Next Stop

From Punta Arenas I headed 3 hours north on bus to Puerto Natales, the jumping off point for visits to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine and also Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, in El Calafate, Argentina. (In that area I was so close to Argentina that my phone kept roaming back and forth.)
To maximize what I could see down there and still have a few days up in the Lakes District, I did the one day quick tour of Torres del Paine. I do regret a little going all the way there and not staying longer, but it is what it is, I still have a lot more of Chile to see! The good news is that there are a lot of bus tours available so that people like me can see a lot in one day. 
I was lucky to get a clear day in Puerto Natales since it rains here a lot, but I wish I could have arrived a day earlier to have this day in the park...

The ferry that you see pictured above is an option that many people use to head north or south through Patagonia since bus travel is difficult down there and it's also an amazing way to see that part of the country. I opted for my favorite method of travel, the airplane, so I could later fly from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt for the last leg of my trip.
After a good night's rest at Casa Cecilia, I woke up to pouring rain and a gloomy outlook about what I wouldn't be able to see in the park. Unfortunately the most unique part of the park is the "torres" or towers, and those are only visible on clear days. Torres del Paine does have its own micro climate, so it was a little clearer once we got closer and the day went on, but still not clear enough to see the towers. Even on a cloudy day without the towers this is an AMAZING place!!! I guess that means I'll have to come back at some point so I can see everything...

Cordillera del Paine and Lago Sarmiento, still pretty cloudy when we arrived

guanacos

The light is so different in so many of these pictures since it seriously changed like every 5 minutes...

Los Cuernos del Paine (horns)

Lago Pehoe

In case you wanted to swim in a glacial lake

Lago Grey and Glacier Grey

Laguna Azul

Caught a rainbow out the bus window as we were leaving

My Uncle Tom's picture, the amazing towers that I couldn't see

Pinguinos

I feel like it's a general consensus that people love penguins. Are they really cute, or is it more of a fascination with how unique they are? Regardless, when you ride 2 hours on a ferry to go see them and take pictures, you realize that there is something special about them that draws you there.
As we approached the island, the guide gave us some general facts about the Magellanic Penguins, named after Ferdinand Magellan of course, who saw them on his first voyage around the bottom of South America. She reminded us to disembark the ferry boat to the left and continue walking since there are plenty of penguins to see everywhere. Nothing can prepare you for just how many penguins there actually are to see until the boat gets close enough...

These particular penguins swim every year all the way from the southern coast of Brazil. The guide also explained that they come all the way down to Chilean Antarctic because of the long daylight hours that are necessary for their breeding process which generally occurs between September and February. When I was there, the chicks were fairly large and losing their baby feathers.

some larger than others

The adults are known for their "tuxedo" look, which also helps disguise them from predators...

They are also a noisy breed, braying away and calling for their mates...

Check out all of the burrows...

These penguins take equal care of both babies so they both have a great chance of survival

Isla Magdalena is a preserved area, so you literally just walked around on a small roped off path observing them in their natural habitat.

I think it's then when you look around and realize that you are hanging out with penguins at the bottom of the world...

And the travel posts begin...

I just returned from my travels, and taking 400 pictures in a little over a week says that the south of Chile is a pretty amazing place. I knew it would be, but there is something about growing up in the Midwestern United States that doesn't really prepare you for glaciers, volcanoes, green colored lakes, and penguins.

The first leg of my trip was a stop in Punta Arenas, where I met up with my aunt and uncle who were finishing up a 3 week trip before heading up through Santiago and back home to Boulder, CO.

Here's a little map here to show you were I was...a long long ways from home!

View For the folks back home... in a larger map

Punta Arenas is an easy jumping off point to head over to the Argentine side of Patagonia (which I didn't do this time) and also to see penguins on Isla Magdalena, a two hour ferry ride away,  I took so many pictures of penguins that they deserve a post of their own.

Since my aunt and uncle were coming off of about 5 days of intensive hiking in Torres del Paine, we spent a lot of time hanging out with great views over the Strait of Magellan looking out into Tierra del Fuego.

A hike around Reserva Forestal Magallanes

Lots of fresh salmon

White fish with quinoa

We ate such delicious lunches that our dinners looked like this: wine, apples, cheese, and crackers

On the cozy "third floor" of the hotel surrounded by windows and light until almost 11pm!