We spent a good four plus hours at Salisbury Plain, seeing hundreds of thousands of King Penguins. The weather was mostly overcast, with barely a moment of sun. After getting back to the ship, we would normally pull up anchor after finishing the day and head on out overnight to our next spot on the island. But that evening, we finally go to see the blue skies and sun. We stayed parked for a little bit and got to see a magnificent sunset with and bask in this beautiful twilight, the sun gently rimming over the outline of the mountains and the clouds gently streaking through the skies. And if you look closely, you can see that cloud in the center, which looks a little bit like the head and beak of a King Penguin, lying flat on its belly. Maybe that was the Kings saying to us, thanks for stopping by and please come back soon. Salisbury Plain, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Google Maps Location photo was taken from: 54°7'5.832" S 36°36'23.88" W
I can tell you that on any other day, I am not a morning person. The snooze button and late mornings on the weekend are my MO. But when it comes to getting up at the crack of dawn to capture a beautiful sunrise, I will do that in a heartbeat. This was our first sunrise in Torres del Paine. We arrived the day prior in the afternoon and had a leisurely drive throughout the whole park’s winding dirt gravel roads, that lay beneath the gorgeous Paine peaks. Scoping out the perfect viewing point to get the sun rising on the mountain peaks, we found one that was perched up high, looking out over Lago Nordenskjold. Two huge peaks of the range lay before us. The alarm went off at a yawn inducing 4am and we were at the spot no later than 4:30. This shot here is about 3 hours later, when the sun had just peaked up over the horizon. A small wispy puff of a cloud was frozen above the tallest peak, while the sun cast a beautiful warm glow on its front face, while causing some beautiful shadows. You couldn’t ask for a better sunrise. Torres del Paine, Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile Google Maps Location photo was taken from: https://goo.gl/8RLNKF
Can you believe this view? I couldn’t while I was there, for I had to keep pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Even looking back on this photo now, I am still blown away at how clear it was that night, standing there on a dock, on the side of the Rio Serrano in front of our hotel. My buddy and I made probably one of the best decisions of our trip earlier that week. We were planning to stay in Torres del Paine for the week, but looking to the mid-week, rain and overcast clouds were forecasted. The lovely hotel and staff at Hotel Cabañas Del Paine allowed us to shift our last two nights, plus book another night on Sunday. We did the same for our hotel in Punta Arenas, swapping days, traveling down there for our King Penguin tour on Tierra del Fuego. We hit amazing weather for the penguins and when we traveled back to Torres del Paine, we were treated to three beautiful days of blue skies and puffy clouds, but clear skies at night like this. It was so clear, we could even see satellites moving in their geosynchronous orbits. If it wasn’t for temps dropping into the low 20s and us having been out there for two hours plus, we could have stayed out all night. Such beauty, such splendor, such awe, for my eyes will never be the same. Torres de Paine, Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile Google Maps Location photo was taken from: https://goo.gl/6SOQb6
