I slept in Friday morning needing some extra hours after the boat trip where I slept OK, but not great.  Arris had a car he rented in Argentina and Eva, Linda, Zoe and I decided to go with him to drive through the Torres Del Paine park.  We headed out of Puerto Natales in the afternoon taking our time getting to the park allowing time for picture taking of the countryside, mountains and lakes we found along the way.

We found lodging in a nice cabaña just outside the park for the night.  We sat on the deck with wine, cheese, meats, bread and watched the sun set.  The owners had a couple of labs that played with us.  We had a direct view of the Torres mountains in front of us and enjoyed a spectacular sunset.

We got up in the morning and headed to the park after breakfast.  We drove through on the west side of the park near the Grey Glacier.  Our first priority was to find lodging for the night given that it’s high season here and the pickin’s were slim.  Even though driving around was beautiful we wasted a lot of time not hiking as we continued from one place to another unsuccessful in our quest.  We found one lodge on a lake with a beautiful view of the Torres.  We had a quick bottle of champagne to toast the day.  Knowing that we might not find anything at all, I convinced the group to stop at a couple of places where we could enjoy the park.  We found a waterfall and a 2K trail leading off to a lake right at the middle of the two mountain peaks.

At the end of the day we found a hostel just inside the park to stay for the night with a restaurant.  The owner was gruff and unfriendly, but it had beds, showers and food.  We had a relaxing glass of wine in the lobby sitting area and then had a nice steak dinner.  The conversation revolved around sex and only after coffee, did we realize that our voices carried all the way down the hall into each room.  Luckily, most of the people staying were Chilean and we could only hope that no one understood English.  We headed back to the sitting area to finish off our wine and I promptly spilled my glass all over the carpet.  I asked the owner for a towel to clean it up, he barked at me and so the wine stayed.  When heading off to bed, we realized that one of the toilets in the men’s room was broken leaving only one.  The next day, Arris said that he thought the second went out of commission after he used it.  After a quick breakfast the next morning, we got out of the hostel quickly.  You know, we didn’t want to overstay our welcome after we were such perfect guests.

We headed to the Grey Glacier to take the boat out.  I wasn’t feeling well so I stayed behind with Eva.  We found a shaded place on a black sandy beach next to the river where we read during the afternoon while the others went on the boat.  We got in the car at the end of the day to head back to Puerto Natales.  About 8K from the hotel, the car broke down. When we got out of the car, we saw our gas leaking onto the side of the road.  There are few services within the park so we were on our own.  Luckily, a van carrying two Brazilian families drove by.  They took Zoe and I to their hotel, next door to where we rented our cabaña a couple of nights earlier.

Sunday night in Chile, or anywhere in South America, is not the ideal time to find anything open, even a 24 hour tow truck.  The hotel had no service to refer us to so I called the hostel owner where I stayed in Puerto Natales, Omar.  So, while I was on the phone with him, he got on his cell and called a company to pick us up.  It was about 9PM now, and he said they would arrive in about an hour and a half.

With time to kill, Zoe and I decided to have a “little” dinner.  We were in a 4 star hotel complete with a great restaurant with a spectacular view of the Torres.  We were seated by the window where we could enjoy the view and dine on a gourmet meal.  We wondered how our friends were fairing as we ordered a beer.  We consoled our guilt with the knowledge that they had plenty of food and water.  What could we do really?  So, we toasted our friends and their hardiness.  We started with a trip to the gourmet salad bar.  We were then served a rich, cream of mushroom soup and then dined on steak and pastel de choclo with king crab.  We finished off the meal with a trip to the dessert bar and a coffee.  We were ready for a long night ahead after our “little” dinner.  By 11:30, help had not arrived and we were worried that help wasn’t coming.  As we worked with the hotel staff on plans B and C, a 4×4 approached and Eva jumped out of the truck.  The tow truck found our friends first and were just now coming to pick us up.  We arrived in Puerto Natales around 3AM and found lodging at Casa Anita, a hostel where my friends had stayed previously.

The Torres were impressive and while I would’ve liked to have hiked more, I enjoyed just hanging out seeing the park and being with my friends.  Maybe I can squeeze in another day or two before I head out of the region.

Originally Published February 14, 2008

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Tags: career break travel, Chile travel, Jeff's Career Break Blog, Patagonia travel, Torres Del Paine

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