Berg Adventures Joints In Motion Patagonia Trek Dispatch
October 28, 2010 – Puerto Natales
This is Leila Silveira reporting our last day at Torres del Paine and our trip south to the ocean to visit a different region of Patagonia.
Today we woke up at Las Torres ready to move on to our next destination, Puerto Natales. We had our breakfast while enjoying two foxes playing outside our window. We met with some Gauchos just when we were leaving the hacienda.
After a drive along the lonely Patagonia highway we arrived at Puerto Natales, a port city where the main activity is tourism. It has quite an eclectic look with colorful houses and funky businesses.
Puerto Natales is located in the province of Ultima Esperanza (meaning Last Hope). It was named by a sailor who was seeking the Strait of Magellan in the year 1557. It was his "last hope" to find the Strait after exploring the maze of channels between the waters of the Pacific and the mainland.
We all arrived around noon at our hotel which features modern architecture and is located on the water. After settling in everyone went off to discover the town. George had a field day taking lots of photos of a very photogenic town and finished the day at the spa of our hotel on the top floor.
Our last morning at Las Torres we had guests outside our window.
The Guachos at Las Torres were going to work as we left.
Patagonia has the greatest open highways in the world.
Our drive lead us to the ocean and the lovely city of Puerto Notales.
Funky restaurants and tourist shops are everywhere here.
Sharon and Sue visit a gear store.
Our hotel
The interior of our hotel
Left: Sue in the lobby; Right: Sharon enjoyed soup for lunch.
George Relaxing in the hot tub at our hotel
Seacoast and mountains, Puerto Notales is a beautiful place.