Chile/Argentina - Torres del Paine Pt 1

We stayed for three days in a cabin in the Villa Rio Serrano, a tourist base just outside Torres del Paine with the horns within view of our front porch.  For those days, we were able to do sunrise and sunsets either from our accommodations or from vista points nearby.  It was really handy not to have to hike in the dark for sunset.  

We did an afternoon hike along the river and also did an after dinner hike behind the Rio Serrano hotel.  The long summer days meant there were lots of time between dinner and sunset although the horns are not at their best at sunset.  It's sunrise that brought out the colours.  We made one trip to Grey Lake but it was too windy to walk around.  Nevertheless I got my favourite shot that evening of the moonrise over the backside of the horns, a perspective not often seen.  

I tried not to be repetitive with my photos but the reality is the towers are the most photogenic mountains I've ever seen.  I have shot them many times on my first visit but it didn't stop me from photographing them again and again.  No matter where we went, we came back to vistas of the towers in its different incarnations depending on the light and the clouds.  So please bear with me.  😅

The view of the Paine Massif with the Rio Serrano in the foreground

Sign marking the Villa Rio Serrano area

View from Vista Paine where we stayed

Black-faced ibis in the field

Merlin

Chimanga Caracara a regular visitor

The first sunset

Grey Glacier at Grey Lake

Sunset from the other side

Moonrise on the not often seen side of the Paine Massif

Golden hour hit

Second sunset - it didn't hit the mountains

The horns from the river

Upland Geese - white males, brown females

Male in mating form

Great Grebe - the largest species of grebes in the world - a lifer for me

Lots of these trees on the river walk

Sunrise on the second morning was spectacluar, almost surreal, accompanied by a rainbow!

The red is true colour!

And then it faded...

Then the sun came out

Behind the Rio Serrano Hotel

The horses came out before sunset for their evening exercise

Third sunset

Sunrise on our last day at the cabin - different again

Sunrise panorama

Chile/Argentina - Puerto Natales

Other than being the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park, there is nothing special about Puerto Natales.  But since it is our last stop before the wilderness, I thought I'd devote a post to it and explore what it's like in a small Chilean town.  This is also where we picked up our rental car delivered to us at the airport.  

Driving into town, we noticed an old pier with nothing but pilings left at the waterfront .  This turned out to be our destination for sunset and sunrise.  There wasn't much of a sunset (it rained) but the sunrise was breathtaking.  The bonus was it was within walking distance from where we were staying.

The town is small enough to walk to wherever we needed to, so we walked to dinner at a restaurant - in a shipping container nonetheless!   And it served the sought after black cod or Patagonian sablefish!  After dinner we walked to the grocery store to stock up on necessities for the following week. Interesting that the supermarket allowed small vendors selling local fruits and shopping bags at competitive prices just outside the door.  

You will see below snapshots of the town, and random things we came across.  We left for Torres del Paine right after breakfast.  It wasn't far but part of it is on gravel roads and it took us a couple of hours to get there.  One important note, there are no gas stations after Puerto Natales so we were very conscious about conserving gas throughout the five days we were in the area.  The one tank of gas would have to last us until we cross the border into Argentina.

The old pier at dusk

Santolla - restaurant in a shipping container (outside and inside)

Delicious Patagonian sablefish

Riding the skatepark

An expressive mural on a house fence

Wooden statue of Mylodon, an extinct giant ground sloth - town landmark and mascot

Local church

Interesting abodes

Ready made cart for street vendor

Dried peppers and what looked like smoked mussels or oysters

Matcha cups in all shapes and sizes

Monument commemorating renowned Patagonian explorer Alberto De Agostini, Salesian missionary, photographer and cartographer (beside an indigenous person, symbolizing his respectful approach to the local cultures)

Just before sunrise at the pier

A dazzling sunrise with double rainbows

Rock shags ready to sun themselves at the end of the pier

Two vista points before we got to Torres del Paine - a foretaste of vistas to come