Travels of a Lifetime VBlog Series: Southern Patagonia, Chile

Series #5: Torres Del Paine National Park, Southern Patagonia


I caught my first glimpse of the distinct peaks (Torres) from Lake Sarmiento, an interesting lake that looked as if it had a ring around it. Leading up to Lake Sarmiento, we passed the Deciduous Magellan Forest with poplar and conifer trees but mostly dominated by Lenga trees. Then on to Patagonian plains and plateau covered in pampas and walled by rocky hills: a landscape said to be lower than sea level and created by glacial movement. And of course, the famous symbol of anything Patagonia, the horn-shaped towers (the jagged mountain peaks) dominated the horizon and could be seen from all directions. With the changeable weather, the snow-capped mountains suddenly appeared with glorious blue light or buried under a shroud of dense, gray clouds. The sky was vast and dominating. Milky aqua waters of Rio Paine and lakes were part of the surreal landscape. While I expected to see glaciers near the mountain, I was surprised to see some vegetation, flora (yellow lupines, Calafate/blueberry) and fauna (wild turkey, geese, and neandus). Guanacos dominated the animal landscape.

Torres Del Paine National Park is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is a massif, a mountain system independent of the Andes mountain range in Patagonia. It centers on an alpine massif of three imposing granite towers (Torres) reaching more than 10,000 feet, together with several lesser horns, or cuernos, formed of black shale, and a variety of glaciers, lakes, and wild rivers.

Here's a video of my Patagonian adventure (long version).  Click  HERE to watch it on YouTube or click the thumbnail below.



 Press play to watch a short preview of Torres Del Paine.




NOTE:  All photos and videos by the author

Comments

Post a Comment

NEW POSTS

The Banaue Rice Terraces: A Living Cultural Landscape

Image
My interest in exploring the northern part of the Philippines started from looking at a piece of art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California.   Among the display of ceramics and pottery engraved with gold and other decorative stuff,  a wooden carving of a male figure squatting on a platform with the lower arms on top of each other, resting upon his knees, caught my eye.  According to the docent, the wooden sculpture was called "Bului" which literally means "granary guardian" in the "Ifugao" tribe dialect. The carved wooden sculpture was set on a platform on top of another platform, a mortar.   Our docent explained the significance of the wooden mortar (which was used with the pestle, to separate the husk from the rice, sort of rice mill) and linked the story to the Rice Terraces in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines built 2000 years ago by the “Ifugao” tribe. So two years and three hundred kilometers north of Manila later, we explo...
Read more

Madagascar

Image
My visit to Madagascar was an unforgettable experience, filled with vibrant scenery, rich culture, and fascinating wildlife. Starting from the east coast, we journeyed across Nosy Be, a lush island known for its beaches and biodiversity. Our destination was Nosy Komba, famously known as the “Island of the Lemurs.” The journey took us past the verdant Lokobe Mountain, a stunning green expanse that added to the island’s natural beauty. Eventually, we arrived at a small village, where I had a glimpse into the daily lives of the locals. Children played joyfully around the village school, and it was clear that tourism — particularly visits to see the lemurs — played a significant role in supporting the community. As we approached the trail leading to the forest and the lemur sanctuary, vendors lined the path, selling colorful pareos and scarves in vibrant colors. Their cheerful displays added a lively charm to the surroundings. Once inside the sanctuary, we encountered numerous lemurs. The ...
Read more

The Amazon, Part 3: The Tree Killer Tree

Image
"There are 121 ecosystems in the world and 80 of those can be found in the Amazon, and it is in the Peruvian Amazon that you will find the green biome , more than two-thirds of the world's plant species,” said Vics, our naturalist-guide.   Through our small boat excursions, we were able to see the most bio-diverse part of the Amazon, the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, the largest wetlands in the world.  We went through its narrow rivers, tributaries and black waters and lakes to hike the “Amazon Jungle”. Day-3: Jungle Trek Strangler Tree or Tree Killer Tree From the Turmalina, we hopped into a small boat.  The boat hardly moved, we just used it to get offshore.  We walked a tiny bridge and short pathway to get to the lake.  We then crossed the lake using a catamaran to get to the edge of the lake where we found the entrance to the trail.  Within minutes of leaving the larger river, we entered a narrow trail into the canopy of trees, kill...
Read more