Travel

[Alter Ego]

How did your day start?

My day started perfectly fine.  Got a good nights sleep. Was running maybe a few minutes behind, but still plenty of time to grab breakfast before my pickup.

ring ring

That’s weird? Who would be calling me?  I pick up.

”Your transfer is here”

”But they are supposed to be here at 8”

”It’s 8:10”

OMIGOSH!!  I’ve never thrown my bags together so quick!!  Honestly, I was second guessing whether I left items.

Apparently it’s a known problem in these parts.  You must manually change your time and not rely on Wi-Fi/data.  I actually at one point looked at my clock versus Santiago/Punta Arenas time.  I know it was right at some point.  Don’t know when it changed, but I was a little confused that sunset was earlier than I expected last night.

The angel that picked me up handed me a bag of food and we were on our way for the four+ hour drive to the national park.  It must have been the beautiful scenery, because it did not seem like four hours.  Chile is beautiful, guys!

Map of where I am.  Flew into Punta Arenas yesterday.

[Alter Ego]

Various shots from the drive up

Dang - I wish I had my good camera out for this next one.  Not sure if I’ll see these again.  Chilean flamingos.  Can you see the pink dots?

[Alter Ego]

Okay - this next post is basically an advertisement for my hotel/resort. Other than the obvious (premium drinks and spa treatments, everything is included.) I feel so fancy here!!

@World Traveler asked for a foot photo.  I’ll leave that comment alone. (I’m joking!)

View from my room.

A little better angle.  So pretty!!

There’s only one TV here and it’s in some windowless leftover room. LOL

[Kachina624]

That Western coastline is a broken up mess.  It must be a navigator's nightmare.  I'd love to see what's on those little islands.  Thanks for posting the pics.

Scenery looks like New Mexico or Colorado.  Same vegetation. 

Here's a hint:  old fashioned quartz wrist watches work great anywhere.

[Drythe]

@Alter Ego

Wowza!  Color me envious!

I’ve been to Brazil and down the Amazon, but frankly it was a bit of an endurance test.

Now, THIS is beautiful, and looks restful!  Enjoy! 😉 

More pics please.

[Alter Ego]

It was a quiet afternoon, saving my excursions for tomorrow and the day after.

They have a trail behind the hotel and I walked down to the beach. The hotel is located on Lagos Sarmiento, with a panoramic view of the Paine Massif (which you saw from my window.)

This ecosystem is known as the Patagonian Steppe - a large area of flatt treeless grasslands. Also known as pampa.

Calafate bush.  So many of the plants have thorns!

[Alter Ego]

The Paine Massif: from left to right are Paine Grande, the Cuernos (Horns), Monte Almirante Nieto and the three granite Towers

Near the beach are some of the oldest land organisms on the planet, thrombolites.

I could plagiarize all of the big words, but I will keep it simple and only plagiarize the small.

Thrombolites were some of the first recyclers of carbon on earth and helped to oxygenate the atmosphere.  They are found in only a few places - Mexico, Australia and Lago Sarmiento.  They are millions of years old!

[Alter Ego]

Well, my glass is empty and the sun has long been down. Time for bed for an early wake up. 

Happy everyone one is enjoying!

ps As a reminder, I use my phone to post.  Please excuse any errors in grammar or misspellings (or really strange autocorrections that I miss!)

[Alter Ego]

@Kachina624 I think it was Magellan that first explored the area.  From an art installation in the hallway.

[Alter Ego]

Left on my bed.  The drink in the photo above was a calafate sour