March 3 - Torres del Paine National Park

Today was a full day bus tour of Torres del Paine National Park. I was very much looking forward to this tour and really wished we could have spent more time in the park hiking around. Most of the day was in the bus, but the scenery was beautiful and the park incredible.

Some highlights of the day were seeing, Black-necked Swans, Lesser Rhea birds (like Ostrich), Guanaco (like camels), a Fox, Andean Condors, and Flamingos. We got to do a little hiking to a waterfall. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was almost hard to keep upright. I've attached a few photos from the park so you can get an idea of what the day was like.


Torres del Paine National Park


Guanaco


Fox


Waterfall (notice the person for perspective)


Flamingos

We returned to the ship around dinner and the staff decided to go back into town for dinner instead of dining on the ship. We went to a local seafood restaurant that was jam packed (a good sign) and I had a lovely meal. For appetizers I had avocado with king crab on the top and for my meal, scallops in a nice garlic chile broth. For desert I had crepes with a local jam that I can't remember the name of, but it sure was yummy. Hopefully, I can pick some up to bring back when we get to Puerto Arenas. After dinner, we walked around town and I have to say, there more tourists here than I thought. On first glance, the town seems sleepy, but I did see a good number of people in the restaurants and around. I enjoyed my walk and did a little souvenir shopping before heading back to the ship.