Day 7 - Port Arenas, Chile

So, today we went out of our comfort zone. Instead of ship excursions, we took a private excursion arranged by someone we didn't know, but met here on the cruise. She was part of an online group of people taking this cruise. We were going to the World Heritage Site, The National Park, Torres del Paine. The trip to get to the park gate was going to be 4 hours each way and we were supposed to be in port about 11 1/2 hours. 

Despite our nervousness, we were first off the boat  ship at 6am playing gangway lice until they opened. Got right to our tour van and were off. And the trip was wonderful although the drive was long. The guide was always looking for wildlife and would stop the bus for interesting animals. We saw:

Rhea - like Emu's the male incubates the eggs and cares for the chicks. 
Vicunas - We either saw them singly (probably male) and in big herds (probably females with one male and many babies). 

Grey fox - This is not my picture. We saw one that was running along the side of the road.



        And lots of these caracaras.

In addition we saw a lot of upland geese, sea gulls, and flamingos. Yes, flamingos in this colder climate. They were too far away for a picture.

And more lupines scattered all over the landscape than I have ever seen before.



But the main event was the park itself, and its towering mountains carved by the glaciers. Here are some photos.





While the drive was long, the scenery was spectacular and we made it back in plenty of time to get back onto the ship. 

We did stop at a general store/tourist trap kind of shop (free restrooms were much appreciated) which was right by the Chile/Argentine border. Right in front of the white van on the right is a single arm gate. No fanfare, no big signs to say you are leaving one country entering another. Just a single arm gate on each side and a small Chilean flag on one side and a small Argentinian flag on the other. 


From here, it was another 3 hour drive back to the ship. 












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