San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

We have just spent a couple of weeks in the cooler climes of Argentina and Chile and to say that this part of our trip is on the other extreme would be an understatement! The temperature upon touchdown in Santiago was 31C compared to our departure temperature of around 9C from Puerto Natales. We had a couple of hours at the airport before our last leg to Camala in the Chilean desert. Arrived around 9 pm and then hopped in a van for transfer to our hotel. We drove and drove and drove and after what seemed like an eternity, arrived in the desert town of San Pedro de Atacama. We could see by the light of the full moon, silhouettes of mountains and we felt our ears pop as we reached various elevations. No houses (it seemed) and no lights other than oncoming traffic. At last we arrived in this adobe village where everyone was celebrating in the darkened streets. Apparently this happens every night...not just Friday night. It is a town filled with young backpackers and livelihoods are dependent on tourism.

We had our first tour with our guide (for the next 3 days) Victor, a native Peruvian, who took us to salt lakes with an abundance of wildlife from tiny briny shrimp, to flamingo and tiny birds that come from North America.

Below: Another beautiful hotel

Below: Our room

Below: The town

The salt lakes

Serious wildlife photographers

Difficult to believe that those are salt rocks

Below: Our guide Victor. We had to "rug up" against the winds and the sun. Lots of sunscreen used here.

Check out the clip below for one of the most adorable birds I have seen. They are called the Wilson Phalarope and apparently, come from North America

Below: Park attendants at the mountain lakes

Below: Another fox that bears a great name; Zorro Culpeo

Below: A Vicuna (look familiar?)

Returning to San Pedro, we stopped in a little village for lunch. Great roofs!!!

...then we stopped at another town and were thrilled to be invited to feed baby llamas

Tonight, we will visit archaeological sites....when the temperatures are cooler and the sun less intense.

Adios!

Last Day in Patagonia, Chile

We were picked up early and driven to Torres Del Paine National Park. In 1959, the park was created and declared part of the International Biosphere Reserve Network by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on April 28, 1978. Today it has an official surface area of 181,414 hectares, even though physically it is 242,242 hectares. This park is part of the 11 units of the National Wild Area Network protected by the Chilean government in the Magellan and Antarctic region.

Different microclimates create an interesting diversity of vegetation that includes Pre-Andean shrub and, Magellan deciduous forest, Patagonian Steppe and Andean desert (if you believe that I made the previous two paragraphs up, you need to see a professional really, really soon :). Below are some of the amazing views and wildlife. Another beautiful day and another amazing experience in Chile.

No excursion in Puerto Natales would be complete without a side trip to a Milidon cave. This prehistoric creatures bones were discovered in a huge cave in the 1800's...the only one to be found in the country so far. It has become an important symbol in the town, with a statue on the main highway.

Below: Entrance to the cave

Below: Inside the cave

Below: The Milidon statue and me (I'm the one in the blue jacket)

Below: Unusual bench outside the cave

On to the park......and on the way we saw many condor, closer than we ever would have expected.

Below: Guanaco

Below: Look closely and you will see three Rhea (think ostrich or emu)

Below: Andean fox, right outside the hacienda window where we had lunch

Up early the next morning for our bus/plane/bus trip from Puerto Natales to Santiago to Camala to San Pedro de Atacama and guess who came to say "adios"....my friendly horse trotted right up to the window and grazed while we grazed.

Adios Patagonia, buenos dias desert!!!

With love....

El Calafate to Chile

Wow! Wow!!! Wow!!!!!

What a voyage! What a boat!! What crew!!!!! What excursions....it was all so wonderful.

First of all, Bob and I never, ever thought we might visit Cape Horn. We always wanted to visit South America and yet "the Horn" seemed somewhere out there. So happy we did it. It really does feel like the end of the world.

At the moment, I am sitting in the incredible lobby of an earth house. Our rooms are cut into a hill in Puerto Natales, Chile and almost everything is made from concrete and wood. Sounds strange? Not at all. it is beautiful. We look out over water, lawn, black neck swans, Ibis, lupin and other beautiful flowers. The sun is shining on a snow-capped distant mountain beyond the glacier fed lake.

We climbed Cape Horn; we walked among 160,000 penguins on Magdelena Island and now we are in this beautiful and remote place in Chile.

The schedule has been tight because our friends must return to work in just over a week. Bob and I, as you are aware, do our travelling at a much different pace because we have the luxury of doing so.....this isn't a complaint at all however, it makes it all the more surreal to know that a week ago, we were watching a Tango show in Buenos Aires and now we are sitting amongst wild flowers...a horse stands a mere 100 feet away and the contrasts are extreme. Thus far, we have boarded 10 flights, two trains, a boat and many buses. YOU figure it out because it is beyond me! I shall simply do what I have attempted to do along....give you pictures to, in some small way, share our experiences.

Happy 91ST BIRTHDAY TO OUR DARLING MOM tomorrow...January 28th!!! We called her today, a day early because we will be out in the wilds all day tomorrow. So lovely to speak with her and we wish her continued good health. Onward to 92!!!!! You are amazing and we are blessed and grateful to have you with us still.

Love and light!

Views from Ushuaia port of departure

Well, as I live and breath.....Jimmy Flynn (below) can be found EVERYWHERE!!!

Ahhhhhh....yes....our magnificent boat...

Above: Our cabin was beautiful...thinking of reno'ing our cabin on TULAW!!!

Cape Horn....Here we are!!!

Above: Yes, the teeny tiny boat is ours from high above.....

Ok...this is bizarre. What does it look like to you? Ah hah! It is indeed, a beaver dam. Those crazy Canadians tampered and brought beaver to Chile for the potential fur trade. Well, trade in beaver fur bombed and the beaver remain.

Above: Our table companions from Alberta, Ontario and England. Delightful people!

Below: Magdellena Island, home of over 160,000 penguins

Below: Our sod hotel near Puerto Natales