Glaciers and Camping

Day 2:  We left our Estancia bright and early by boat and headed for Serrano Glacier and our campsite.  The kids have been begging to camp.  I am not an outdoorsy person.  I like hotels.  I want to be inside away from the elements but how often do you get to camp in southern Chile with glaciers in the distance.  So, I agreed to camping for 2 nights.  The kids loved it.

Waiting for our boat to pick us up.

Beautiful waterfalls as we sailed to the glacier.

 We sailed on a ferry to Serrano Glacier.  Once we got there we had to do a short hike to get close to the glacier.  On the way there it was very cold but as soon as we got off the boat and started hiking all the layers of clothing starting coming off piece by piece.

Serrano Glacier

Hiking toward the glacier

After the glacier we boarded a smaller boat called a Zodiac to head towards the place that we were going to eat lunch.  We all choose the salmon for lunch and the kids devoured it.  It was delicious.  Our view from lunch was the Serrano glacier.

 After lunch we all loaded back up onto the zodiac and then headed to our campsite on the Serrano River.  The kids were more than excited to see where we would be sleeping over the next 2 nights.

 While, I am not a big fan of camping, I am glad we did it.  The kids experienced many firsts...sleeping in a tent, making smores, and generally just being outside in the elements.

Smores were the highlight for Layne.

Goodnight from Patagonia!

Next up:  Torres Del Paine and Grey Glacier

Ruta del Fin del Mundo~Route to the end of the World

 

Day1:  After our time in the warmth of Santiago, we headed to the southern tip of Chile known as Patagonia.  Although it was summer time down south the weather was very unpredictable and you have to pack for the extreme cold as well as warm weather.  As we drove to the "end of the world" we saw signs like the one above every where! 

Our first stop was to head over to see penguins in their natural habitat.  Graham, Bryce and Layne were so excited to see and explore where Penguins lives.

As we were driving Bryce said she thought she saw an ostrich.  Of course, I did not believe her because I never imagined seeing one in the wild.  Well, Bryce was not 100% percent correct but she was close.  Sure enough the animal she saw definitely resembled an Ostrich.  We were fortunate enough to see many rheas wondering around as we made our way to the penguins.

Rheas

The kids bundled up and running toward the penguins.

Got caught taking a selfie.

We spent the morning with the penguins and then drove on towards our Estancia.  The drive was quite unique.  We saw Chilean cowboys known as gauchos working the sheep on the land.  The kids were amazed how the dogs took control of herding the animals.

We stopped for lunch and Brian loved this sign!

We also saw grey foxes at our dinner stop.

Once we arrived to Estancia Perales, we were awestruck with the views of our surroundings.  The kids had a great time exploring the ranch and taking in all the gorgeous scenery.

Brian and the kids

This picture captures Bryce beautifully.

Graham spending the afternoon skipping rocks in the Pacific Ocean at end of the world.

We all also experienced lamb for the first time as well.  It was delicious and the kids really enjoyed it!

Next up:  Serrano Glacier