Leones glacier

A beautiful view from the bed at 6.30am 

Another day, another glacier... but oh my goodness what a glacier!

We went on a speed boat across the lake

And then up the river bumping along the rapids with an occasional soaking

Then a 45 minute walk being attacked by mosquitos and horse flies, followed by a 30 minutes in another speedboat across a glacial lagoon towards the Leones glacier.

As lumps fell off, there was a dramatic booming, cracking sound and mini icebergs floated off

It was the best picnic site ever but 4 1/2 hours sitting on a sun baked rock murdering horse flies was a tad too much of a good thing!
Lots and lots of photos were taken..







The guide had disappeared with the boat whilst we baked on the rock and I was getting mildly concerned about spending a night next to a glacier! Eventually the boat came round the corner, apparently some mountain climbers were in trouble and we had to pick them up to give them a lift across the lagoon - the little boat got a bit crowded..
The left over bits of the discs in my neck and lower back then took a major battering as we zoomed back down the rapids - ouch!
There had to be one more photo on the way back..


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Atacama desert

Image
There are unfortunately limited choices for active tours at this hotel, mostly due to the stormy weather but also due to the predominantly sedentary clientele. Rusty chose to relax before our long journey home tomorrow. I heard the magic words ‘sand dune’ and joined a tour to the ‘Mars valley’. The ‘hike’ could have been completed in about 10 mins but the other two guests turned it into a tedious snail’s pace photographic extravaganza. The views were pretty spectacular though The volcano in the background is the ‘people’s mountain’ and there was a great view of it today from the hotel Meanwhile back on the slowest walk ever, I got to do one of my favourite things... Sadly I won’t get to climb a volcano, but it was worth coming to Atacama for the incredible light, the bike ride through the salt flats and the woohoo trot down a dune.  I’m really not looking forward to the 24 hours of travelling to get home but oh my goodness, Chile has been so worth it. Thanks to Hannah and Frankie for t
Read more

Santiago

Image
The flight was very, very long but I managed to get some sleep (and watched 4 episodes of The Crown) without passing out, yippee.  The view of the Andes as we descended into Santiago was spectacular but hopefully the photo quality will improve! Santiago airport was a bit chaotic but friendly and our taxi driver was a sweetiepie. Our hotel is an Art Deco beauty with allegedly the oldest lift in Chile. The room has a pretty good view too I always think it’s a good idea to go for a walk after a long flight, but a rather dehydrated and grumpy hubby wasn’t as keen on the walk up to a viewpoint in 30c - oopsie  After a much needed afternoon nap/zonk out, we went walkies again and ended up back in the rooftop bar at the hotel well out of the noisy, smoggy, traffic filled streets beneath. Sauvignon and tapas are always a good end to a long day
Read more

Off to the middle of nowhere

Image
An early start with a 6.30 am taxi trip back to Santiago airport. It looked like most of Chile was flying somewhere so long queues for each stage of the process and a packed plane to Balmaceda, but fun people watching! It was cloudy in Santiago but the plane climbed above the clouds and the Andes photography improved from my last attempt (not difficult really) It was a two hour flight south with a spectacular view of mountainous nothingness as we descended We picked up the car/tank, had the spare tyre put in the boot just in case (risk averse strategy!), eventually worked out how to operate various incomprehensible levers, pedals and buttons, then set off into the great unknown It was a long drive (254km) and a long day, but very beautiful. We saw lots of touring cyclists labouring up hills into a strong wind with full panniers. I was slightly jealous but mostly relieved to be sitting in a comfortable air conditioned tank. Our lodge is on the edge of a fjord, beautifully peaceful and d
Read more