From Santiago, we flew on a 3.5-hour, early morning flight to Punta Arenas, a town in Southern Chile, to begin our Patagonia adventure (Patagonia is the southern part of South America which includes parts of both Chile and Argentina). Kelvin and I had really wanted to do an active, outdoorsy hiking trip once Niall was two (best without kids, with him at an age we felt comfortable leaving him) and had booked our itinerary almost a year ago through the reputable travel company Cascadas (and looked forward to this all year!).
We were picked up and had a near 5-hour road journey through the Patagonian steppe up La Ruta al Fin Del Mundo (road to the end of the world! Ushuaia at the southern tip of the continent is the town from where many tours to Antarctica launch) to Puerto Natales for lunch (with views of Tierra del Fuego) and then to Torres Del Paine National Park, truly one of Chile's most special places.
We saw plenty of wildlife along the way, including rhea birds, guanaco (the wild relative in the llama family), and Chilean flamencos (flamingoes), which I had no idea lived this far south or in such harsh climates as I think of them as a tropical bird! Our van was shaking in the Patagonian viento (wind) along the road and we were glad we were not hiking yet!
We stayed at EcoCamp Patagonia, which since 2001 has been a sustainable tourist's lodging dream in the eastern part of the park. We slept in a Standard geodesic dome (advertised as lacking heat or electricity, although we found out on day two that our dome actually had a functional light switch and reading light!). There was no WiFi at the camp (we were really off the grid and were praying that our kids were safe!) and we just had lots of time for reading and relaxing and great conversations with other travelers, which I loved (people who travel the world, particularly those who hike and love the outdoors like we do, are such friendly, open-minded people with lots of interesting life experiences). The camp, which boasts being carbon neutral (with solar panels and turbines making use of the high (as in up to 240 km/hr-speed Patagonia winds) has multiple standard and some more superior domes, which are cozy like hobbit houses, and are modeled after indigenous housing of the Kawesqar people. There is even a yoga dome, although I (not a yoga fan) did not participate in any sessions. There were shared (but extremely clean!) bathrooms, complete with composting toilets and biodegradable bath products, an emphasis on reusing and recycling, and delicious food (perhaps consistently the best food I´ve had in my lifetime, certainly during travel and definitely 5-star!) during our stay, including delicacies like octopus. I didn´t see a single single-use or plastic item during our whole time there, about which I was absolutely thrilled. The beds were extremely comfortable, and we were really warm at night, despite our trepidation about the nature of the glamping.
On Day 1, we joined some other guests on a guided did a 16-mile, 10-hour round-trip hike to the Tower base, one arm of the iconic W trek through the Valle del Silencio. It was grueling but so worth it! We had a lovely self-packed (in reusable lunch sacks made of limestone!) lunch at the mountain lake Lago de los Torres, which overlooked the three Torres peaks (Sur the highest although it is a bit farther away in terms of distance). You could refill your water bottles straight from the mountain streams without any need for purification or filtering. We had great views of the Paine massif (which means blue in native tongue) as we ate and we even saw glacial ice crashing down as we rested. Our legs and joints were definitely tired at the end of the day but the weather and views were exceptional. There are many other hikes in the park, including the full (few-day) W trek, which traverses the massif and the Frenchmen's valley, and another multi-day loop (the O trek) around the park, which one fellow traveler (an ultramarathoner, in fact) planned to jog!
On day 2 in Torres, we rode to the western part of the park to do a boat tour of the Lago Grey and Grey Glacier. Kelvin and I have been trying to visit many of the world´s glaciers before they cease to exist (note trip to Kilimanjaro in 2013 and trip to Iceland in 2017).
We stopped at Lago Pehoe to take some lovely reflective mountain-and-lake shots.
We then took a nautical safari to the Grey Glacier (24 x 6 km and part of the Patagonian Ice field or El Campo de Hielo Patagonico Sur).
The glacier is receeding at something like half a kilometer every few years due to climate change. We saw many icebergs in the lake, which are evidence of glacial calving and ice melting, and some of which weren´t even there a few weeks ago (per our tour guide), which is really sad. There are three tongues of Grey Glacier and while we couldn´t trek on the glacier, we got really close to see the beautiful spiky ice shapes and brilliant blue color, and even got to sample some actual glacial ice in our on-board drinks (it is very dense!).
We were picked up and had a near 5-hour road journey through the Patagonian steppe up La Ruta al Fin Del Mundo (road to the end of the world! Ushuaia at the southern tip of the continent is the town from where many tours to Antarctica launch) to Puerto Natales for lunch (with views of Tierra del Fuego) and then to Torres Del Paine National Park, truly one of Chile's most special places.
Roadsize guanaco
Windy Puerto Natales
Views into the park:
Lago Sarmiento
sheep crossing!
We stayed at EcoCamp Patagonia, which since 2001 has been a sustainable tourist's lodging dream in the eastern part of the park. We slept in a Standard geodesic dome (advertised as lacking heat or electricity, although we found out on day two that our dome actually had a functional light switch and reading light!). There was no WiFi at the camp (we were really off the grid and were praying that our kids were safe!) and we just had lots of time for reading and relaxing and great conversations with other travelers, which I loved (people who travel the world, particularly those who hike and love the outdoors like we do, are such friendly, open-minded people with lots of interesting life experiences). The camp, which boasts being carbon neutral (with solar panels and turbines making use of the high (as in up to 240 km/hr-speed Patagonia winds) has multiple standard and some more superior domes, which are cozy like hobbit houses, and are modeled after indigenous housing of the Kawesqar people. There is even a yoga dome, although I (not a yoga fan) did not participate in any sessions. There were shared (but extremely clean!) bathrooms, complete with composting toilets and biodegradable bath products, an emphasis on reusing and recycling, and delicious food (perhaps consistently the best food I´ve had in my lifetime, certainly during travel and definitely 5-star!) during our stay, including delicacies like octopus. I didn´t see a single single-use or plastic item during our whole time there, about which I was absolutely thrilled. The beds were extremely comfortable, and we were really warm at night, despite our trepidation about the nature of the glamping.
solar power
Sunrise views
On Day 1, we joined some other guests on a guided did a 16-mile, 10-hour round-trip hike to the Tower base, one arm of the iconic W trek through the Valle del Silencio. It was grueling but so worth it! We had a lovely self-packed (in reusable lunch sacks made of limestone!) lunch at the mountain lake Lago de los Torres, which overlooked the three Torres peaks (Sur the highest although it is a bit farther away in terms of distance). You could refill your water bottles straight from the mountain streams without any need for purification or filtering. We had great views of the Paine massif (which means blue in native tongue) as we ate and we even saw glacial ice crashing down as we rested. Our legs and joints were definitely tired at the end of the day but the weather and views were exceptional. There are many other hikes in the park, including the full (few-day) W trek, which traverses the massif and the Frenchmen's valley, and another multi-day loop (the O trek) around the park, which one fellow traveler (an ultramarathoner, in fact) planned to jog!
a scenic place for K's post-lunch nap
We saw some wildlife, including a hare (which we actually sampled for dinner the following day), carpinterito (mini woodpecker) and some Andean condors flying high in the sky. There are probably close to 100 pumas in the park, but we didn´t see any, nor did we see the elusive and endangered deer (huemul). We did see a few foxes, including the zorro culpeo near the EcoCamp´s reception!
carpinterito
spot the fox
condor (I think)
Horses crossing near our camp
We had to photo-document our delicious Ecocamp dinners
Pulpo (octopus)
On day 2 in Torres, we rode to the western part of the park to do a boat tour of the Lago Grey and Grey Glacier. Kelvin and I have been trying to visit many of the world´s glaciers before they cease to exist (note trip to Kilimanjaro in 2013 and trip to Iceland in 2017).
We stopped at Lago Pehoe to take some lovely reflective mountain-and-lake shots.
Kelvin's took this amazing one on his iPhone camera!!
We then took a nautical safari to the Grey Glacier (24 x 6 km and part of the Patagonian Ice field or El Campo de Hielo Patagonico Sur).
The glacier is receeding at something like half a kilometer every few years due to climate change. We saw many icebergs in the lake, which are evidence of glacial calving and ice melting, and some of which weren´t even there a few weeks ago (per our tour guide), which is really sad. There are three tongues of Grey Glacier and while we couldn´t trek on the glacier, we got really close to see the beautiful spiky ice shapes and brilliant blue color, and even got to sample some actual glacial ice in our on-board drinks (it is very dense!).
a puma-shaped iceberg!
glacial ice drinks
Torres del Paine National Park, while a bit of a challenge to get to, is one of Chile´s national treasures and we loved visiting it and hiking there! Unplugging (digital detox) and walks in nature are so good for the body, mind, and soul. We highly recommend staying and at supporting sustainable tourism at EcoCamp Patagonia if you ever get a chance!
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