At various times the two gas stations in El Calafate were either out of gas at one or both stations. We were able to keep at least a half of a tank, and on Sunday night, January 8th we were able to fill up the tank before we turned our Avis rental car back in.


On Monday, January 9th, we began the third part of our trip by transferring via a private shuttle to Torres del Paine National Park, Chile and staying at the Hosteria Las Torres for the next four nights. We almost did not make it to Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. In late December a hiker decided to burn his toilet paper and 100,000 acres of burnt park later, they were finally able to put the fire out. We were able to travel into the eastern part of the park and stay at Hosteria Las Torres, however all the planned day trips into the western part of the park to see Lago Grey, Glaciar Grey, Cuernos del Paine, and Salto Grande Waterfalls were canceled because that part of the park remained closed until the day we had to leave.


See the map of Torres del Paine National Park, courtesy of Gobierno De Chile, Ministerio De Agricultura CONAF. Highlighted in light red is the Hosteria Las Torres where we stayed.