DAY 6: DEC 16 THURSDAY TDP, PUERTO NATALES

We had our breakfast, packed up, left the key on the door as instructed, taking pics as we always do.

Saw horses, cows on the way out... so lovely!

Enjoyed Rio Serrano lookout one last time

Enjoyed the sight of the Horns

Started our climb on the Mirador Condor hike...

The trail became very steep and the wind was strong... so I wusse out after a little while. It's 45 min one way. I told son to go on, I'll return and wait in the car. He also decided to return

At familiar sights again... Lago Pehoe lookout

The wishing well on Lago Pehoe shore

TO DRIVE ON NORTHWARD OR NOT?

We were wondering whether to drive on and visit some nooks we had not been to.

For one the weather was cloudy. the teal color of the lakes was hardly visible, everything was greyed out.

Most important factor was our fuel in the car... the dial showed around a little less than 1/2 tank but we were not too sure if the reading was correct. Did now want to be stranded with no fuel.

We had had the best of views and experiences, so decided to turn back and head back to Puerto Natales via the South entrance as we had entered

Nice lupines on our way back to Puerto Natales

Had our lunch at a scenic spot

Drove on

ROUGH CHECKIN

Had to use our phone to call Sergio to check us in... both the neighbors refused to oblige and we could not log in to the wifi at the cabin. Turned out wifi was down and Sergio got it fixed. Our cabin we had stayed in previously had been occupied, we got an apt up a flight of stairs. It was really tight as you can see in the pics. The restroom was so tight I scratched my leg on the tile partition of the shower stall. And the stupid shower stopped supply of hot water half way through at night . Kitchen, beds, radiator etc were great though

PROMENADE/WATER FRONT

We went to the water front.

Puerto Natales sits on the shores the Última Esperanza Sound which translates to Last Hope Sound. The sound got this name from a sailor named Juan Ladrilleros as it was the last unexplored passage and the only way out of the Strait of Magellan, and as such, the last hope. Última Esperanza Sound (Spanish: Seno de Última Esperanza, ‘Last Hope Sound’ or 'Inlet of Last Hope') is an inlet stretching from the mouth of Eberhard Fjord to the outskirts of Monte Balmaceda, within the Magallanes Basin. The navigator Juan Ladrillero named it so in 1557, because he felt it was this direction was his last chance to reach the Strait of Magellan. The inlet ends at a glacier, and not at the strait.

This inlet is tidal, and drains an extensive basin. It receives the waters of almost all the surface waters of Torres del Paine National Park through the Serrano River. The sound occupies a valley carved by glacial action. During the last glacial period glaciers reached their maximum extent in Última Esperanza Sound about 48,000 years ago.

Last Hope Sound along with the Señoret Channel forms a navigation route, which connects Puerto Natales with several protected areas of the region

A little history here:

Magellan led an expedition in the service of the Spanish King, Emperor Charles V, to reach the Spice Islands. His ships became the first to navigate the strait in 1520.Magellan's ships entered the strait on All Saints' Day, 1 November 1520. Magellan named the strait Estrecho de Todos los Santos ("Strait of All Saints") and planted a flag to claim the land on behalf of the King of Spain. The first map of the Pacific Ocean, Maris Pacifici from 1589, depicts the strait as the only route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Until the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Strait of Magellan was the main route for steamships traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. It was often considered the only safe way to move between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as the Drake Passage separating Cape Horn from Antarctica is notorious for turbulent and unpredictable weather, and is frequented by icebergs and sea ice. Ships in the strait, protected by Tierra del Fuego to the south and the coast of continental South America to the north, crossed with relative ease, and Punta Arenas became a primary refueling port that provided coal for steamships in transit. Sailing ships, partly because of variable winds and currents in the strait, generally preferred the Drake Passage, where they had more room to maneuver.

This is the sculpture Monumento de la Mano

Here's the Puerto Natales sign with Sloth statue... the road has crazy fast traffic. We parked our car in a safe spot for a few minutes. Had to dodge some aggressive territorial dogs and zipping cars to get some pics

This extinct herbivore mammal [sloth] is called Mylodon Darwin... height 2-2.5 m, weighing 1 ton equaling 14 people. Lived 13000-10000 years ago. Puerto Natales became famous when its remains were discovered in the vicinity in 1896