Our last port in Chile was Punta Arenas, where we chose a 12-hour excursion to Torre del Paine National Park that used up most of our ship credit. While it was very good, it definitely didn’t live up to the expense or the hype.

The description (and cost) made it seem like there would be maybe a dozen participants at most, but there were at least 50 of us. The one-hour chartered flight, which we’d thought would be on a tiny plane with spectacular views over the landscape, was a regular commercial jet that flew above the clouds.

After that, we basically spent the rest of the day on the bus, with a few stops for photos and lunch. The final stop was supposed to be a 45-minute hike to Salto Grande waterfall, but that got cut – officially because it was too windy and the buses couldn’t make it, but in reality because there was not enough time due to disorganization.

That said, everything we saw was very, very beautiful.

Guanacos (related to llamas) and rheas (South American ostriches):