On Sat 17/3 I got the bus to Puerto Natales at 8.30am meaning I'd be crossing back into Chilean Patagonia. We arrived there at about 2pm and I spent some time investigating possibilities for shorter hikes in the Torres del Paine National Park which is a famous National Park with excellent hiking. Most people go there do either do the 'W' which is a 4 day trek or the 'circuit' which is a kind of O shape and includes the W. I had no plans to do either of these but had been trying to find out what might be within my fitness capabilities. I knew on arrival in Puerto Natales I'd be able to get more advice on this but with the Navimag ferry booked for Tuesday, well, boarding on Monday night I was a bit short on time for doing hikes there, which was a shame. I ended up opting for one of my original possibilities and doing a day trip into the National Park. That way I would get to see the scenery even if it wouldn't be as rewarding as if you do the hiking there. It also meant I would see as much as possible in the time I had too so on Sunday I was picked up for the day tour.

Torres del Paine (day tour- 18/3)

Like the scenery around El Chaltén the scenery of Torres del Paine is just as stunning. It is famous for its 2000m tall towers, the 'torres', of Torres del Paine, which are an impressive sight on a clear day. A second impressive sight is 'los cuernos', the horns. You can see both of these as well as other mountains in the park from the hiking trails but also, luckily for me, from the roads! Very lucky once again with the weather it was a mostly blue sky day but very windy as is to be expected- you see signs warning of strong winds, they aren't kidding! I have found out that the trails are a bit more sheltered as if not I have no idea how people would hike with their packs in the strong winds. As part of the day tour we went to various viewpoints around the park, passed several lakes and did 2 walks. One was to a powerful waterfall (Salto Grande) which was beautiful- the colour of the water was a beautiful turquoise colour and we had clear views of the torres and the cuernos. Also in this area you can see the devastation of the recent fires in January (caused by careless campers)- the fire spread in strong winds and went on for a number of weeks, causing massive damage. There are lots of burnt trees in the area, half covered in ash. After lunch which was in a really scenic spot we drove to lago (lake) Grey, where we walked on the beach on the shore of the lake and in the distance across the lake you could see the Grey glacier. There were big lumps of ice on the shore of the lake which had floated down from the glacier. The winds here were so strong though, walking against it was hard! We got a really good view of the towers as we left after having dropped someone off who was going to hike the next day and then returned to Puerto Natales. If I had had time I think some hiking these would have been good but I'm really glad I went and got to at least see the National Park with its stunning scenery :-)