Punta Arenas, Chile

Today was a different day, glorious sunshine and blue sky. It was a bit of a ‘filler’ day due to the bus mix up but still enjoyed wandering around. Headed to the cemetery first, great mix of interesting graves from the wealthy marble domes to the apartment style I’d seen in Santiago all decorated with pictures, flowers and momentos. We also walked the whole shoreline, tons of birds flock to the old piers including Cormorants. Justin even spotted a pod of porpoise playing off the far end. Strolled back via a shopping mall (terrible but lots of duty free) and a coffee shop to recharge. Slow, easy day that was finished off with King Crab lasagna at La Cuisine, which was amazing. Earlyish night at our creaky hostel ready for our early bus.

Punta Arenas, Chile

We said goodbye to Suzie at 7am as she set off to catch her bus to El Calafate, Argentina. We then set about breakfasting and loading the car ready for the trip back to Punta Arenas. It was a really dreary day, not bad for a travel day though. Enjoyed the flat landscape and spotting the same animals we had on the way up – Darwin’s rhea (bit like an Ostrich), birds of prey and of course the flamingos which I insisted on photographing despite the cold wind. The were all huddled up with heads tucked in, can’t help but wonder if they just took a wrong turn such a strange place to see them! Found the hostel Bustamante easily and sorted the return of the hired car without issue, and boy was it filthy. Dropped some laundry off for tomorrow pick up, can feel prices starting to rise as we head south (laundry is still done on weight but what was 8000 pesos in Santiago is now 22000 pesos). We strolled around the main town, which is surprisingly nice as it clearly has had wealth with big colonial style buildings framing the main square. One such building is now a museum and we were able to wander through early 20th century living with many furnishings from Europe. Love that the newspaper here is called ‘el penguino’. Dinner was lovely this evening, La marmita, where I enjoyed some fish and veggies, definitely been living too much off meat, bread and cheese based meals.

Puerto Natales, Chile

Today was rainy, more so than expected so we woke late and headed back to Puerto Natales. We managed to sort tickets with Buses Pacheco from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia at the bus station here. It will be a Sunday trip as we couldn’t find a company for the Saturday. Not too much of an issue other than forfeiting a night’s accommodation and I hope Punta Arenas is more interesting than I initially read as we have a full day extra there. Spent the afternoon eating cake whilst catching up on the blog. Dinner was at Cafe Kaiken, roast lamb washed down with Chilean red! Last night with Suzie before she heads to Argentina was a great excuse for a nice meal.

Torres del Paine, Chile

We hoped to be on the trail for 9am today, so woke early to get on the road. They proved bumpier than usual so we made it to the start by 10am, at Las torres hotel. Our epic hike wound its way up a steep incline and into the Ascencio valley which followed a river up into the main massif. First stop about 2 hours in was Chileno lodge, reasonable time and much amusement to be had looking at some of the rucksack sizes of people setting out on the ‘W’- not regretting my decision to do day hikes at all! An hour on and after enjoying lush forest with straight thin trunks and numerous waterfalls we were at Torres ranger station. We took the decision not to do the 1km up boulder scramble to the base of the towers, me because I was not sure I could do 2 hours on top of my 3 hour return and justin because of the cloud. We knew we wouldn’t see anything at the top, Suzie set off though whilst we turned back. We made good time back, where Suzie did an excellent sprint coming in about 30mins after us. On the trip back in drizzly rain we reflected on how lucky we had been on our trip with weather and order of hikes. Light bar meal with a Chilean red put me into another exhausted but happy sleep.

Torres del Paine, Chile

It’s Valentine’s Day and not a card in sight, I do however wake to glorious sunshine, the promise of 20degree heat and more epic views. The accommodation wasn’t so bad, will help if it is cheaper as I seem to be consistently over my daily budget… We scooted around to our nice hotel with the promise of a free breakfast, big buffet style feast to line our stomachs. Today we headed to the north east of the park, hadn’t quite realised how big the park is as we endured 2hrs of bumpy roads to the start point. The scenery is amazing though, with aqua blue lakes reflecting the main central massif in all its glory. The layers of rock are fascinating, and we spotted first one then herds of guanacos (type of llama) dancing around. As we hit the west side we had fabulous views of the famous Towers of Paine, three sheer vertical granite tombstone panels that seem huge. We checked into the rangers station and then started the 6hour hike by skirting round Laguna Azul through forest until we reached Lagos Cebolla before coming back. I loved this walk, with my hired poles I seemed to fly back which was awesome considering how hot it was getting. We bumped our way back with fingers crossed for our night’s accommodation, needn’t have worried as we got our room upgrade, free drink, free chocolates, then free dinner….oh, and no charge for last nights accommodation! Result! This is still the most expensive place we will stay, but as I sank into some nice sheets after a days hike, I didn’t begrudge a penny.

Torres del Paine, Chile

Puerto Natales to the Torres Del Paine National park south entrance is about 2 hours, good road till you hit the park and then it is a gravelly, juddery path throughout. I am slightly worried that the Renault symbol might not make it! We had reviewed the map and reckoned we could get into the park, see some views and do about 3 hours of hiking. The views in the perfect weather were stunning, we kept stopping to take pictures and marvel at how vivid the blue lake waters are. First stop was a waterfall, Salto grande, where the water pounded itself over rocks creating a rainbow in the sun. We had been warned about wind speeds but the 70kph were phenomenal and it was a lot of fun staying upright, thank goodness I had hired walking poles. It was about an hour along the lake to visit Mirador Cuernos, the viewpoint across the immense, turquoise Nordernskjöld lake to the ‘horns’ of Paine. These formations are fascinating, the winds must swirl round creating these more pointed parts. Back down was more wind jostling fun! I had really enjoyed that walk as a start and was ready for a shower, when Suzie suggests another short walk to make the most of the day. Toro lake lookout walk was basically a climb up a rock face, only 45minutes but straight up! Epic vista at the top of the park laid out below. We spotted a huge Condor flying overhead as we came down. Gosh that was tough, I am hoping the following day hikes are more balanced. Totally ready for a shower and rest now, our hotel tonight is expensive due to lack of availability when we booked 5 months ago but should mean a decent bed! We were just on the edge of the park and the shores of the Rio Serrano. On arrival there seemed to have been an IT error and they could not find our reservation, I was pretty worried that as it was high season we wouldn’t find a bed! The hotel were good about resolving as best as they could, we ended up with a free night in the Hotel Tyndell next door and then could have a superior room in the original hotel for 2 nights. The cabana was pretty basic for the night, Justin and I enjoyed spaghetti with grouper fish for dinner. We decided not to do the big hike to the base of the towers tomorrow as we could get an earlier start on Wednesday.

Puerto Natales, Chile

Set off from our hotel, after a small breakfast (still full from last night!) with obligatory nuclear orange juice. We returned our Kia serrato to the hire guys and caught a budget flight south to Punta Arenas. Picked up a simple Renult symbol from friendly Adolfo and put the pedal to the floor all the way to Puerto Natales. The winds are immense on this stretch of Patagonia and it was a mainly barren/flat landscape all the way. The trees were cool, all raggedy, covered in litchen and unsurprisingly often showing some serious leaning away from the wind. It was fun to see animals, would you believe the first animals we saw were flamingos? Crazy that they are hardy enough for this weather and their legs don’t break. Spent the evening doing laundry, hiring walking poles, grabbing tons of hike snacks, planning our assault on Torres del Paine, oh and trying to work out how we get a bus on our next stage….seems they are not scheduled on a saturday….any of them!

Chiloe, Chile

Woke in our dome, which was a tad chilly this morning. Breakfast of eggs and avocado on toast whilst enjoying the river views on this cloudy day. Today I wanted to see some of the wooden structures that Chiloè is famous for. The churches of Chiloé are unique in style to this archipelago and are Unesco heritage protected sites. They are made entirely in native timber with wood shingles, built from materials to resist the humid and rainy oceanic climate. They date back to the 18th and 19th centuries when Chiloé Archipelago was still a part of Spain so a mix of influences. The island has over 140 churches today, all following this style but decorated in different ways. There are 16 on the heritage list, mainly in the central part of the island, so we set off on our route north back to the mainland via a couple. First was the Church of Nercòn just south of Castro. The Church was constructed around 1890, from cypress and larch wood. It has a tower that stretches 25 metres high which we climbed up into. The arched long roof is constructed as you would a wooden boat and the upright wooden columns are painted to look like marble. We took a road out past the colourful Palafitos, houses on stilts that sit over the water. Then back in central Castro, and getting to grips with paying a street parking attendant, we found the Church of San Francisco located on one side of the Plaza de Armas. This huge wooden structure is really intricately put together inside and then clad on the outside in a kind of embossed tin. It is yellow with different patterns around windows and other details. Further up the island we visited Dalcahue and the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our lady of sorrows) which was built at the end of the 19th century. It has a pretty white and blue facade, and then a sky blue interior ceiling. We strolled around Dalcahue which sits on the river looking at native art stalls, I would have loved a blanket but the rucksack is a tight fit as it is! We headed back north on the island, scooted through Ancud before deciding not to stop and hopping on the ferry to Puerto Montt. The hotel was ok, but I scored mega points on food this evening. I found Cotele restaurant a short walk away, they only served 3 cuts of beef. You chose your size as they cut it off in front of you before cooking to perfection over a central spit fire. The chef actually worked with a torch to ensure it was perfect. It was amazing, a perfect Camere red wine and a ribeye steak you would dream of! The host was South African, so happy to chat and explain some of the Chilean culture.

Chiloe, Chile

We feasted on hostal breakfast with smashing homemade raspberry jam (they really have tons of raspberries here, very popular fruit). Hiked to the car with our bags and set off for Chiloè island. This was about 2 hours south, then a ferry before another 2 hours to our destination of Park National Chiloè. I was keen to try and maximise our days as you could easily just drive all day in this part of the world. The ferry across was great, about 20minutes but we saw seals playing nearby and Justin may have seen a dolphin? The drive on the other side took us through Castro, the main town and past our accommodation. Park National Chiloè is about two thirds of the way down the island and on the west coast. We abandoned our car on the verge and set off on one of the trails. It is clearly a popular walking spot for families, we completed a loop in the forest where we saw native tepel trees, ferns and massive fushia hedges. The second loop took us to the west and took in a viewpoint of the Pacific beach. Amazingly wide, could imagine a great horse race along it! Back in the car we set off to find tonight’s accommodation, met our host in the turn off on the steep drive (this car is really taking in all terrains) and as we climbed up we could see the wooden dome that was home tonight. It was a fantastic place to stay, epic views and a log burner so we elected to wrestle the Castro traffic to a supermarket so we could eat at home. Great steak salad and wine was enjoyed by all as we watched night set in over the water below.

Petrohue, Chile

Justin and I went out for breakfast today, as this has tended to be my biggest meal each day, I felt no shame in gorging on salmon/cream cheese croissant followed by bacon and eggs, all washed down with real coffee at Cassis restaurant! Felt ready so we set off for our road trip south which begins today with five hours through the los Lagos region to Puerto Varas. Pucon was the usual traffic chaos that I feel might be caused by pedestrians having priority to cross, great for people but just stops flow of cars. I didn’t want to waste the day without an adventure so added a detour to Petrohué. The book claimed this was the prettiest lake to view so we felt it should be the highlight of the day. It was! It was amazing, we looked out at Todos los Santos Lake and the mountains in awe. Really loved the Petrohué River, a short distance downstream which was a bright blue and roared over rocks in a dramatic fashion. I felt this is what Canada might look like. Ended the day in Puerto Varas, after a few loops of the one way system to find our hostal. Beautiful sunset reflecting on Volcano.