To take nothing but photographs, and leave nothing but footprints.
Travels of a Lifetime VBlog Series: Southern Patagonia, Chile
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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.
Ketchikan I just had time to muse about my wonderful experience exploring the Inside Passage and some parts of the Tongass National Park while on a cruise to Alaska with my sisters. Our first port of call was Ketchikan, a very small town famous for three things: rain, salmon, and totem poles. So, most of the shore excursions involve rainforest, fish and totem poles. The weather forecast on our arrival was rain, but for a city dubbed as the “rain capital of Alaska”, it was beautiful and sunny when we arrived. The arch sign “the Salmon Capital of the World” greeted us as soon as we got off the ship. I gathered from the sign that Ketchikan was a small enough to explore on our own because only small towns would build or put out signs as tourist attractions to draw crowds. We could have explored the whole town on our own in no time, but we already pre-booked a walking tour. We arrived a couple of hours before the scheduled tour, so we walked around to check the shops out (mostly souvenir
Scotland had been on my travel radar for a while. So, as soon as international travel was allowed, I traveled to Scotland. I flew in to Glasgow and what I saw when I first arrived was not what I expected – modern buildings, Art Nouveau architecture and the center of Glasgow’s famed shipbuilding industry along the river Clyde. The weather was pleasant for early spring, but there were hardly any tourists. Hanging out at the pub and eating fish & chips was my first introduction to Scotland. It was not until the visit to the St. Mungo’s Cathedral and the surrounding area where the history of Scotland began, that I got a sense of the place. But the most pleasant surprise was the visit to Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery. It features Salvador Dali’s ‘Christ of St. John of the Cross’. Across the gallery was Glasgow University in Gothic Revival style of architecture. Of course, Scotland is famous for castles, the residences of the kings and queens, knights and nobles. Forty minute
Our drive takes us along the stretch of the road sandwiched between the tranquil Lake Llanquihue set against the looming Osorno Volcano and miles of green valley dotted by farm animals, walled by spring flowers (yellow lupines), and bordered by the Andean Mountain, which rolls and soars in lush waves. We are heading towards Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park for a walk around the Petrohué Falls. Since leaving Puerto Varas , our guide keeps looking out the window from the motor coach to check if the cloud hanging over the tip of the Osorno Volcano has dissipated. She wanted to show us the ' breathtaking view of the Osorno Volcano ' advertised in the tour brochure, I guess. But even screened by clouds, I see in astonishing detail the overwhelming beauty of nature that it excites my awareness. Mirrored in the clear waters of Lake Llanquihue, one of Chile’s largest lakes, are the reflections of the clouds and snow that cover the Osorno Volcano. T
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