28 Feb - Patagonia continued

28 Feb - Patagonia continued

The best bedroom view ever

We opened our shutters this morning to see the most fantastic view of the Massif Central & the Towers in glorious sunshine. Just stunning….. our weather luck was holding !!

After breakfast we headed out again with Tomas for another day exploring. Our first stop was on a small lake where some Pink Flamingos had landed. We trekked round to get some better shots and Steve’s new lens proved handy again !

The Lago Amarga was calm & beautiful in the morning and the reflection of the Massif in the sunshine was just lovely.From there we went to the Lago Azur and had a trek round the lake following the river round to a waterfall which divided the two lakes. The scenery all the way round was just breathtaking.

Little not so furry friend

While Steve was setting up his best photography shot at the waterfall, Janette wandered off and heading down a path nearly trod on an little armadillo !  Very cute.

Stunning Waterfall dividing 2 lakes

The scenery everywhere is so different. From here we could see the Horns of the range instead of the Towers we see from our hotel. It was just beautiful

The Horns

For lunch Tomas had brought a picnic and set up at a little picnic site near the lake with a great view of the Massif. However, Patagonian weather had other plans !  We had just set everything up and the wind picked up, the mist came down, the rain started and you couldn’t see a foot in front of you. It was very funny. We hung on to the table cloth and after 5 mins the wind dropped, the sun came out, the mountains reappeared from the mist and all was well.

We were packing up to move on to our next stop when a pretty deer came wandering through the picnic site and came right over to where we were. We thought, pretty deer, but then Tomas our ranger nearly had a fit and when we turned round all the Chileans in the area were running over with cameras, cell phones trying to take pictures of it !

It turned out to be a Huemul, the Andean deer that is the emblem of Chile and extremely rare. There are only 1000 in the world and 40 in the whole Torres del Paine national park. 
Tomas had not seen one for several months and even then only at a distance, so the fact it had decided to join us for lunch was pretty special apparently !

In the afternoon we walked round Lake Sormiento which is an alkaline lake which houses bacteria that produce oxygen. They leave calcium carbonate deposits round the lake as the water recedes so the whole lake is surrounded by coral like orbs, very surreal….its like Mars.

Another day of stunning scenery and great luck with the weather and the wildlife. 

Back to the hotel to soak our feet and have a nice dinner with some good Chilean wine !