Patagonia!

I just got back yesterday from a ten day trip to Patagonia, Chile (the far south). It was incredible! Definitely the most beautiful place I've ever been. I traveled with two girls in my program and we spent a large chunk of our time in Torres del Paine National Park, hiking the "W" trail there. We met three Israelis who were also hiking the W, and hiked with them for four days, through fields, forests, rivers, and up (and down) mountains -with 40 pound packs of course-! We hiked to an overlook of Glacier Grey, which was AMAZING!!! I never thought I'd see a glacier in person. I also saw three Andean condors from a distance (the largest bird in the world!), two huge woodpeckers right by the trail, some guanacos (relative of the llama), and nandus (which are emu-like birds). The mice were fierce at the camp where we pitched our tent on the 3rd night, trying to get into food even when people were out and about! Fortunately my food remained safe in a double bagged sack hanging from a tree branch (we woke to the sound of a girl screaming because a mouse had chewed through her tent, and into her backpack -which had no food in it- and was still there when she opened it in the morning!).

The cities of Punta Arenas (where we flew in and spent our last few days) and Puerto Natales (which is the closest town to Torres del Paine) were nothing too special, though we did manage to find two delightful vegetarian friendly restaurants in both cities! Outside of Torres del Paine, it was hard at times too remember how far south we were! We had plans to take a boat to Puerto Williams (the farthest south city in the world), but unfortunately didn't have enough time to go.

I'm glad to be back in Vina, but with an exam on Wednesday for a class I've only been to twice and many other assignments and lectures to catch up on I'll be pretty busy with school for the next week or so. Although pictures can't possibly capture the breathtaking beauty of Torres del Paine, I've posted some of my best photos from the trip... enjoy!