Torres del Paine (Part 2)

It's so hard to choose just a few pictures! I took over 600 photos the week I was in Patagonia so be glad I'm sifting through them. jeje (haha)




[Photo: Salto Grande Rio Paine (waterfall)]


The water was such a brilliant light aqua color. Impresionante (impressive)






[Photo: rapids just upriver from the falls]

Since I was traveling on my own I made many friends asking everyone around me to take my photo. Sometimes I didn't know what language to ask in because not everyone knew Spanish let a lone English. They were always very nice and helpful. The other people on my tour were a couple from Bolivia with their 2 small children. The dad was German so they were constantly switching between German and Spanish. One thing that makes me sad is how many of us in the States don't know the language of our ancestors. It would be so much easier to learn more languages if I already knew a couple. In my case, I would have already known Swedish by now if my grandparents had learned it as children and then taught it to my parents. Children have such an easier time learning languages. If I have kids I hope to teach them English and Spanish from early on to give them the opportunity I didn't have.



[Photo: Grill where I had a delicious plate of grilled chicken breast and rice for lunch]











[Photo: mother and baby zorro outside the Grill]















[Photo: It's said the image of a gaucho can be seen on this rock face. The darker blue in the middle is the gaucho on his horse facing left. Let me know if you see it! (Click to enlarge)]


















[Photos: Lago Grey with icebergs and melting ice. Glacier Grey is off to the right in the photo above.]


[Photo: I loved this suspended bridge over Río Pingo. It swayed so much!]

If you looked at the map, this path to Lago Grey is the thin red line going out to the lake. It was 1.5 hour walk out to the point and back. Note that the path was all large rocks left behind from the glacier that sunk some with every step. What a workout! But worth it.

The van was amazing and brought me right to the house in Villa Rio Serrano where my cousin lives. She had taken the cheap bus up the west road while I was in the park. On the map it says "Cp Rio Serrano" meaning campamento (camping area/hotel).

Link to map again (click)