Balmaceda Glacier, The Last Hope Sound.
Downtown Puerto Natales.
The Last Hope Sound, Puerto Natales.
The author getting re-acquainted with the Patagonian weather.
On our first visit to Puerto Natales we arrived late on a wet afternoon after a long bus trip up from Punta Arenas, a trip that included a fair chunk of time stuck on the side of the windswept Patagonian road when our driver miscalculated his fuel requirements. So after a quick walk around town to get my bearings I spent the rest of the afternoon in various bars and restaurants in town getting to know my fellow trekkers. After an afternoon stuck on a remote Patagonian road and a night of drinking together we'd all pretty well bonded by the time we retired to our rooms that night.
Our hotel was clean and comfortable without being overly luxurious.
The room had everything that I needed.
It was a wet grey morning that we awoke to in Puerto Natales.
A wet start to our cruise on the Last Hope Sound.
Waking on our second day in Puerto Natales we were all pretty excited as this morning we would be heading up to Torres del Paine National Park. Instead of just driving to the park though we were taking a slightly more adventurous route today. Making our way through the grey and wet early morning Puerto Natales streets we boarded the small tour boat that that would take us on the first leg of days journey up through the Last Hope Sound, the cold rain lashing the boat not exactly filling us with joy. Thankfully though as we progressed further up the Last Hope Sound the rain started to ease off a bit and we were able to head up on deck and enjoy the local wildlife.
Tomorrow we would set off on an 8 day trek around the Torres del Paine National Park - I was happy enough to be sitting warm and dry in the boat this morning though.
Blue-eyed Cormorants in the Last Hope Sound (you might have to squint a bit with some of these photos!)
Last Hope Sound.
Last Hope Sound.
Last Hope Sound.
Seals in the Last Hope Sound.
Seals in the Last Hope Sound.
Seals in the Last Hope Sound, they look a little drier than me.
The Última Esperanza Sound (Last Hope Sound) is a massive body of tidal water which drains the Serrano River (more on that later) which in turn pretty well catches all the fresh water flowing out of Torres del Paine. It's not just the water flowing down from Torres del Paine that make the Last Hope Sound a stunning place though, it's also a combination of the stunning vertical sides of the sound along with the numerous cascading waterfalls, many of which were cascading down out of the low clouds this morning.
The further up the Last Hope Sound we got the more impressive the scenery became.
Last Hope Sound.
Last Hope Sound.
Last Hope Sound.
Last Hope Sound.
The Last Hope Sound - are you sensing a theme here.
Last Hope Sound.
Last Hope Sound, at least the infamous Patagonian wind was giving us a break today.
Balcameda Glacier, the Last Hope Sound.
Balcameda Glacier, the Last Hope Sound.
Serrano Glacier.
Serrano Glacier from the lookout.
Bergy bits below Serrano Glacier.
I look like an oversized tele tubby in my immersion suit!
We got one last look at Serrano Glacier as we headed up the Serrano River in our zodiac.
So, after making the short walk up to the Serrano Glacier Lookout we returned to the dock and shimmied into some dry suits and climbed aboard a zodiac for a cold, wet, wild and utterly spectacular journey upstream along this wild river. With the constant spray of freezing water along with the buffeting of the zodiac it was a little tricky taking photos along here however that's not always a bad thing, just taking the jaw dropping scenery in was good enough for me. After a quick portage as we climbed around small waterfall we boarded another zodiac and continued our journey up river again before arriving at the very flash Río Serrano Hotel & Spa. This hotel marked the end of our boat journey and the start of our Torres del Paine adventure of which I'll post more of in the future.
Heading up the Rio Serrano towards Torres del Paine National Park (just starting to come into view in the distance) in the zodiac.
Our first glimpse of Torres del Paine from the Rio Serrano.
We had a waterfall to portage around at one stage.
We got some nice views on our short walk around the waterfall, although walking in an immersion suit is pretty warm work - even down in Patagonia!
Back on the Rio Serrano again.
Our zodiac cruise ended at the Río Serrano Hotel & Spa.
The Dirt.
I visited Patagonia with World Expeditions on this trip, they aren't the cheapest people to travel with, however they are a lot more ethical in the way they treat their workers and the environment than most other companies I think. If you are more time rich but cash poor then everything that we did is easily done independently, it just takes some more time and ground work to organise everything. The Last Hope Sound, Balmaceda and Serrano Glaciers, and then approaching Torres del Paine along the Rio Serreno is an absolutely stunning day out and even if you don't have time to do it all it is still worth doing the Last Hope Sound cruise on it's own I think.
Relevant Posts.
Río Serrano Hotel & Spa.
Looks like there is a bit of meat on the menu for lunch - now that's a surprise!
Returning to Puerto Natales after our trek I got to see what the Last Hope Sound looks like on a nice day.
Saying goodbye to new friends in Puerto Natales.
No comments:
Post a Comment