We met the other travellers in our group (a couple from Iowa with their two mid twenty-something children) along with the Eco Lodge escort and set off on a 5 1/2 drive to the national park. The Magellan Straits looked icy cold and forbidding. Hard to imagine old wooden ships heading even further south to sail eventually into the Atlantic.
The terrain was flat, windswept and barren with not a tree in sight. This pre-Andean shrubland is home to huge herds of sheep spread over miles of open plains. We saw pink flamingos, condors, the Nandu (a miniature ostrich), as well as Chile’s version of the lama, the Guanaco.
The shrublands gave way to wispy stunted groves of trees bent by the relentless wind. Occasionally there would be a small farm that somehow stayed in business doing who knows what.
Gradually we started to climb into the Patagonia steppes with beautiful hills that stretched for miles and miles. We truly were in the middle of nowhere.
After three hours we arrived at Puerto Natale, a town that is relatively new and has grown to accommodate the ever increasing needs of hikers and travellers to Patagonia. Here we met our guides for the week, Claudio and Arnoldo. After a great lunch it was back on the road for another 2 1/2 hours. The road itself ranged from decent asphalt to washboard gravel. A new highway is being built but it will be years before it is finished.
By now we were close to the Paine mountains and had curved east of the Andes. At one point, the Argentina border was literally 25 yards away. This being summer holidays in Chile the volume of backpackers and campers is quite high. Most impressive though were the cyclists who not only battled the hills but also the wind, all while pedalling bikes weighed down by multiple panions.
Finally we arrived at the Eco Lodge. This is a self sustaining group of yurts (hobbit huts?) with bigger community domes for dining. Everything about the place is nature first with electricity via water and solar. Bathrooms use unique composting technology and all the materials wherever possible are natural. Our “room” is surprisingly comfortable although the tiny entrance door may yet prove to be an issue. The design is intended to capture the most light, maintain stability in the wind and blend in as much as possible.
Our itinerary is full each day starting tomorrow with an extended boat trip to a major glacier followed by kayaking amongst the ice floes and then down the Grey River.
Early days but the group dynamics are good, the guides friendly and passionate and the food excellent.
The Bennetts On Tour 