Hey everyone!

So this entry is going to be a rather long one--I realize that I haven`t written since Puerto Montt, about 2 weeks ago. I just didn`t have time before getting out to the park to write...phone calls came first!

Anyway...We got on the Navimag ferry for our "cruise" south about two weeks ago. We left from Puerto Montt, which actually has some kind of nice spots in it--we discovered a fish market in a little town down the coast called Angelmo, that made some awesome abalone and crab empanadas (fried pastry deals). Hung out for a while until we got on the ferry. Got some comfort food --bottle of wine and some froot loops--and trooped aboard with our backpacks with the other tourists.

The ferry was interesting. I really liked it, actually, although it involved long stretches of time with nothing to do but read "Guns, Germs and Steel" (which is better the second time you try to read it) and look at the scenery. It was more relaxing than Chiloe, even...maybe just the water setting.

I`ll have to show you on a map our route when I get home, but we steamed through the inside straight between Chiloe and the mainland and went out to sea for a while to round a point so we could enter island and fijord rich Patagonia. The views could range from just dark landmasses to beautiful mountain vistas, like we saw on the last day. It was just so nice to be out in a different setting and see things from another vantage point...I stayed out on deck a lot. Definitely liked the change in temperature.

The boat was nice enough...Trevor and I had a couple of small bunks in the class "C" section, but they were fine and the food was good...staff was very into their job.

We got in to Puerto Natales, our destination, 4 days after starting out. Natales is a smallish tourist town, mainly catering to extranjeros getting set for backpacking trips in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, our destination.

If you haven´t heard of Torres del Paine, it`s the park that`s mountains get plastered over everything having to do with Patagonia. Despite the popularity, it`s still beautiful as hell and we had an awesome time. I`m actually a bit pressed for time right now (that`s why this post is a bit bare-bones), so I`ll give you some highlights and funny things about our 8-day odyssey through the park:

-Awesome sunset views of the incredible Torres themselves--check out the pictures

-Coming down from said torres in the dark, bumping many extremities

-Finding a huge herd of cows in our way on the trail and having to get them away with cowboy shouts

-Getting totally soaked for 3 days (this was actually neither a hightlight or a funny thing)

-Snow on the 4th day. I am dead serious. Check out the photos.

-Coming over Paso John Gardner and seeing the Grey Glacier at our feet

-Getting cadbury chocolate at one of the cush camp spots on the more-frequented side of the park

-Trevor injuring his knees and me hiking the last 2 days by myself

-Meeting a friend of mine from Santiago randomly in the park

-Taking a shower when I got back to Natales

-Eating a lot of meat and drinking a good bottle of wine for a celebratory dinner--a Patagonian asado!

So that `s it in a nutshell...check out the photos. Gotta go now...we`ve got a bus to Punta Arenas in about an hour. Love to all and hope to hear from you!