This might be a long one so skip to the pictures if you’d rather… they’re beautiful!
We made it to Patagonia – probably the one place of our travels that we were most intrigued by and looking forward to.
We flew into Punta Arenas in the far south of Chilean Patagonia (3000 km from Santiago, and 1500 km from PA to Antarctica!) – and wow, it was a huge contrast from everywhere else we’d been in the last 2 months. Cold, windy and drizzly; ideal for waking up after a night of very little sleep spent at Santiago airport! We spent just half a day here before travelling onward, so we took a long stroll along the waterfront, had some excellent brunch (including guanaco sausage, a type of llama), visited the cemetery* and had a pint of Austral – claimed to be the southernmost brewery in the world!
*visiting cemeteries is not a weird morbid fetish of ours, they are top attractions in many cities in SA due to the grand mausoleums within them.
Next, we took a relatively short 3hr bus hop to Puerto Natales to our base for the next 3 days. From here, we visited Torres del Paine National Park – known as the real crown jewels of Patagonia. On our first day at the park we hiked to the base of Torres del Paine for an iconic Patagonia view. To get there we had a 30km hike which took around 8.5hrs; through a valley, forest and river and some steep rock clambering at the end to reach the top. There are 21 microclimates within the park, so we had sun, rain, wind along the way. It was a tough first hike, but the view at the end was magnificent (and well worth the Pain(e)ful hike!). Along the way we saw Chilean foxes, many guanacos and condors and we also obliviously walked by a wild puma (however did not notice this as our focus was solely on the beer at the end of the hike!).
The following day we visited all the viewpoints around the park, and we were very happy to be doing this in a warm minibus and with only short hikes! This was great as it allowed us to see the countless turquoise lakes and snow capped mountains from a different perspective. The number of postcard-perfect views of Torres del Paine is really astonishing.
Now to our next Patagonian destination and this time over the border in Argentina. A coach took us 6hrs north to El Calafate, named after a local berry which, if eaten, means that you will certainly return to Patagonia (we both ate these and so are already eagerly awaiting our next trip!). It was a pleasant, touristy town with beautiful Alpine-style buildings and lots of restaurants serving delicious barbecued lamb cooked on a pole; a Patagonia staple. We were here to see the Perito Moreno glacier, which unlike most of the Earth’s glaciers, is still advancing. We had seen photos but we weren’t prepared for the real thing which was absolutely incredible – we spent hours just staring at it in awe of the sheer size and beauty of the glacier, not to mention the occasional huge ruptures of ice. We also went on a boat tour which took us even closer to the glacier and allowed us to see it from down below and appreciate its magnitude. Standing face-to-face with a glacier felt otherworldly and will be a great highlight of our travels.
After 2 days in Calafate we were ready for our final destination of El Chaltén. A small town located within Los Glaciares National Park and surrounded by mountains with jagged peaks and plenty of walking trails. The town was only built in 1985, mainly as a way to stop Chile claiming the land but which has also become a tourist hotspot. We planned to stay for just two nights but ended up staying for five (however this meant moving between three different hostels during our stay!). We were so glad we did as it allowed us to do all the hikes we wanted to and also allowed for a day in a cozy German beerhouse to escape the torrential rain – amazing beer and apple crumble so definitely a bonus for us!
We did two big hikes, both around 25km, and a couple of short ones. Our first hike was Laguna Torre which was fairly easy and ended at a lagoon dotted with icebergs and a glacier in the background – an amazing viewpoint for our lunch break. This was nothing however when compared to our next big hike: Fitz Roy. This was a lot harder and felt like a real achievement, especially after ascending 400m in the last kilometre (so painful!). The weather was so kind to us, we were incredibly lucky to get to the top and be greeted with clear skies, making the view even more spectacular and the effort even more worthwhile. We stayed up here for a good while just taking it all in, it was so hard to leave it behind. Eventually we did though and our reward at the bottom was a nice bottle of Patagonian wine and a hearty lamb stew – perfect!
Patagonia is an incredible place and we don’t know how anywhere can top it. It really did feel like we were at the end of the world. The vast landscapes were so varied, from wide open spaces of emptiness to jaw-dropping glaciers, peaks and lakes. It was so special and easily one of the best experiences of our lives.
Josh & Lisa in South America 