BY ANDREW MARSHALL
High on the thermals the condor rides , etched black against an endless blue sky . With a wingspan of over two meters , its flight is one of effortless grace , eyes cast downward in an eternal search for carrion .
The world below is one of harsh beauty . Jagged shards of solid rock thrust skywards by monumental forces forming a chain of snowcapped mountains . On the peaks , blizzards can occur at any time of the year , giving birth to glaciers ; mammoth rivers of ice that scour deep valleys on their descent before calving giant icebergs into the numerous aquamarine lakes .
At roughly 51 degrees south , Parque Nacional Torres del Paine ( Torres del Paine National Park ) is situated at the south-eastern end of the Hielo Sur , Patagonia ’ s massive southern continental icecap , which has , with the hand of thousands of years , landscaped this incredible region of southern Chile .
For the condor we must have been easy targets to spot . In one powerful dive he sweeps down over our heads - two hikers alone in an immense wilderness , backpacks loaded with ten days ’ worth of food and all the paraphernalia needed to hike the 100-kilometer ‘ Circuit Trail ’ of the Torres del Paine National Park .
Walking the Circuit Trail anticlockwise is definitely the way to go . In this direction the days unfold , each better than the previous one . Every scenic highlight is literally thrown at the walker at the turn of a corner , or the cresting of a ridge , and always without warning .
TRAVEL OFTEN . LIVE WELL . 23