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 South America |
Pablo Neruda, Chile's Nobel laureate, said it best, "There lives the blue mother-of-blue; blue's secret, blue solitude, blue's aerie, lapis lazuli blue, the blue spine of my country". He could have been referring to the startling and impossible colorations in the glaciers of Torres del Paine, Chile's spectacular nature reserve and one of South America's most stunningly beautiful national parks. |
 Torres del Paine, the name of the park confirms Mr. Neruda's words. Paine is not the name of an explorer or mountain climber; it is a Mapuche Indian word meaning, 'blue'. Torres, the rest of the name, refers to the jagged towering massif that forms the central geologic crown in this vast preserve in remote Chilean Patagonia. |
| Recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site, Torres del Paine is one of the most famous parks in South America and is renowned as one of the most beautiful, unspoiled and remote places on the planet. It is located some 1500 miles south of Santiago and 62 miles north of Puerto Natales, in the southern tip of Chile. The Torres del Paine National Park consists of several major attractions that range from the 12-million-year-old Paine Massif to glacial lakes and the Southern Continental Ice sheet with three major glaciers descending into the park: Glacier Grey, Tyndall and Geike.. |
| Pedro Ibáñez, Founder and Chairman of Explora, the preeminent lodge in the park, has said, "I believe that the more remote and mythical a place is, the more impact it has on you." While such a remote place is not for everyone, what is required of those who travel to this pristine corner of the Americas is a love of the outdoors, an interest in the unspoiled places on the planet and a minimal degree of physical fitness.Señor Ibáñez has put his finger on the excitement this place has to offer through the many options available for exploration of the Torres del Paine national park. It is possible to explore the park from the interior of a comfortable van, but the most fun is to do so by foot, on a bicycle or on horseback. Excellent, well marked trails go to all the major points of interest, the park is manned by a full complement of well trained rangers, and Explora guides carry portable communication equipment on all extended hikes to keep in constant touch with the lodge. Hikes vary in difficulty from an easy half-day, walking along the shores of a lake to a challenging one-day hike to the base of the massif. It is also possible to explore the entire park by van, culminating in a barbecue of coal-roasted lamb prepared by the local huasos or cowboys. |
| Whatever the means of locomotion, it is possible to see an exciting abundance of wildlife that includes wild herds of guanaco, a short-haired cousin of the llama; nandus, a type of small ostrich; foxes; chinchillas; armadillos; black necked swans; pink flamingos; amazingly, flocks of giant condors; and, for the very sharp-eyed, a rare sighting of puma, smaller than the North American mountain lion and no threat to humans, though a nuisance to local sheep and cattle estancias. |
| A 'difficult' hike: |
| A hike rated as 'difficult' might begin with an early breakfast and a 9:00 AM departure from the lodge's private dock for a motorboat crossing of Lake Pehoe to the trailhead leading to the towering massif of Torres del Paine. At the landing site there is a comfortable Alpine hut, the Refugio Pehoe, providing bunk accommodations, hot baths and meals to backpackers.From there, the trail follows the shoreline, gradually climbing past pristine lakes, across mixed grassland and sparse forest, crossed the Rio Frances on a suspension bridge, then enters the boulder moraine between the towers of the massif, ascending past the Campamento Frances and the Campamento Ingles, base camps for the ascents of the towers by rock climbers many years ago. |
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The final destination will be a backpacker's picnic spread out over rocks on a plateau overlooking the Glacier Frances as it spills down the granite cliffs of the Macizo Paine Grande, exposing glimpses of azure blue ice. The awesome silence will be interrupted only by rumblings of avalanches sliding off snow packed peaks across the ravine.Not so long ago, this 'difficult' six-hour hike was experienced by a visiting family from Mexico with a five-year-old youngster who walked most of the way. |
| Explora Hotel Salto Chico: |
| Happily for the modern day adventurer, this unspoiled corner of the southern hemisphere's Lands End can now be enjoyed in luxurious comfort and complete safety. The Explora Hotel Salto Chico was inaugurated late in 1993 (the Chilean summer season). Brilliantly designed by internationally noted Chilean architects, German Del Sol Guzman and José Cruz Ovalle, the lodge known as the Explora Hotel Salto Chico is low in profile so as not to impact the spectacular scenery. The hotel nestles on a ledge overlooking the dramatic Salto Chico waterfall, and every view point from inside the lodge is focused on the geologic wonder of the massif that lies across Lake Pehoe. |
| This elegant lodge contains thirty rooms--singles, doubles or suites--all equipped with bay windows facing the Blue Towers massif, bed linens from Barcelona, tapestries from New York and bathroom with fixtures from Italy and tiled in Bolivian slate. Interior bathrooms feature strategically located windows allowing bathers a clear view, through the bedroom, of the geologic towers so that no space in the lodge is hidden from the awesome panorama of the blue towers. |
| All public spaces are designed to face this view, and the interiors throughout are four-star. A satellite dish enables constant communication between this remote corner of Chile and the world, enabling guests to make direct phone calls anywhere, send and receive faxes and keep up with news back home. Additionally, the hotel is equipped with a computer system and radio communications that keep headquarters in touch with all its explorer vehicles. |
| The food is excellent with self-service breakfast and two different menus for both lunch and dinner. Served on English china, the cuisine is 'lite' and features natural and regional ingredients such as Patagonian lamb, fresh salmon and shell fish from the southern channels, a wide variety of fresh vegetables, the marvelous fruits North American have come to know so well in winter and, of course, Chilean wines. |
| Keeping up with all this is no small matter for such a remote location. The attention the administrators of Hotel Salto Chico give to their establishment is notable and entails a staggering variety of tasks, from ordering fuel for the hotel's generators to making sure there is enough saffron for the rice selection on the evening's menu. Supplies come in from Santiago twice a week on special vans. With all this to look after, guests are always welcomed with an attitude that says, "We want our guests to feel they are at home rather than in a hotel". |
| Unquestionably, this is a unique place. As Señor Ibáñez has pointed out, in addition to its natural beauty, Chilean Patagonia's mythical qualities reside at least in part in the echoes of such names as Ferdinand Magellan, the first European to circumnavigate the world, Charles Darwin and his voyages of the Beagle and even the likes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, all individuals who left their mark on Patagonia. |
| Punta Arenas: |
| Your departure for home will almost certainly be from Punta Arenas airport. Consider an overnight in picturesque Punta Arenas, Chile’s southernmost city. This strategically located city is the jumping off place for many excursions and expeditions to the Antarctic Continent. From the city heights, one can almost see the icy continent on the horizon.
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If you go: The National Park and the Hotel Salto Chico are open all year round, and a good time to visit is from October to April (Spring and Summer in the southern hemisphere) when the days are longer as a result of the extreme southern latitude of the park. Yet, despite its latitude, Torres del Paine National Park is blessed with a microclimate that provides pleasant daytime temperatures throughout the year and keeps winter temperatures at moderate levels. In point of fact, the inhabitants of the area say that every day is a good day to explore the landscape of their remote land. Each season has its own beauty, colors and aromas; each reveals new and different aspects of this wonderful place.
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© 2010 ROMAR TRAVEL GUIDES
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