Southern Chile: Torres Del Paine, Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas

Torres Del Paine
We flew from Santiago to Punta Arenas and took a 3 hour bus ride to Puerto Natales. We rented the backpacking gear that we needed (i.e. trekking poles, backpack, sleeping mats, tent, sleeping bag, etc.) for our 5 day "W" trek at the famous Torres Del Paine. However, if I had to do it all over again, these are my suggestions:

1. If you are renting gear, try to at least bring your own sleeping bag (for correct size if you think you need a bigger one) and backpack (for correct size).

2. If you are thinking of renting everything know that it does get expensive when you add it all up so it might be worth it to pay a little more to stay in the refugios and just bring a day pack or day pack with food (then skip the overpriced mediocre refugio meals) so that you don't have to carry so much weight.

I have to say I was surprised that we all made the trek without any serious hardships. I trekked ~33 miles over 3 days with possibly close to 40 lbs. on my back. It was quite windy in some areas (my friend got blown over 2x into the bushes with his pack on), but we were thankful that the rain came mostly at night while I was in my tent and there was little snow.

1st Day: Ferry Ride across beautiful lake, hiked 8 hours to see Glacier Grey, and returned close to 10pm for the sunset. Camped at Refugio Grey.

Sunset


Who can ask for a better view at a campsite???
Day 2: Bridge Crossing and the water was refreshingly tasty at our various fill up stops. Went to the French Valley to see the avalanches from afar. Didn't make it to the refugio and mirador as it was snowing and windy. Stayed at Campo Italiano.
Day 3: Winds were exceptionally strong which caused extreme mist to kick up from the lake. Cool phenomenon!


But I was getting blown away as we walked past part of the lake during our hike.
We made it to Hotel Torres and our campground Torres. Lots of horses at the Hotel Torres towards the end of the "W" hike.

Day 4: Unfortunately, we could not see the 3 towers of Torres Del Paine from our campground as it was super cloudy and we heard it was snowing on the hike up there. Therefore, some of us opted not to go, but spent a relaxing day watching the horses graze around the hotel grounds and played foosball.





Day 5: The weather started to clear up and we could see the 3 towers from our campground and as we left to go back to Pto. Natales. What a treat!



Puerto Natales

Foodies

-Picada de Carlitos- Order cordero (lamb) which you will see it displayed in the restaurant as they grill it and slice it. It is super tender. The parrillada was mediocre with a couple tough meats.

Sleep

- Erratic Rock (the original) was cozy with lots of employees ready to help and share with you their personal takes on how best to see Torres Del Paine. Tiny bathrooms. The homemade American breakfast by the owner was delicious.

-Austral Glacier had nice beds. Huge bathrooms with tubs. Just note that they like to keep their front door unlocked and it was not supervised when I stayed there. Also even though they have two showers they cannot be used at the same time unless you want to take a cold shower!

Both hostels do not give you bedroom keys as they feel their hostels are pretty safe to stay at. So just be cautious.

Punta Arenas

Foodies

-La Fábrica- Seems like lots of people go in to buy their homemade pastries like croissants. We didn’t try it. But the pizza here was reminiscent of a good American pizza. However, I have liked Chile’s gourmet takes on pizza which often comes with thin crust and a multitude of uncommon toppings and seasonings.

-Don Maria?- This restaurant is 2-3 blocks from the port where we also found a couple “fancy” seafood restaurants (but affordable), but this place was more economical and the waiter was hilarious as he tried to use and learn English. The egg on fish, the slightly spicy seafood sauce with fish and cream of asparagus soup were all good.

-Chocolatta- The fudge and hot chocolate in this warm café was worth the trek across town from our hostel. It’s near La Fábrica.

Sleep

-Independencia Hospedaje- This place was 5.000CLP/pp. From the outside, it looks like it is in shambles in a mediocre neightboorhood on the outskirts of the centro. However, we loved the new shower that was installed and I think you can do laundry there, but we did not ask about it. The place feels like home with 4 computers to use for Internet access. The owner, Eduardo, was helpful and chill. He seems to be an outdoors kind of guy.

To Do

-Cementary on the outskirts of town. Various types of tombstones and elaborate decorations.

Rows and rows of bookshelf-like tombs.

One of the many memorials recognizing those who had died or had been executed during the Pinochet era.

Tall columns- people who had been executed

Short columns- people who had disappeared

-Church

-Historical buildings all around town. Some you can pay a small entry fee to see (many are near the central plaza) and others you can just read the plaque on their wall outside.

- Mirador- easy stair hike for a view of the town.

- Musem- There is a cultural/history museum that everyone recommended but we didn’t go.

- Hiking- There is a park nearby which we tried to walk to, but ended up at Club Andino when the nice gentleman that we hitched a ride with told us that we were going the wrong direction and dropped us off at what is usually a ski resort in the winter, but good for hikes and mountain biking after the snow melts. It was a cloudy day when we went, but we think we saw Tierra Del Fuego from the highest point.

Note: We still encountered snow on our hike, but it was minimal. The snow in the south has been like little pellets of ice and will appear even when it seems sunny outside.

Seno Otway- We chose to go to Seno Otway instead of Isla Magdalena to see the penguins (which are the same ones that migrate to Brasil) because it was cheaper, closer, and we were under time constraints. We split a taxi to get there around 2 or 3pm, which was the time that some of the penguins were getting out of the water to dry off and waddle their way back home. All guided tours get there after 4pm as there are more penguin sightings as they walk back home. They were very cute but few at the time that we went. You can also take a tour at 8am with a few companies but don't know how many penguins you will see then.