Today was full on. Went horseback riding in the morning and took the Grey Glacier boat trip in the afternoon. Another glorious day in Torres del Paine.
An early breakfast at 7am saw us leaving for the estancia at 7:45. We were supposed to start at 8:30 (so we thought) but there was confusion over the number of riders. It turned out that four people from our group had to come back in the afternoon. Second time we've had a mix up with the horseback riding, but it turned out that part of our group needed to leave since three other randoms were joining us.
The scenery was stunning - we rode for three hours through green pastures, past rivers, in trees and up a small hill to a perfect viewpoint. Kath, who rides, Aldiey and I got to cantor a bit through the open fields. It was amazing; we picked up a lot of speed, but I had to stop as the stirups were uncomfortable on my legs. As we cantered back home base, Peggy was waiting for us.
I ate my salami/cheese sandwich (which I made at breakfast) and Doritos on the truck while Andy drove us to the drop off point for the Grey Glacier boat cruise. We all walked to the jetty but no boat was visible and after waiting for at least 20 minutes, a few people went off to find out where we were supposed to be. Turned out we were just really early, but it was cold waiting on the rocks while the wind blew water off the surfact of the lake.
The dingy finally arrived to transfer us to the larger boat and we began our journey to the face of the glacier. We sailed up close to all three faces of the glacier and were given drinks on ice (I chose a pisco sour). I noticed some Americans on the boat and ended up chatting with a Berkeley student who was studying in Santiago for six months. Ted kept going on about how I'd met an American friend and was calling himself my grandpa. Oh Ted. The day turned partly cloudy so the clouds of the glacier did not reflect like the Moreno Glacier and while the Grey Glacier was massive, it paled in comparison to Moreno. I was freezing from the wind by the time I went inside the heated cabin for the ride back to shore.
We didn't get back to the campsite until 7pm and by that point I was hungry. Mark set out some olives and popcorn for nibbles, but we didn't eat until 8:30 when we started with French onion soup, followed by spaghetti bolonese, garlic bread and salad with guacamole. Excellent meal! It concluded with some flavorless cake for dessert at which point I was ready for bed. Planning to relax tomorrow as I don't want to have another long day out.
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