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Margie's Torres Del Paine and Atacama Desert Trip

By : Marjorie Gendler
Trip Begins December 10, 2011
Trip Ends December 23, 2011

I joined the Pure Patagonia tour and continued on to the extended tour of Atacama Desert. Adventure Life paired me with Janet Gordon which worked out very well. We joined eleven others on our trek in Torres Del Paine, and joined a few others on our day trips from San Pedro in the Atacama Desert.
See my photos : Margie's Torres Del Paine and Atacama Desert Trip

Want to go? Atacama Desert, Magdalena Island Penguin Colony, Pure Patagonia

I went to: Chile, Punta Arenas, Hotel Rey Don Felipe, Magdalena Island, Torres del Paine, Las Torres EcoCamp, Refugio Los Cuernos, Paine Grande Mountain Lodge, Santiago, Calama, San Pedro de Atacama, Terrantai Lodge, Patagonia
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December 11, 2011
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Magdalena Island

Magdalena Island, Chile

Our first adventure was an early morning trip to an island penguin colony, populated by about 69,000 couples of mainly Magellanic penguins. We were limited to a pathway through some of their nesting areas, but they were not.
We saw many young ones peaking out of their nests of holes in the ground. The sounds of so many penguins calling to each other was great.

In the afternoon we were drive by van to Puerto Natales where we stayed at the Weskar Lodge.

December 12, 2011
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Last Hope Fjord, Serrano Glacier,EcoCamp at Torres Del Paine

Las Torres EcoCamp, Torres del Paine

In the morning we took a boat trip up Last Hope Fjord which was supposed to have taken us to a Zodiac trip on the Serrano River. The wind began to blow too hard and we had to turn around about three quarters of the way, but we were given a van ride to the Zodiac base. We took the Zodiac to the Serrano Glacier where we left the boat and walked up near the glacier.

We arrived by van at EcoCamp in the late afternoon and were delighted to find such a unique place. It would take paragraphs to describe the cabins and other buildings, so check out my pictures.

In the evening we met our group of thirteen. It was truly an international group with only a few Americans. We were served pisco sours while we learned about our next day's adventure, and then ate an excellent dinner. They even had a pastry chef who made beautiful deserts.

December 13, 2011
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Los Cuernos Pass to Refugio Los Cuernos

Refugio Los Cuernos, Torres del Paine

In the morning we began our trek with our guides, Loreto and Gabo. Much of the hike was long Lago Nordenskjold going west, with beautiful views of the Lake. We spent that night in cabins at Refugio Los Cuernos. Just outside our cabin was a thundering waterfall that made a perfect background noise for sleeping.

December 14, 2011
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The French Valley

Paine Grande Mountain Lodge, Torres del Paine

The trek up the French Valley was a highlight of the entire trip. We passed a glacier that sounded like thunder as it avalanched and calved. When we reached the top of the hike the views were beyond description. Mountains circled us, each peak very different from the other. One shaped like a shark's fin was totally unique from the others. We spend a while sitting on rocks and absorbing the scene.

After hiking back down the valley and further west we spent the night at Paine Grande Mountain Lodge.

December 15, 2011
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Grey Glacier

Las Torres EcoCamp, Torres del Paine

In the morning we hiked westward again. Much of the trail was in view of Lago Grey and as we got closer to the glacier we had beautiful views. This section had an abundance of flowers with firebush shrubs that brigntened up the pictures.

We got to the location for the boat ride to the glacier just in time. We boarded the boat and were served pisco sours with glacier ice as we motored towards the glacier. It has three outlets and we approached all three of them quite close. It was interesting how different sections of the glacier had different formations.

From the .dock where we left the boat we took a van ride back to EcoCamp where we had another great dinner and spent the night.

December 16, 2011
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The Towers of Paine

Torres del Paine, Chile

This day we hiked up the east leg of the W trek to the Torres del Paine. The first part of the trek was fairly easy, but the last part up to the towers was a rock scramble. We had fantastic luck the entire trip with clear weather so that we had perfect views of the towers. It was hard to visualize, even standing there, how tall the towers are.

December 17, 2011
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Guanacos and Rheas

Las Torres EcoCamp, Torres del Paine

On our last full day at Torres Del Paine we hiked to the east of EcoCamp in an area with an abundance of guanacos. They were quite tolerant of us being near them as long as we did not get too close.

December 19, 2011
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Calama and San Pedro, Atacama Desert

Calama, Chile

We flew from Santiago to Calama early in the morning and were met by a driver who took us to San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro is at about 8,000 feet and the tourist center of the desert, which is the driest in the world.

We walked around the town until our room was ready at the hotel. The town is small with one story buildings and dirt roads. Our hotel was very nice and in a perfect location in the center of the town.

In the afternoon we went on a tour to the ancient remains of Tulor village and The Pukar of Quitor, once a fortified town on a hill.

December 20, 2011
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El Taito Geysers

Calama, Chile

We got up early in the morning for our drive out to the Geyser to get the best views of the steam rising into the morning light. In the afternoon we visited the Valley of the Moon where we walked through a canyon with talking walls. The rocks made a cracking noise as the salt in the expanded with the temperature changes.

December 21, 2011
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Atacama Salt Flats

Calama, Chile

This day we drove through the small town of Tocona out onto the Salt Flats, and to the lagoons of Mescanti and Meniques.

December 22, 2011
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Sejar Lake

Calama, Chile

On our last full day in San Pedro we drove out to Sejar Lake, a salt water lake that some tourists like to swim in to see how well they float.

December 23, 2011
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Santiago

Santiago, Chile

We flew back into Santiago where Janet continued on home and I stayed on for another week exploring the city on foot and taking day tours. I returned home on New Years Eve.


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