April 7:  I had the morning to walk around and play in San Pedro de Atacama.  The only downfall to where my hotel is located is its a couple of kilometers away from the main town square where all the shops are.  It is good exercise I guess, but trying not to get lost was the biggest threat.  Each street was lined by 10 foot high mud walls so everywhere you went, it all looked the same!  The town really reminded me of the old Zorro TV show with all the adobe mud buildings and old Mexico feel to it.  It is a nice little place though, full of friendly locals.  The main plaza is located where the only water source (or so it seems) bubbles out of the ground.  The plaza is about the only place in town with trees!  On the main square is the Iglesia (Church) de San Pedro which was built in the 1700's and one of the oldest buildings in the region.  Its a beautiful adobe building, whitewashed, with the traditional thatched rooming.  The inside was decorated for Easter and had an ornate alter setting.  Most everything was made from local woods and carved there.  My next stop was the Museo Arquelogico Gustavo Le Paige.  This museum was well worth the almost 3 hours I spent there!  It was set up so that each wing was a different period in time, starting with the first inhabitants of hte region multiple thousands of years ago.  Many artifacts showed how life was lived back then...crude rock tools, animals sought after, sacrifical rituals.  As I progressed through the years, the artifacts become more and more interesting...mummies from different time periods, mock sacrifical graves, skeletons dressed in ritual garb, tools that progressed from rocks to metal working, and finally into the times the Inca and Spanish conquered the Norte Grande.  The only downfall was the plaquards were in Spanish, so I had to take my time trying to translate which I did just fine on.  They had some English cards that helped though!

That afternoon I was picked up from my hotel (which I almost missed my ride b/c I got lost in the streets that all look the same) for my trip to the Valle de la Luna...or Valley of the Moon.  We made several stops along the way with views of the salf flats, Salt Mountains, the distant Andes, the Dinosaur Hills, and Death Valley.  Its hard to believe that high desert used to be part of the ocean.  The layered rocks give testimony to the harsh life the region has seen since its dried up.  Many areas in the desert have yet to see their first drop of rain...at least since man has lived there.  We walked through a couple of gorges where the sunlight played tricks on the colors and the sound of the salt minerals embedded in the petrified mud sounded like Rice Krispy cereal in the morning.  It was hard not to wonder with one of the pops if a chunck of wall would come down!  Over the last several thousands of years the salt deposits in the dirt have hydrated their way out of the rock to the surface so it almost looks like frost or light snow blankets much of the desert! 

The Valley of the Moon is one place I wouldn't want to get stranded.  There is nothing there but dirt, sand, mountains, and salt!  It is a beautiful place to visit though.  The brownish red soil poking out through the white salt deposits ,with the brillant blue sky as a back drop...just beautiful.  While in the park we visited the Tres Marias, said to look like the three Marys, but I sure didn't see it...basically rock that has withstood the erosion of time.  We also visited an abandoned salt mine.  Aparently salt miners did pretty well over 100 years ago, but that has long been gone.  Our final stop was at the great sand dune.  It took about 30 minutes to walk up the hill which didn't seem that high, but it was!  From the top were great views of the Amplitheater rock formation, the Andes in the background, volcanoes, and the rock formations of the Valley of the Moon.  It was so peaceful up top of the sand dune watching the sun sink lower in the sky...changing the hills from brownish red, to brillant orange, to dark red before disappearing into darkness.  The Andes in the distance soon followed and the stars and Jupiter began shining in the twilight as the last purples and yellows faded behind the horizon.  Back at the hotel I headed to sleep early since I had to get up well before the sun!

April 8:  Up an' at em' at 3:15am...I sure wasn't ready to be up, but when the van comes to pick you up at 4:00am, you have to get up early.  My van picked me up a few minutes late (guess I could have used that time to sleep, but oh well) and we headed the 90km up the Andes to the Tatio Geysers, the highest geyser field in the world at around 15000ft!  The drive was slow and rough...dirt trails the whole way up through the mountains, steadily gaining altitude as we went.  The stars were brilliant out in the country side.  We finally made it to the geyser field about day break.  I was told it was cold up there, but I sure wasn't prepared for it...it had to have been about 10F out!  I was layered up but you could still feel it...feet were frozen, face was frozen!  Ok...so I was cold!  Actually the cold is the reason the geysers act like they do.  Unlike Yellowstone where some of them shoot high into the air (Old Faithful?), these are more like steam vents with water bubbling at the surface.  The very hot steam rises into the air quickly and condenses into thick steam that rises a couple hundred feet in the air!  It is quite a sight to see though...close to a hundred steam vents flowing to the sky.  Most people started walking out to the vents and stood in the steam to stay warm...I did a bit of that too!  For breakfast, our guide took a plastic bag and filled it with eggs and lowered it into a geyser and let the boiling water do its thing to turn the eggs into hard boiled eggs...neat trick eh?  From there, we went up the hill a little bit to another set of geysers and where a thermal pool waited for folks to hop in.  The sun was finally coming up and the geysers were becoming shorter and shorter as the air warmed.  I never went swimming...I was still trying to thaw out from the morning freeze...but some people did and it looked like they enjoyed it.

The trip back during daylight was fun with the towering Andes all around, smoking volcanoes in the distance, a small river lined the road for aways and had the only vegetation in miles.  We stopped at a little pond along the river and got to see some pink flamingoes enjoying the day.  Of course the rough road caused a flat tire and we had to put on the spare which...decided not to have much air in it.  We limped into the little town of Manchua to ask another van for a tire and for us to walk around the town.  It didn't consist of much...a church, about 5 homes and some llamas roaming around.  The church was nice and the homes were traditional mud brick with thatched roofs.  The locals were out selling llama meat (not bad) and empenadas, as well as working their traditional handicrafts.  After fixing the tire we made our way back to the town of San Pedro de Atacama.  The rest of the day was spent walking around town, doing some last minute shopping for myself, family and Tracy Lynn.  If you want to do any shopping in Chile and get cheap prices, San Pedro is the place to do it!  Dinner was fun and good (more on that story next), I was able to have a decent conversation in Spanish with a local guy about his favorite futbol...I mean soccer team that was on the television.  After each shot or goal, his whole table would stand up and cheer and chant and sing.  It was a lot of fun to watch!

April 9/10...the last day in Chile.  I was picked up mid-morning for the drive back to Calama to catch my flight to Santiago and then wait most of the day for my flight to Atlanta and Honolulu.  Nothing much really over the northern part of Chile...huge mountains, desert and a pretty coastline.  I got to Santiago and made my way to the International terminal where I spend 5 hours reading my dive magazines waiting for the Delta line to open up.  Of course my stomach decided to act up just a little...but so far tollerable.  Delta finally opened up and I made my way through security to my gate and it was soon time to load the plane.  The flight went quickly for 9+ hours and my stomach was beginning to really act up.  It waited at least until we got to Atlanta before really hitting.  The only downfall...only in Atlanta 3 hours!  I made it through security once again and to my gate, called home and Tracy Lynn to let them know I was ok...and spent the remaineder of my time in Atlanta in the bathroom....not fun!  The flight to Honolulu was one of the most miserable things I've ever done.  I was to and from the bathroom every 30-40 minutes with some not so pretty results.  I couldn't keep any food down, and kept trying water.  The flight attendant was great and helpful though...she locked a bathroom for me so I could get back there quickly if I had to, which I did several times.  So after 2 days of no sleep, 29 hours of either flying or being in an airport, I was in Honolulu.  I took a taxi to my hotel and called home and Tracy Lynn (she wasn't happy with me since we could finally talk and I was going to sleep) and fell right to sleep.  I woke up a few times during the night, but overall I got about 12 hours of much needed sleep. 

April 11/12:  Up early to get to the airport by 5:00am for my flight back to Kwaj...hate that flight...so early!  My stomach was still bothering me, but much better than the day before.  I ran into several people I know from here at the airport and we all talked about our different trips to kill the time.  The flight to Kwaj was good...except for the weather on Kwaj...we circled and circled and tried to land...and circled some more before heading off to the island of Kosrae.  You can imagine how I felt...I just wanted to get home...no more flying...my own bed, but no, I was in Kosrae.  There they took volunteers for the different hotels and I volunteered for the Village Ecoresort which as awesome!  Its kind of like the Village on Pohnpei (different owners) with thatched huts on the beach, hardly any electrcity, open windows all night with a cooling sea breeze, and mosquito netting around the bed.  I tried to eat some lunch, but no luck keeping it down...so decided to hit the beach for a bit to relax and take it easy.  I then decided to take nap to let the stomach settle some...and meet everybody from the plane at the restraunt for dinner.  Well...1am rolled around pretty quick...so no dinner. 

April 13:  Finally...I ate something!!!  After about 4 days with no food, I ate a big helping of banana pancakes...mmmmm so good!  My stomach wasn't 100%, but much much better than I've been feeling.  Security at the airport in Kosrae is kind of a pain in the rear.  They don't have x-ray machines, so everything is gone through by hand.  Everything is looked at, which I guess is good, but takes forever.  After making it through security and being as thirsty as ever...we boarded the plane and took off for the hour flight Kwaj.  I MADE IT HOME FINALLY!!!! 

So thats my trip...long, exciting, adventurous, amazing and something I would do again in a heartbeat!  If you have questions let me know...otherwise, go check out my pictures on webshots (kwajwxman) and enjoy!

April 4th...I was picked up with about half of the people in my hotel for a bus trip along the southern coast of Lago Llanquihue for a trip to the town of Puella.  The drive along the lake was beautiful...very green fields, a few breaks in the clouds provided views of both Calbuco and Osorno Volcanoes as we drove closer to each.  About half way around the lake we stopped for a short hike to Petrohue Falls in the local national park there.  It was definitely a temperate rainforest with the volcanic cliffs that lined the river shrouded with a foggy haze.  The brillant waters that eddied in the bends was beautiful.  The contrast of the black cliffs, water, and white mist that came down from the sky provided an awesome scene.  Being early in the fall, the river was at its lowest water flow and the waterfall through the narrow slot canyon wasn't at its grandest.  Apparently in the spring its really going and one amazing sight!  It was still beautiful hiking through the trees and along the river...just everybody from my bus and about 3 others were vying for space...

Back on the bus, we continued on to the shores of Lago Todos Los Santos...otherwise known as Lago Esmeralda due to its emerald color.  It was very calm out...very little wind and the lake was flat as could be.  The clouds that had hung around all morning started to dissipate and left the sky crystal clear.  As we pulled out on the lake in the boat, Osorno Volcano grew bigger and bigger...Volcano Puntiagudo came into view and the Andes towered on the far sides of the lake.  It was such a nice and relaxing trip across the lake with beautiful views the whole way across.  Puella is a tiny little German colonial town which looks like it could have come out of the Alps.  There isn't much there...a couple of houses, a hotel and the end of the road to Baroloche in Argentina which is where just about everyone was headed to.  With only a couple of hours in town, I took off walking towards a couple of small water fall which were nice.  I then headed up a trail that about kicked my butt!  This trail was straight up!  I finally turned around since I didn't have much water with me and no day pack and made my way back to the town.  Soon it was time to take off across Lago Todos Los Santos to get back to Puerto Varas.  The wind had picked up some and made the lake a big choppy, but nowhere near the chop that was on the Last Hope Sound in Patagonia.  Once back in Puerto Varas, I took off walking the town, checking out the shops and looking for good food which was found. 

April 5:  My tour operators Perry and Fillipe picked me up around noon to take me north around the other side of Lago Llanquihue.  The first town we came to was called Frutilla which is typical of a small lake district town.  Many of the people catch the bus and head to Puerto Montt for work each day.  The town also has a nice lake front walk along Lago Llanquihue and grand views of Osorno Volcano in the distance.  One of the big attractions there is the music hall right on the water.  Many world performers come there to perform each year.  For lunch, we stopped at a local kitchen called the scarecrow...and there was a reason it was packed...it was dang GOOD!  The lunch was basically a home cooked buffet with just about all the country fixin's you could ask for.  The meat was spinning away on a spindle over an open bit of coals...you had your choice of wild boar, chicken, lamb and beef.  I had the wild boar...absolutely some of the best meat I've ever had!  It was so tender and good, great flavor...almost a salty pork.  After lunch we strolled around the sheep grazing grounds outside the restraunt and looked at the Osorno Volcano in the distance.  The next stop we made was at an overlook of the tiny town of Octay full of colored houses and beautiful views of Lago Llanquihue and Osorno, Puntiagudo and Calbuco Volcano.  That night I walked around the town again and watched as the Maunday Thursday services were going on.  The park outside the Catholic church was lit up with candles and the fog that rolled in made for an interesting sight.  The church had speakers set up and the mass could be heard clear across town.  The singing was beautiful and I'm sure the message preached was too...couldn't understand much of it from across the town, but still was a neat experience.

April 6:  After an early lunch with Perry and Fillipe, they drove me down to Puerto Montt so I could board a plane for Santiago and then on to Calama in the high desert in the northern part of the country.  Flying pretty much took up the whole day and I arrived in Calama around 9pm.  I was greated by my transport to the town of San Pedro de Atacama about 100km away.  There was close to a full moon out that lit the desert landscape up amazingly.  I htink the whole ride up I was fixated on the stars above...I thought there were a lot here at Kwaj...there were at least 10 times more over the high desert!  It was fun talking to the Belgian couple that was sharing my ride to San Pedro and hearing each others tales of travel through South America and the world.  I arrived at my hote around 10:30pm and pretty much went straight to bed....

First off....it looks like I'll be moving to Reno over the next month!  I landed the job with the National Weather Service there...how cool is that!

March 30...Today was a nice long trip across Patagonia from Puerto Natales, Chile to El Calafate in Argentina.  The trip took around 5 hours through dirty roads in the land of pretty much nothing.  It is by far one of the most baren places I have ever been.  It was hard to believe they would have a boarder crossing, but they did!  I think those were the only two buildings we passed the whole trip.  The checkpoint out of Chile was nice and easy to get across...visitor card, passport stamp, on to Argentina.  Argentina was even easier to get into!  Basically looked at my passport and said welcome to the country.  There really isn't too much to El Calafate.  Its a small town, kind of deserty in places...with a main plaza full of shops and restraunts and a small river running through it.  I definitely got my workout for the day though.  I decided to walk to my hotel from the bus station since I didn't have pesos to pay for a taxi...it wasn't that far...less than a kilometer...but the whole last block was straight up hill!  Was very glad when I found the hotel...walking the rest of the day wouldn't be bad without the suitcase...was definitely glad to ditch it at the hotel!  The first thing I had to do was change some money over...never have had a problem anywhere but here!  Who ever heard of needing your passport to exchange money?  Well you do in Argentina.  So you guessed it...I walked back to the hotel and got my passport so I could exchange over $20.  I must say though, the money there was easier to understand.  None of that thousands of pesos like in Chile...here it is pesos and centavos...so something would cost $3.50 and not $10000.  I did some shopping around town picking things up for me, the family and Tracy Lynn.  The nice thing about Argentina...cheap!  I think I did end up with either a little altitude sickness or dehydration since I ended up with a small headache...nothing a little sleep can't cure.  Dinner was eaten at the hotel...Argentinian steak...and yes its ALL its cracked up to be!  I ate about a 12-15 ounce steak and baked potato...whole meal was dirty cheap...like $5 or so.  Same meal in the states would have cost about $15-20!  The steak....YUMMMMMM!!!

March 31 was an early morning pick up for a trip to Glacier National Park to see the Perito Moreno Glacier.  Of course it was really early since I didn't realize I made a time change when I crossed into Argentina.  Luckily I woke up plenty early!  As we drove the 80km to the park, the scenary changed and became more elevated and green.  Lago Argentina followed the road almost the entire way up to the park...large birds looking for roadkill lined the streets and a few fox were seen scurying along the road.  Even though the park was $30 pesos to get into, it was well well worth it!  We first stopped at an overlook to see the Perito Moreno glacier and our guide told us it was 5km across the face and over 60 meters tall...and who knows how long...stretches clear into the southern ice fields of Chile quite aways away.  The glacier sure didn't seem that big from the overlook, but I guess it was b/c we were so far away.  My first excursion of the afternoon was aboard a double decker catamaran boat to the glacier face.  Ok...so now it look big...really big!  Its sad to know that the glacier loses about 2km of ice a year.  I could see why it does though...while we were on the boat, we had several big pieces calf off.  One time I think the boat was a bit too close...the sound is enormous...huge thundering as the ice breaks off and crashes into the lake.  Just a small piece...at least it looked small...produced waves 5-6ft tall.  After the boat ride, I headed on a hike down to the lookouts to see the ice calf off.  Its almost addicting...standing there listening for the crackle, and then the thunder of the ice!  Apparently from one of the over looks, 33 people had been killed over the past 30 years by flying ice...but I can see why...that ice flying off the glacier is pretty explosive.  Of course the afternoon was dampened by a few showers...just meant we had a nice rainbow over the glacier...made for good pictures around water spots.  Back in El Calafate, I was down to just a few pesos and I didn't want to change any more over, so I found a nice sandwich and pizza place.  I ordered a sandwich...very good...only cost me about $2 or so...and it was awesome!  I must say El Calafate has some of the best food that I had in South America.

April 1:  Made the long trip back to Puerto Natales over all the same dirt roads, same security checkpoints and land of nothingness.  It was nice and sunny this time...and the scenary was a bit better.  The tops from the Torres del Paine and Fitz Roy were towering in the distance and as we got closer to Puerto Natales, the mountains started showing again.  Chile was easy to get back into which was nice.  We arrived back in Puerto Natales about an hour early so my ride to the hotel wasn' there.  I looked at the map and my hotel was just 4 blocks away so I decided I could huff it again...couldn't be any worse than El Calafate right?  It wasn't a bad walk...all downhill!  My hotel had laundry...but of course not today...go figure.  I did manage to find a laundaria and had my laundry done since clothes were getting low and my suitecase was getting a bit smelly.  I spent the rest of the day walking around the town...I think this was my favorite town...incredible views of the mountains on the other side of the sound, birds in the water...a nice walk and park along the water full of families playing on the playground.  I managed to spend some money in a shop on all kinds of alpaca things.  I even found a little afternoon soccer game that I watched...the kids all had a blast!  I went back to my fish place and ate again...since it was so good the first time!  I ended up eating with a couple from Australia and a guy from Lithuania...it was fun sharing stories of where we'd all been, where we were headed....people from around world are interestingly fun to talk to and all are very nice to talk to.

April 2:  Back on the bus...this time back to Punta Arenas so I could fly out tomorrow.  This time the bus ride didn't seem so long...but I know it was still over 4 hours!  I got checked into my hotel and decided to walk around the town.  I was really surprised at how big the city was...it is a big city!  The Plaza de Armas was located just a couple block away so I made my way there and enjoyed the statues of Magellen and all the street vendors selling everything you could imagine.  The Palacio de Sarah Braun was right on the plaza so I took a quick tour inside.  Nothing much but old antique furniture and some of her work.  From the plaza I found a street that made its way down to near the port.  It was an interesting feeling standing at the waters edge and realizing its importance several hundred years ago.  I was standing at the Strait of Magellen...the gateway from the Atlantic to the Pacific...the long way around for so many years before the Panama Canal was built.  Just thinking of Magellens passage in an old sailing ship...what an adventure!  Dinner was eaten at a little dinner down the road from my hotel.  I ended up eating simple...burger and fries...but it was an awesome burger...probably one of hte best I've ever had!  It was so good I ordered one to go!  Yes...I ate two burgers that night!

April 3:  My only mix up of the whole trip...flight leaves at 1:30pm and at noon my ride to the airport hasn't shown up!  I was able to talk to the front desk with my increasingly better Spanish to get it figured out.  He called the tour company and something hadn't gotten booked.  I ended up having to take a taxi to the airport but I didn't have to pay for it...and I made it in time to make my flight!  The flight over the southern part of Chile really is incredible.  The glaciers filling up every valley below, huge mountains, beautiful blue-green lakes below...just beautiful!  I landed in Puerto Montt and picked up by my tour operator and driven the short distance to Puerto Varas.  It was good getting to know the guys at the agency...Perry and Fillipe...two nice guys who really enjoy what they do!  I got checked into my hotel and they showed my the city from an overlook in the hotel and pointed out everything I needed to know.  We then walked down to the main plaza a few blocks away and then to the visitor center on the banks of Lago Llanquihue with views of Osorno and Calbuco Volcanoes in the distance.  Osorno Volcano is one of the most amazing sights I've ever seen!  Its a perfect cone volcano rising up out of the the far shores of the lake.  Snow caps the top...just an awesome sight!  I parted from my tour guides and walked the length of the town along the lake and ate dinner in a little Italian restraunt.  It was good...great views of the lake and volcanoes.  I made it back to the main section of town just in time for sunset...and watched the sky and volcanoes turn a soft pink and orange...and finally fade into darkness....

March 28th...woke up in time for another small Chilean breakfast...not the biggest meal of the day, which is ok.  But it was good...freshly made jam for my toast, fresh butter for the toast, and great juice.  After breakfast, the 21 de Mayo, my transportation for the day...picked me up from the estancia to take me to my next stop, the Hosteria Balmaceda.  It was VERY windy this day...we were on a decent size boat and waves were crashing about half way up the boat.  Trying to take pictures wasn't an easy task, but I managed to get a few good ones.  The trip north up the Last Hope Sound was breathtaking.  The hazy green water, white capped waves, shear cliffs covered in green and waterfalls, blue and white glaciers flowing through the valleys...and a persistent rainbow arching over the sound.  We saw a group of sea lions huddled up in a cave in the cliffs trying to stay out of the breeze.  Waterfalls cascaded over the rocky ledges...just beautiful!  Our first stop was the Balmaceda Glacier, a narrow channel of blue ice that makes its way down the steep valley.  The guides said that the glacier just a couple of years ago, the glacier reached all the way to the Sound, now its slowly creeping back up the mountain side.  The freshly exposed rock shows it hasn't been that way for long.  Its colors were an awesome blue color.

The next stop was in Parque Bernardo O'Higgins to see the Serano Glacier.  The group of us made the 20 minute walk through the temperate rainforest, having El Calafate berries pointed out, birds named, and avoiding the mosquitos that were buzzing around my head.  It was a beautiful area though...so green and lush, unspoiled.  We were about 30 seconds from the main overlook when a huge piece of ice calved off the glacier face.  We were able to see it, just didn't have my camera ready at that point!  The guide said it was the largest piece he'd ever seen fall off!  You could definitely hear it...sounded like a roar of thunder.  The glacier was much like Franz Josef or Fox Glaciers in New Zealand.  About the same angle, size, shape...just a much more remote setting.  The only thing that would have made it better is if I wasn't part of a group of 25 people.  I may just have to kayak in there sometime and do some hiking and camping...definitely the place to do it.

From the Serano Glacier, we headed across the end of the sound and beginning of the Serano River to the Hosteria Balmaceda.  Everybody hopped off the boat and headed in for lunch.  We had beef and vegtable stew and it was very good.  Everybody else but me got back on the boat and head back towards Puerto Natales.  Me, I was there for the night...only way in is by boat...and it was gone...I had my guide Ronaldo there, and the cook staff...and it was fun getting to know them!  After lunch, Ronaldo and I headed up a small trail that followed along the Serano River.  We had views of the river with sea lions barking away, condors flying overhead, beautiful flowers lining the river banks, and the Torres del Paine towering in the distance.  The Hosteria was awesome!  You couldn't beat the view...the sound to the left, the Serano Glacier tumbling down the hillside across the river, and mountains towering behind us.  My cabin had a wood burning stove to keep me warm at night...and yes I needed it...it was definitely below freezing!  Unfortantely, another storm was brewing and this time it wasn't just wind and clouds...the rain started coming down...

March 29...Hosteria Balmaceda to Puerto Natales.  As I stated above, rain, rain, and more rain...very cold, and windy.  I'm so thankful that Grandma got me a pair of rain pants for Christmas to go along with my rainjacket and many layers of clothes.  After breakfast, Ronaldo and I headed out in the rain up the mountain side behind the Hostesia for some what would be awesome views of the Serano Glacier...but the low clouds left only the base visible below.  Its still a beautiful place, even in the rain...

My next adventure was a zodiac boat trip up the Serano River into the Torres del Paine for a tour of the park.  I think the time spent packing and eating lunch before boarding the boat it must have dropped about 10 degrees...it was really really cold!!!  After doning nice and warm over jackets and life vests, we took off up the river.  We didn't make it far before the sleet started pounding down...and I thought raindrops hurt when you were riding in a boat...try sleet...OUCH!  It did clear up enough to see the Tyndall Glacier and local mountains and a small waterfall that we had to port around.  I don't know how much luggage didn't get soaked during that.  We finally made it up to the Torres del Paine where a driver loaded us up and we headed into the park.  Luckily it was starting to clear off, just not enough for the full effect of the park...again, an excuse to go back.  The first stop in the Torres del Paine was the Grey Glacier and Lake.  Ronaldo and I went on a hike half way around the lake in the howling wind.  Deep blue icebergs floated across the lake...great colors.  The Grey Glacier looked very small in the distance...apparently its very very big...unfortantely the boat wasn't running, so I didn't get to head out too it.  There would be awesome views of the Torres, but the clouds were hanging around the peaks, still an amazing sight to see though...

After visiting Grey Lake, we drove down to the base of the Torres del Paine passing by Lake Pehoe, Nordenskjold and Sarinto.  All the lakes were that blue glacier water color...and the sun setting behind the Torres was beautiful as can be.  The clouds were starting to part and the few of the smaller peaks started showing through the cloud breaks.  Too bad it didn't do it about an hour or two earlier.  As the sun went behind the mountains, we turned southward away from the Torres and headed back down to Puerto Natales.  The Guanaco decided to come out like deer do in the states...grazing along the road as we drove by.  The roads were dirt and the rain that decided to start back up made the trip back very long.  I finally arrived back at the Hotel Charles Darwin and checked in.  I ate a quick dinner and headed off to sleep...Argentina was next...

March 26 wasn't too busy of a day...mostly travel to the town of Puerto Natales in Patagonia, about as far south as you can go in Chile.  I was up early for my 8am flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas on Aerolineas del Sur.  I was really impressed with their domestic service...fed on every leg of the trip, nice flight attendants, and pretty comfortable seats.  The price is also much better than either LAN or Sky Airlines, the other main carriers in Chile. 

As we flew south towards a quick stop in Puerto Montt, the mountains become greener and larger with huge lakes visible.  The lake district of central Chile definitely deserves its name!  South of Puerto Montt lies one of the most amazing sights you'll ever see...the Southern Ice Fields...huge mountains, filled with massive glaciers that stretched for miles and miles...looking like wide, blue and white slow moving rivers below.  I remember getting chills as the plane flow over them...going WOW...I am going to be down there soon!!!!  One of these days I'd like to go do some hiking through that area...probably one of the least accessible regions left on the planet.  One heck of a view...thats for sure!  As we neared Punta Arenas, we got a nice view of the Torres del Paine in the distance towering over the glaciers and snow below.

At Punta Arenas I was transfered from the airport to the bus station where I boarded the bus for Puerto Natales.  It didn't look that far on the make...250km or so...but took close to 5 hours to get too!!!  There really isn't much but slowly rising hills and land the whole trip and mountains slowly getting bigger on the horizon as we traveled northward.  Puerto Natales is a nice little sleepy town on the Last Hope Sound at the enterance to Bernado O'Higgins National Park.  The streets are quiet and clean, old shacks that have been pounded by the roaring fifties (local seasonal high winds).  I ate at a local fish dinner and ordered the Congrio, a local fish caught fresh from the Sound that day.  It was EXCELLENT!!!  So good in fact that I ate there again when I came back to Puerto Natales.  That night a storm rolled in blowing like no tomorrow and keeping skies cloudy...luckily very little rain.

March 27:  I was picked up around 10am and loaded my stuff up into a pickup truck with Ronaldo, my guide for the next several days, and a couple of ranch hands.  I was off to the Estancia Perales, a working cattle ranch.  We drove north out of Puerto Natales and finally took a dirt road towards the ever growing mountains.  Along the way we stopped at Milodon Cave Natural Monument.  In 1895, archeologist found skin, bone and other body parts of an unknown animal which turned out to be a large mammal that became extinct 8000-10000 years ago.  The cave also provided shelter to primitive man and finds dated back over 12000 years ago.  It was an intersting feeling walking in the large cavern of a cave thinking of how long ago people used it as shelter.  It also made me wonder what is still left untouched by archeologist.

Further up the dirt road we came to a turn off onto a couple of ruts in the pasture grass...the "road" to Estancia Perales.  We 4x4'd down this "road" for a good hour before we finally came across a couple of buildings, my home for the next night.  You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful view.  The Last Hope Sound with snow capped mountains with glaciers hanging in the valleys.  Every shade of green you could imagine covered the ground.  The sky was cloudy producing a blue hue over the mountains and sound.  At 2pm, the 21 de Mayo, a tour boat that plies the Last Hope Sound, stopped for lunch...grilled lamb chops, sausage, steak, chicken and all sorts of side dishes...nothing really to say about that meal but....MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!  I ate way too much, but it was all so good!  I had an enjoyable time talking with the mother and daughter that were sitting at my table...I don't think they'd ever met an American before...so it was fun trying to understand what they were saying.

After lunch, the boat left and it was my guide Ronaldo, the ranch workers and me.  I was the only guest...had the fun of the place to myself!  Next I went down to the stable where I hopped on a horse and received some quick instructions...how to turn, make go, and stop the horse.  I mean I think the last time I was actually on a horse was when I was three...I must say I didn't know how it would go, but it went very well.  I had a good horse, followed directions well and took care of me.  I was accompanied by Ronaldo and 2 real guachoes...Chilean cowboys who worked the cattle ranch.  Our trip took us across a couple of rivers and up the Tenerife River to a small waterfall.  The mountain scenary was spectacular.  My notes from the night say it was the most beautiful scenary I've ever seen...and looking back on it...I still agree with that!  After 5 hours on the horse, we made our way back to the Estancia.  I was able to watch the guachoes herd and move the sheep using dogs and whistles.  I was the only guest for dinner, fresh lamb and the fixings...very very very good!  Once dinner was over, the sun was starting to set and the electricity was turned on until 10pm...literally lights out!  What an awesome day...with more Patagonia to come...