photo, you can see rheas in the background, apparently oblivious to the fox at lunch. Rheas are like an ostrich or an emu. Enroute we also saw caranchos, which Wikipedia tells me is a "carrion-hawk", and pink flamingos.

Incredibly enough, there are a handful of restaurants up here in the middle of nowhere. The food they offer has to be transported quite a distance. My very nice landlady had warned me that the prices in the restaurants were very expensive (true!), and gave me a sandwich to take with me! It was lamb and cheese, with tomato and avocado paste. Yummy! I sat down at a wonderful picnic table with a view of the beautiful mountains. I had about a square inch of sandwich left. Some fellow passengers were walking toward me, and I turned toward them, and in 3 seconds, about half a dozen little birds stole my sandwich bread! The photo shows me and the remnants of the sandwich. So far, these are the only inhospitable chilenos I've encountered!