January 28, 2019: Puerto Natales- Our Gateway to Torres del Paine
Sunny this morning. Yesterday was breezy, today it is blustery! It may be summer here but most people are wearing puffy coats.
I forgot to mention the many “ homeless” dogs that are wandering around the streets of Punta Arenas. They have often been left behind when their owners left the area. The good news is they are well-behaved and do not bother you.
We left at a leisurely 10AM and were joined by two local guides, Sebastian and Martin, who will obviously be with us as we explore Torres del Paine National Park. Very quickly we found ourselves traveling through the Patagonian “steppes” or “pampas”, an area of flat prairie land as far as you can see, no trees and minimal vegetation. The flatlands eventually turned into rolling hills, but still with no vegetation. Only occasionally did we see a small grove of trees. It reminded me of what we saw in parts of Iceland.
It is about a 3 hour drive to Puerto Natales where we are staying but there will be a stop along the way at a local estancia (ranch) for a Chilean BBQ of, yes you can guess what-lamb!
What a wonderful country! Every place we go and every meal seems to start with a pisco sour! And they are getting better! Our visit to the Rio Penitente Estancia for a tour and lunch indeed began with a great pisco sour (best so far), followed by a short tour of the 1891 built home led by the grandson (Christopher)of the original Scottish immigrant who settled in the area. The estancia is 12,000 hectares (about 30,000 acres) with 5000 sheep, some llamas and 6 sheep dogs. We then ventured to the sheep shearing barn where a demonstration of the shearing process was given. A team of shearers come every spring to oversee the process. A top-notch shearer can shear 200 sheep a day(every 90 seconds)! The wool is bundled and sold on the open market.
They have recently added llamas (pronounced Yama) to their herds. Another emerging and profitable business for them is tourism and they offer stays on their ranch for hiking,fishing, and horseback riding.
After the sheep shearing demonstration we were treated to a marvelous lamb/beef BBQ (cooked over a wood fire) with multiple salads and wine. It was spectacular!
Back on the bus for about 1.5 hours to our final destination for the night, the Remota hotel in Puerto Natales. This is probably the “funkiest” Hotel I have ever stayed in. Built around environmental considerations it tries hard to blend into the local terrain. There are multiple two-story wings with grass roofs. The interior is built with a heavy emphasis on use of raw slabs of timber. There are no TVs in the rooms, only a central TV room in the main lodge. There are multiple seating areas in the main wing to sit and read, nap or simply ponder the environment. It is truly unique. We learned that except for top shelf liquor/wine and massages everything was inclusive. Order what you want; it is in the price.
Dinner was fun as we could order anything off the menu, but most of us ate such a big lunch that we limited what we chose for dinner. I simply opted for a marvelous tomato soup followed by a chicken salad as an entrée. Many of us did leave room for the ice cream offered as one of the dessert options as we have not had it on any of our menus so far.
Unfortunately it appears the weather is not going to cooperate the next few days. Considerable amounts of rain and wind is expected. Wladimir suggested to take the boat trip to view the glacier tomorrow, rather than two days hence, as we will be inside for much of the time. With luck the weather forecasters will be wrong (as they have been on many of the days so far) and we will have decent weather during the time we are here.