[[After an amazing hike to Tres Torres we decided to take it slow and visit less touristy places. On our way to Laguna Azul we saw a lot of guanacos (type of camelid). They are shy and together with vicuñas they have not been domesticated. Domesticated friends are llamas and alpacas that we finally saw in Bolivia. :)///After an amazing hike to Tres Torres we decided to take it slow and visit less touristy places. On our way to Laguna Azul we saw a lot of guanacos (type of camelid). They are shy and together with vicuñas they have not been domesticated. Domesticated friends are llamas and alpacas that we finally saw in Bolivia. :)///Po predchádzajúcej krásnej túre k Tres Torres sme sa rozhodli pre menej náročné a menej turistické destinácie. Cestou k Laguna Azul (Modré jazero) sme videli stáda lám, presnejšie guanaco. Sú plaché a spolu s vicuñas neboli nikdy domestikované. Za to ich bratia lama krotká (pravdepodobne pochádzajúca z guanaco) a alpaka (pochádzajúca z vikune) sú domestikované a konečne sme ich zblízka videli v Bolívii.]]
[[Did we mention llamas are funny and desperately cute? Wait for pictures from Bolivia ;)///Did we mention llamas are funny and desperately cute? Wait for pictures from Bolivia ;)///Už sme spomínali, že lamy sú vtipné a neskutočne rozkošné? :D Tešte sa na Bolíviu :)]]
[[Our first stop was the Paine waterfall...Sweet. :)///Our first stop was the Paine waterfall...Sweet. :)///Najprv sme sa zastavili pri vodopáde Paine.]]
[[Second stop - Laguna Amarga. Ivan was quite anxious to see it and... we would have been a bit disappointed if it weren't for black-necked swans on the lake. Kudos to the photographer to make it look awesome.///Second stop - Laguna Amarga. Ivan was quite anxious to see it and... we would have been a bit disappointed if it weren't for black-necked swans on the lake. Kudos to the photographer to make it look awesome.///Boli by sme sklamani, ak by sme nevideli krasne ciernokrke labute pri Laguna Amarga. Samotna scenéria nás sklamala, pretože sme videli krásne zábery od jedného fotografa.]]
[[We spent the night at Laguna Azul. It's an awesome place to stay with an incredible view on the Tres Torres - if you're lucky and there are no clouds.///We spent the night at Laguna Azul. It's an awesome place to stay with an incredible view on the Tres Torres - if you're lucky and there are no clouds.///Laguna Azul, kde sme ostali na noc. Mali sme z nej pekný výhľad na Tres Torres, keď sa na chvíľku rozpustili mraky.]]
[[There is an unofficial campground next to Laguna Azul, so we opted to stay there. Toilet & shower situation was not exactly ideal, but we kind of got used to that... The good part was, the campground is free - the owner only asks for a voluntary donation, so it's up to you how much you pay to him. Janka didn't fancy the owner (a bit drunk), but he was extremely friendly and gave us many stories, offered us dinner and a lot of his Johnnie Walker Black Label, which made two of us very happy... :)///There is an unofficial campground next to Laguna Azul, so we opted to stay there. Toilet & shower situation was not exactly ideal, but we kind of got used to that... The good part was, the campground is free - the owner only asks for a voluntary donation, so it's up to you how much you pay to him. Janka didn't fancy the owner (a bit drunk), but he was extremely friendly and gave us many stories, offered us dinner and a lot of his Johnnie Walker Black Label, which made two of us very happy... :)///Pri Laguna Azul sme ostali na noc v neoficiálnom kempe. Sprchy a toalety neboli nič moc(už sme si na to ale dávno zvykli) ale na druhej strane, za kemping a pohostenie chcel len dobrovoľný príspevok vo výške ako sami uznáte za vhodné. Janku jemne pripitý majiteľ až tak neočaril... rozhodne však bol milý a priateľský, ponúkol nás pripravenou večerou a zeleninou a ovocím, ktoré im ostalo nazvyš a ktoré by sa im inak pokazilo. Taktiež nám srdečne nalial z jeho Johnnie Walker Black Label, čo dvoch členov posádky nadmieru potešilo... :) Večer prišli strážcovia parkov z okolia na večeru a zábavu. Ujo si z nás robil žarty, že tu v noci bola puma, dúfam...]]
[[History of fires in Torres del Paine///History of fires in Torres del Paine///História Torres del Paine]]
[[Lets talk briefly about the fire in Torres del Paine. Inside the park, there is a strict ban on camping outside of the official campgrounds and... starting fire, which is quite obvious. It's permitted to use camping stoves once you're in the official campground. If you break these rules, you are kicked out of the national park, simple as that - you have been warned and educated about this thoroughly when you entered the park.///Lets talk briefly about the fire in Torres del Paine. Inside the park, there is a strict ban on camping outside of the official campgrounds and... starting fire, which is quite obvious. It's permitted to use camping stoves once you're in the official campground. If you break these rules, you are kicked out of the national park, simple as that - you have been warned and educated about this thoroughly when you entered the park.///V národnom parku je zakázané kempovanie mimo označených zón a zakladanie ohňa z pochopiteľných dôvodov. Je povolené používať plynové ohrievače vo vyznačených zónach. Ak tieto zákazy porušíte, budete vyhodení z parku, nakoľko hneď pri príchode dostanete všetky potrebné informácie o bezpečnosti.]]
[[But even these strict rules didn't stop a few disasters from happening. In the history of Torres del Paine, there have been three huge fires (between 1980-2012 there were more than 60, most of them caused by people). In 1985 was the first one, that burned around 150km2 east and south of lake Pehoé. February 2005 - a czech tourist accidentally started a fire by letting his camping stove unguarded... and the fire lasted 10 days, destroyed about 155km2 around lake Cebolla, Paine waterfall and bits south from lake Azul to Amarga. The cost of re-forestation is about 1000eur per hectare - czech government actually paid 1 million USD to help with the recovery. The work on recovery ended in 2010, but the next year there was another fire - shorter then the previous, but burned 176km2 of the forrest... A sad history and a lesson, you can watch the effects of this in the picture above.///But even these strict rules didn't stop a few disasters from happening. In the history of Torres del Paine, there have been three huge fires (between 1980-2012 there were more than 60, most of them caused by people). In 1985 was the first one, that burned around 150km2 east and south of lake Pehoé. February 2005 - a czech tourist accidentally started a fire by letting his camping stove unguarded... and the fire lasted 10 days, destroyed about 155km2 around lake Cebolla, Paine waterfall and bits south from lake Azul to Amarga. The cost of re-forestation is about 1000eur per hectare - czech government actually paid 1 million USD to help with the recovery. The work on recovery ended in 2010, but the next year there was another fire - shorter then the previous, but burned 176km2 of the forrest... A sad history and a lesson, you can watch the effects of this in the picture above.///Povedzme si niečo o požiaroch v Torres del Paine. V histórii národného parku sa datujú tri najvážnejšie požiare (v období 1980 až 2012 ich bolo vyšše 60 a väčšina zapríčinená človekom). V roku 1985 bol prvý závažný požiar, ktorý spálil okolo 150 km2 východne a južne od jazera Pehoé. Vo februári 2005 nešťastnou náhodou spôsobil požiar český turista, ktorý nechal svoj ohrievač bez dozoru. Požiar trval 10 dní, zničil 155 km2 okolo jazera Cebolla, vodopádu Paine a južne od jazera Azul až po jazero Amarga. Náklady na znovuzalesnenie stoja okolo 800 tisíc čílskych pesos na hektár. Česká vláda zaplatila 1 milión USD na zalesnenie oblasti. Práce skončili v decembri 2010 avšak rok na to bol ďalší vážny požiar, zapríčinený pravdepodobne izraelským turistom. Trval síce kratšie ako predchádzajúci (7 dní, od 29. decembra do 4. januára), ale spálil 176 km2 národného parku a zničil 36 km2 povôdného lesa, opäť okolo jazera Pehoé a západne od jazera Sarmiento. Našťastie sa vyhol Cordillera del Paine vďaka zmene vetra. Pozostatky z požiarov môžete vidieť na fotkách.]]
[[The next day we went for the Cuernos del Paine lookout. The road and it's surroundings were seriously awesome, especially the view on the lake Nordenskjöld (by the way, it sounds like it should be somewhere on Iceland). Then we made a brief stop at Pudeto, which is an important place in TDP - a catamaran to the middle of W trek goes from here, and it's also a bus stop to Puerto Natales - there are just three daily buses during the main season(9AM,12:30PM and 6PM), so it's better to plan ahead. There is a short trek starting from there which ends at the viewpoint Cuernos del Paine (that split mountain that looks like horns :) )///The next day we went for the Cuernos del Paine lookout. The road and it's surroundings were seriously awesome, especially the view on the lake Nordenskjöld (by the way, it sounds like it should be somewhere on Iceland). Then we made a brief stop at Pudeto, which is an important place in TDP - a catamaran to the middle of W trek goes from here, and it's also a bus stop to Puerto Natales - there are just three daily buses during the main season(9AM,12:30PM and 6PM), so it's better to plan ahead. There is a short trek starting from there which ends at the viewpoint Cuernos del Paine (that split mountain that looks like horns :) )///Nasledovný deň sme išli na výhliadku na Cuernos del Paine. Cestou sme si užili krásne výhľady na jazero Nordenskjöld. Zastavili sme pri Pudeto kaviarni, odkiaľ odchádza katamaran do zastávky Paine Grande, z ktorej si môžete pozrieť ľadovec Grey a Valle Francés (dolina). Zároveň odtiaľ odchádzajú aj autobusy do Puerto Natales v dosť obmedzených časoch o 9:00, 12:30 a 18:00 v najväčšej sezóne. Potom vypustia ranný a neskôr aj večerný spoj. Z parkoviska vedie jednoduchý trek k výhliadke na Cuernos del Paine (tá rozpoltená hora, ktorá vyzerá ako rohy ;).]]
[[Next stop - Salto Grande (Bit Waterfall). Again, with some mindblowing backdrop.///Next stop - Salto Grande (Bit Waterfall). Again, with some mindblowing backdrop.///Ďalšia zastávka - Salto Grande (Veľký vodopád). Zas a znovu s neskutočnými výhľadmi na hory za ním.]]
[[And once again, we saw the sad picture... damage made by the fire.///And once again, we saw the sad picture... damage made by the fire.///Opäť sa nám naskytol smutný pohľad na požiarom zničenú oblasť.]]
[[Being close, we could not go and visit the smaller brother of the Big Waterfall... the Small Waterfall :) (Salto Chico). Right next to hotel Explora, you can visit it quite easily. It's not as breathtaking as it's bigger brothers, but still worth seeing :) But shame on those people who built that ugly building next to it (my guess is power plant for the hotel).///Being close, we could not go and visit the smaller brother of the Big Waterfall... the Small Waterfall :) (Salto Chico). Right next to hotel Explora, you can visit it quite easily. It's not as breathtaking as it's bigger brothers, but still worth seeing :) But shame on those people who built that ugly building next to it (my guess is power plant for the hotel).///Nedalo nám a nechceli sme vynechať menšieho brata, Malý vodopád. Salto Chico (Small Waterfall). Stačí ak zastavíte tesne pri hoteli Explora a popri ňom vedie chodníček. Rozhodne nebol taký zaujímavý ako predchádzajúce dva. Uvidíte sami. Hanba tomu, komu napadlo postaviť tú malú, škaredú budovu hneď vedľa vodopádu (tipujem elektráreň pre spomínaný hotel).]]
[[We made it all the way to the campground Pehoé, which was probably the most expensive campground of all the time (10 000clp per person,14eur for camping...), but at least had perfect showers, finally inside a closed building, so we didn't freeze right after coming out of them :) The best part was the possibility to see many bird species inside the campground - we're no bird watching enthusiasts, but we were stunned by the beauty of this male Magellanc Woodpecker. We'll say goodbye with this picture of him. Until next time. :)///We made it all the way to the campground Pehoé, which was probably the most expensive campground of all the time (10 000clp per person,14eur for camping...), but at least had perfect showers, finally inside a closed building, so we didn't freeze right after coming out of them :) The best part was the possibility to see many bird species inside the campground - we're no bird watching enthusiasts, but we were stunned by the beauty of this male Magellanc Woodpecker. We'll say goodbye with this picture of him. Until next time. :)///Nasledovnú noc sme strávili v kempe Pehoé, ktorý bol síce drahý (10 000 CLP), ale mal konečne perfektné sprchy, keďže boli v uzatvorenej budove a teda ste neumrzli hneď ako ste vyšli zo sprchy :). Pri každom kempingovom mieste bolo kryté miesto na varenie a posedenie. Ako čerešničku na torte v kempe dokumentovali lokálne vtáky a mohli sme naživo vidieť samčeka ďatľa (Male Magellanic Woodpecker). Rozlúčime sa s vami s jeho fotkou, tak teda nabudúce. :)]]
