Results: Torres del Paine National Park

The park borders Bernardo O'Higgins National Park to the west and the Los Glaciares National Park to the north in Argentine territory. Paine means "blue" in the native Tehuelche (Aonikenk) language and is pronounced PIE-neh, while Torres means "towers". It was established as a National Park in 1959. Before today's survey, have you ever heard of Torres del Paine National Park?

The park is one of the largest and most visited parks in Chile. The park averages around 252,000 visitors a year, of which 54% are foreign tourists, who come from all over the world. It is also part of the End of the World Route, a tourist scenic route. Are you familiar with the End of the World Route?

The Torres del Paine (1st and 3rd images in the survey) are the distinctive three granite peaks of the Paine Mountain range or Paine Massif. From left to right they are known as Torre d'Agostini, Torre Central and Torre Monzino. They extend up to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level and are joined by the Cuernos del Paine. Are you familiar with the Torres del Paine?

None of my travel surveys would be complete without an image of the local wildlife. Guanacos (seen in the image for this question) are one of the most common mammals found in the park. Other mammals include foxes and pumas. It is also home to the endangered Chilean Huemul (deer). The park contains breeding populations of 15 bird of prey species and two others are likely reproducing here. Among them are Andean condor, black-chested buzzard-eagle, rufous-tailed hawk, cinereous harrier, horned owl, austral pygmy-owl, to name but a few. Other birds occurring in the park include the Chilean flamingo, Darwin's rhea, coscoroba swan, black-necked swan, Magellanic woodpecker, Magellan goose, and black-faced ibis. If you had the opportunity to travel to Chile, would you like to visit this park?

Lady Florence Dixie, in her book, Across Patagonia published in 1880, gave one of the first descriptions of the area and referred to the three towers as Cleopatra's Needles. Lady Florence Caroline Dixie (née Douglas; 24 May 1855 – 7 November 1905) was a Scottish writer, war correspondent, and feminist. Are you familiar with Lady Florence Dixie's book, Across Patagonia?