Torres del Paines National Park

We are here:  sitting in our hotel room looking out at a spectacular view of the Massive in Torres del Paines National Park.  But let me back up and tell you about the day and night.  By bedtime last night we were docked in Puerto Natales so that meant that we didn't have that sweet rocking of the boat to sleep by.  We had breakfast and were on the bus by 9:30 AM.  Drove from the dock to PN (population 20,000, second biggest city in Patagonia) and drove around a bit.  By 10:00 AM our guide, Andrea, told us that we were taking a walking tour across the square which we did.  Then we walked to a Catholic girls' school.  (Vantage had never done that before so there was apprehension on the part of the guides and also the school.)  Anyway the principal greeted us warmly, told us that she had been a foreign exchange student in the state of Delaware many years ago, and spoke excellent English.  First we went into the classroom of 8th grade girls who giggled a lot, but were very welcoming.  When we were introduced as being from near Chicago, there was an outburst.  Apparently they knew about Chicago from some Disney movie.  Next we went to the sixth grade class and then the kindergarten.  It was a nice school with good facilities.  The children were well cared for and had beautiful black shiny hairy.  The principal wanted more information from Nadia, our guide, to see if they could have other visits.  Oh, by the way, a TV station happened to be there doing a story and captured us on film, too.  

Next, we walked down the street to Nandu, a souvenir/coffee shop/Wi-Fi hot spot.  Had a bite to eat and checked our Email.  We do like to hear from our friends and family.  After that Chuck and I walked around a bit. It was sunny and windy, but no rain for the whole day.  At 1:30 PM we got back on the bus.  Enroute to the park, we stopped for the bathroom a couple times and for photo ops a number of times.  We were driving through ranch country with sheep or hereford cattle in the fields.  The topography was like Wyoming. There were numerous guanaco along the way.  They are from the camel family, wild, and smaller than llama and alpaca.  Sometimes we saw herd of 50 or more together.  They liked to take dust baths in shallow, round dust bowls (about a meter across) that they had developed.  Also saw rheas (small ostrichs) a few times.  The last three hours of the trip were over a washboard country gravel or broken blacktop road.  Wow, was it ROUGH.  The Massive is the name for the mountain formation that this park is built around.  We could see it all day long and are still not that close.  Tomorrow we tour the park.

Should tell you about last night's dinner.  The Farewell banquet was actually a buffet.  It started with the captain giving a speech and then toasting with Chilean champagne. The appetizer and salad table included many kinds of seafood.  We have eaten more avocado and king crab on the ship than in the previous year.  Entrees also included seafood, chicken, and beef.  Small scallops with a special sauce were served in shells.  It was heavenly.  The dessert table included flan and other beautifully presented and delicious sweets.