11March2008
IT Blows
Posted by Steph under: Tales from The Road.
As we departed Puerto Natales, the last “civilized” stop before reaching the park, I reflected on all the stories I had read, and heard, and wondered if there was any possibility that this place, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, could ever measure up to the “hype” offered up by those who had seen and “done” this world famous national park. I mean, when has a place you’ve heard so much about ever measured up to the tales told by those who had been there? And still, I held out hope that I would be awed.
As we left the pavement and started on the gravel, known in South America as “ripio,” I started to have faith that it was possible - this place could be as awesome as I was led to believe. The sky, filled with clouds of all types, was an ever-changing theater of color, intensity and shapes. I could have filled 4GB memory cards just with shots of the clouds and colors it presented. And then, there were the vast open ranges, fields of solid ochre grass dotted with the livelihood of those who have tended it for many years. The cows and sheep provided a reminder that there was ongoing life here, something necessary to a passer by. Otherwise, one would think this was a part of the world that time had forgotten, a land that idled along on its own.
