Torres del Paine: Salto Grande

Today we could get up an hour later because we were supposed to get picked up by the tour company between 07:00 and 07:45. Breakfast time in the hostel is starting at 7, so we quickly prepared and ate a bit. And right on time when we were done the mini bus arrived. After everyone was gathered the bus was pretty cramped and we made once again our way to the Torres del Paine National Park entrance. During the drive our guide, Javiera, told us about the landscape features, flora and fauna. Our first stop was just before the park at some cascades. They looked pretty neat but unfortunately the weather wasn't that great (just as expected though), so we couldn't see the mountain backdrop.
We checked in at the park entrance and then made several stops at viewpoints where it was rainy and windy. So the stops were kept pretty short and once again we couldn't see the mountain ranges with the Torres del Paine. Then we've had a longer lunch stop at the Grey Lake fed by the Grey Glacier. We used the available time for a quick walk to the beach and a viewpoint overlooking the lake and all the way over to the glacier. The rain had stopped and the view got pretty clear all the way to Grey Glacier. We had calculated that we would make the loop trail on time to get back at the scheduled time. And we really made it one minute earlier 😌⏰

Then we were already on the way out of the park again but made two stops to take pictures of the - now - perfectly visible mountain peaks. The next and last stop was two hours away: The Milodon cave. This is a uniquely formed and well conserved structure where a German colonist found the skin of a giant sloth, the Milodon. Since the discovery in the 1800s the cave has been thoroughly searched for other artifacts. It was interesting and a good end for this day tour :)

When we arrived back at the hostel we extended for another night and then went to to the bus terminal to book the bus to Ushuhaia. Unfortunately it was already fully booked for the next three days 😒 And we didn't want to stay longer, so we'll be taking a bus where we need to change 🤷‍♂️ At least we'll be able to continue on ☺️ Then we walked to the city center for dinner, the Chilean classic dish and comfort food: Chorrillana.

Back at the hostel we planned the next days, booked flights and hotels. There's a little issue with the credit card and I couldn't pay online. I've had received an SMS that there have been irregularities and therefore the card will be exchanged 🙄 I've already contacted the bank to see what we can do about it but as it's the weekend, that'll take until Monday.Læs mere