THE SOUTH - PATAGONIA
part 4 - Torres del Paine |
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Torres del Paine is the name of a large national park in the extreme south
of mainland Chile. It contains spectacular mountain scenery, glaciers, lakes, forests and
a lot of interesting flora and fauna. It has been described as a mini-Alaska. It attracts
a lot of visitors from Europe and the USA, predominantly young couples in fleece jackets
and walking boots doing a three-day hiking circuit. The Torres del Paine in a narrow
sense are some spectacular granite peaks in the middle of the national park of the same
name. Here they are shown at a moment where the sun briefly breaks through the clouds. |
Lago Nordenskjold seen from the foot of the Cuernos del
Paine. |
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Near Grey lake and glacier, in the forest. Despite the harsh conditions
(you're pretty close to Antarctica here and the Southern Ice Field is just around the
corner), sheltered areas are sometimes covered with forest. The dominant, or often the
only, tree here is the Lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) which looks a bit like a
European beech. |
| The Cuernos del Paine (Horns of Paine), rising dramatically from Lago
Nordenskjöld. The lower two-thirds are made from softer white (limestone?) rock while the
caps are made from a much harder granite rock. In places where the caps have weathered
away, the rock has been eroded by ice and water up to 2000 m lower, creating these
spectacular sheer faces on all sides. |
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The ravine between the two Cuernos del Paine. |
Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) in the
park. The guanacoes of the south are lighter than those found in the
north.
The guanaco, a wild relative of the llama, is related to the camel and is the largest
mammal species native to South America. |
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Zapatera de la Virgen (Calceolaria uniflora) which may be
mistaken for an orchid - but it isn't. One of the most striking flowers in the area. |
Bee feeding on one of the park's flowers |
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Caiquen or Upland geese (Chloephaga picta). The male is grey and
white, the female milk chocolate brown, both with barred sides and underparts. |
A view of Lago Grey |
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Digitally exaggerated colours - a view of the Torres del Paine central
massif |
Southern Lapwing a.k.a. Chilean lapwing (Vanellus
chilensis) |
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Waterfall in one of the valleys with some Fuchsia flowers |
| Andean condor (Vultur gryphus). We were six hours behind
everybody else doing the hiking circuit in the Torres, i.e. we got up around noon and then
started walking. As we crawled out of our tent the second day at Albergue Cuernos at high
noon, we were greeted by six condors flying just above our heads. They kept circling on
the thermal winds until they were so high we couldn't see them anymore. |
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