Back from Chile

After 47 miles of hiking, a lost passport (found soon thereafter), a broken bus at the border, a guide with the most foul BO, a longer beard and a few bottles of Chilean wine, we're back to El Calafate in Argentina. Our journey through Torres del Paine National Park was just breath taking. And the W trail was harder than any trail I've ever been on thus far. Perhaps the fact that I had a ton of bricks strapped to my back contributed to it a bit. But I'm happy to say that those chicken legs of mine held up and that the gear I bought was worth every penny. On the other hand, how I managed not to be swept away by the fierce Patagonian winds is still a mystery to me. Not so light after all perhaps. ;)

But fear not I took quite a bit of (real) pictures with my Nikon D200 and this one, from my iPhone, is just the tip of the iceberg. The colors were just amazing. I hope I was able to capture the intensity of the place. One thing that was a tad disappointing though was the lack of animals in the mountains where we happened to spend the majority of our time. All the ones we saw were at the entrance of the park in those vast wind swept lonely plains. At least I managed to get a few good shots of some. Condors even!

A great aspect of the trip has been all the people we've met so far. Be it sharing a room, walking on the trail or having a good laugh around a bottle of wine. I've collected so many email addresses that I hope I'll be able to hold my end of the bargain and share some of the pictures that were asked of me. I even got an invitation from the most organized Italian couple ever, who offered me to stay at their home for the next F1 race in Monza, Italy. Thanks Sergio!! :) I guess I'll have to wait for my return to the U.S. to relate all the stories from the past 5 days as it can be quite tedious to type on this phone of mine.

Tomorrow is Perito Moreno where we get to climb on a glacier with crampons and all. Should be a memorable experience. I hear you get offered a shot of whiskey with ice from the glacier at the end of the trek. A bit corny but yet when you think some of that ice is over 1000 years old it's quite trippy. OK signing off and again I appologize for the crappy formatting.