“Some days are diamonds, some days are stone”…….or so said John Denver.  Today was definitely a diamond day; in fact it was even better than that, it was spectacular!

Also, before I begin, for the sake of transparency and honesty, we did not really go “trekking”. It was more like leisurely walks in the park, but down here people do go on extended “treks” in the area.

We left at a leisurely 9 AM, with sun and puffy clouds in the sky, headed for a full day excursion to the east side of Torres del Paine National Park. Surprisingly the park is not that large, only about 450,000 acres ( about 2/3 the size of Rhode Island) but it is blessed with some stunning mountain vistas.

Our itinerary for the day was to explore the eastern side of the park. It was about a 45 minute drive to the park. Initially the landscape was flat and featureless, then suddenly the snow-capped mountain range appeared, creating a marked contrast to the land around it. I was surprised to see that when we did a comfort stop at a small cafe in Cerro Castillo we were at the border with Argentina. Go left and you are in the park; go right and you are in Argentina. We went left!

We were in an area of valleys that had been carved by glaciers, then submerged by lakes before becoming the valleys we now see. Horizontal lines on the sides of the hills surrounding the valley showed the levels of the lakes over the millennia.

Entering the park we soon saw a guanaco, the local “cousin” of the llama. I thought we would stop for a photo but we did not as the guides told us we would see a lot of them and sure enough by the end of the day we were hardly interested in the small herds that often grazed along the road side. 

Although it is peak season we hardly saw any other vehicles or people as we traversed the park. Suddenly the bus stops because our eagle-eyed tour guide had spotted a puma moving on the ridge above us. It was an incredible sighting and rare as the animals tend to be nocturnal. We grabbed cameras and binoculars hoping to get THAT photo. This is when I wished I had brought along my big SLR rather than the pocket-size camera I usually carry on my trips. Luckily, several people did have those larger cameras including one of the guides and they got some incredible pictures of the big cat which will be shared with the rest of us. It was quite a start to our day.

Our first stop in the park was at a large lake where surprise #2 appeared in the form of several condors flying at a fairly low altitude above us- close enough to get a few decent pictures, even with my camera. Normally they are not that close to the ground and pictures are difficult to get. Condors do not particularly fly, they simply soar, relying on air current to keep them aloft. They are the 2nd largest soaring bird in the world(albatross is #1), having wing spans of around 10 feet. The wing feathers can be 18 inches long and act like flaps on an airplane to control their flight. Condors are not raptors, they are like vultures in that they only eat dead meat. They have to rely on the # 1 predator, the puma, to take down a guanaco. The condor will then feed on the carcass after the puma finishes feeding. Surprisingly condors are not an endangered species in Chile.

Leaving the lake and driving a bit farther we did finally stop where a herd of guanacos was grazing by the side of the road. They basically ignored us as we took dozens of pictures. We were told that the lone guanaco standing off by himself was acting as the sentinel for the group, watching for predators who might be stalking them. I assume they take turns at this responsibility. They can run fast but not as fast as a puma so you do not want to be the slowest guanaco in the herd!

Mid morning we stopped at a lake and were told we were going on a bit of a hike along its shore, followed by coffee, tea and a snack. Off we went on a walk that ended up being only a couple of blocks at the most, finishing at a picnic grove down the road where the snack awaited us after our long, strenuous hike!

The Paine river is the major river flowing through the park and the guides wanted to show us a fairly decent sized waterfall ( Cascades del Paine) on the river, so that was the next stop.

Because we are a long way away from our hotel the staff there sent a team along with us to prepare and serve us a lunch in the park. We stopped at what looked like a campground that had a shelter with tables and even a kitchen, where we were served a great multiple salad luncheon, starting first with a cheese/salami appetizer and the proverbial pisco sour.

After a leisurely lunch it was on to more scenic views along the road back out of the park. It was after this stop that Sebastián again had the coach stop as he sighted another puma(#2 for the day) sitting quietly on the top of the ridge above us. It is one thing to see a moving animal but to sight one that was sitting absolutely still 100 yards or more away is phenomenal. He stayed put so supposedly we will be getting some shared pictures from those with the big cameras. I did manage to get a few shots and have enclosed one here. By the way, pumas are more commonly called cougars or mountain lions in the US.

We were back at the hotel by about 6:30; it was a long day but everyone was excited about what we saw and experienced. It was indeed a diamond day, that more than made up for the bad weather day we had yesterday.

Tomorrow we continue our exploration of the park by going up the “west” side. New adventures are in store and we all went to bed hoping for another sunny day.