Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine In Southern Chile

I am exhausted this evening after spending some 14 hours going to, getting back from and exploring Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile. If I booked this trip from the US, it would have literally cost me thousands of dollars. Thanks to a very nice hotel owner, my tour cost $100 US plus $23.00 admission fees to the park. We rode in this military vehicle like the ones used in Afghanistan to protect soldiers from improvised explosive devices. It sits high off the ground. When I saw this rough military vehicle I knew that we were going to have a wild and a rough time. When I climbed on board the vehicle, an Irish woman looked at my Tilley's hat and quipped "Indiana Jones." We started on a paved road and went onto a rough unpaved road. We had to clear passport control in Argentina and immigration and customs on the Chilean side. The wind was ferocious and stayed ferocious for the rest of the day. The park was wild and primitive. There is no visitor's center and the admission area is a shack. It is full of rough and unpaved road. You do not do this park without a guide and a special vehicle. Once in the park we saw fabulous lakes, water falls, glaciers, and other natural sights. I commented to the uide that this place would be a perfect place for a Jurassic Park movie. It was so ancient and untouched that I was sure that I would see dinosaurs any minute. I finished this adventure exhausted and catching a cold. I will rest today and recover. What an incredible adventure!!!!!!!