On the List for a Future Trip to Patagonia

29 July 2011 by Raul Leave a Comment

Reminiscing about my trip to Patagonia and the southern tip of the Americas, I think about what I didn’t get to see… Somehow, 7 months later, Patagonia’s grasp on my mind and my spirit is still very strong. I don’t know if it is the remoteness, the “unspoiltness” (though there is tourism there), the closer-to-how-it-used-be, or just a magnificent nature landscape. But Patagonia has got hold of me. I long to return. I’d thought I’d write down those things I would have liked to have time for in case I can go back again – then all I would have to do is look up this entry and, voilá, my travel plans are ready! And perhaps help a fellow traveler or dream-of-traveler…

Towards the top of the list is that I never actually made it to Tierra del Fuego proper. I thought I was going to TdF by going to Punta Arenas but it turns out TdF is the island across the Straits of Magellan from Punta Arenas and my itinerary had me going NORTH and SOUTH of Punta Arenas but not EAST… Now, I am not sure what I would have seen there that would have been worth the trip but, definitely, I would have liked to explore it. (The thought that I went SOUTH of Punta Arenas but didn’t make it to TdF is somehow mindboggling, n’est-ce pas?)

Oway, penguins, pingüinos, Chile, Patagonia, nature, beauty, Canon EOS Rebel

Penguins in Otway, on the way to Puerto Natales from Punta Arenas

In TdF, Ushuaia would have been the thing I wanted to see the most. A few travelers told me that it was way more beautiful than Punta Arenas and I can imagine that it would be as Punta Arenas as a town was not necessarily scenic nor quaint for the most part.

While I got to navigate a fjord near Puerto Natales and saw plenty of lakes and a couple of glaciers, I would have liked to go further west and north of the area navigating fjords up the Chilean coast. THAT would be a dream. Going to TdF would be about checking it off. Going to Ushuaia would be special. But spending time up and down all those fjords… well, that would be like something.

Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile, fjords, lakes, mountains, nature, beauty, Canon EOS Rebel

View of the waterfront in Puerto Natales

And, while at it, a cruise through the southern/eastern side of the Straits of Magellan all the way down to Cabo de Hornos would have been a cool thing to do – but taking some dramamine along as I hear the waters can be quite choppy (and that may be soft-pedaling the water conditions from the stories other travelers told me…). Lowest in my priorities for this return trip but worth noting.

Finally, I would go back to the nice hotel in between Puerto Natales and Cerro Castillo called Hotel Posada 3 Pasos (http://www.hotel3pasos.cl check it out but don’t DARE tell folks about it!!) and spend a few days in the quiet and the beauty that now I understand to be the essence of Patagonia. This would be my TOP priority if I go back…

View from the grounds of Hotel 3 Pasos

Filed Under: Chile, Patagonia, South America Tagged With: Chile, Patagonia, Punta Arenas, Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia

Best of Chile Itinerary | What to See and Experience

30 March 2011 by Raul 7 Comments

Having traveled a good bit throughout Chile while visiting and working there, I’d like to share a “best of” Chile itinerary. This itinerary of what to see in Chile is geared to those with enough time to do more than a couple of days’ worth of exploring (but not boundless time either….). I elaborate on some of the places mentioned here in other posts in this blog. Therefore, I will not repeat all that content here (true, for example, for the Atacama and Patagonia bits). Now, admittedly, I did not get to see some places I hear are worth exploring, like Valdivia but I did see a good bit!

My time in Chile – or why I can offer a best of Chile itinerary

As background, I spent three months working in Chile in the early post-dictatorship days of the early 1990s, During that stint, I got to travel north AND south of Santiago during my spare time. From the beaches of La Serena to the island and volcano beauties of the area around Puerto Montt and Chiloé.

Then in 2010 I got to return to Chile to work for a year. On that year I ventured further north than I had before to the Atacama Desert. And, equally, further south to Patagonia, in an ever-expanding coverage of my experience of the natural beauty of this South American country. And, it goes without saying, a lot had changed in the country in the time between 1990/91 and 2010!

Not only was it almost twenty years in between (with a major set of economic booms with the liberalized economic model implemented in the 1980s), but also a real evolution. From a timid way of living (from needing to mind curfews and the like during part of that period) to a more free and lively society reveling in the democratic and economic success that is Chile – the Switzerland of South America (or is Switzerland the Chile of Europe perhaps??).

Valley of the Moon, Valle de la Luna, Chile, Atacama, desert, desierto, mountain, color, purple, photo, Canon EOS Rebel

The Valle de la Luna is one of the key sights in the Atacama Desert

The diversity of Chile’s lands

Chile offers a wide range of scenery as it runs a long way in the latitude dimension. Therefore, the climates along the country vary significantly – a climate zone for every preference! The presence of the Andes clearly has a major effect in the climate. It also provides a great backdrop to many of the places you should visit and experience in the country. Heck, sometimes the Andes are not just the backdrop but part of what you will explore! The terrain in Chile varies from coastal plains or cliffs (lush to arid) to the big wall that are the Andes. Fjords, hot deserts, glaciers and islands complete the diversity of landscapes that make up Chile.

View from la Cueva del Milodón in Patagonia

A trip to Chile typically starts of in Santiago (SCL), its capital. However, one can enter the country over land from any of the neighboring countries (that would be Perú, Bolivia or Argentina) in places like the Atacama Desert, Pucón, the lake district, or Patagonia. In terms of flying, from the U.S., a flight to Santiago can be from 9 hours upwards. From Buenos Aires, a little over 2 hours to fly in. And from Europe, well, longer.

Atacama, desert, Chile, vista, view, photo, Canon EOS Rebel

In the Atacama Desert, near the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon)

My best of Chile itinerary

If you really want to see the range of what Chile has to offer, a good itinerary would include these 7 destinations:

– San Pedro de Atacama and nearby sites of interest like salt lakes, geysers, and moon-like landscapes (4-7 days); a two-hour flight from Santiago plus an hour ride by bus or car

– Pucón and the Villarica area (3-4 days) with volcanoes, fast rivers, lakes and lots of green; I did it on a long 10-11 hour drive – LONG!

– Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego including Torres del Paine National Park, fjords, islands, glaciers, penguins and the like (5-10 days); a direct flight from Santiago would be about 4 hours nonstop; though there are flight that stop in Puerto Montt (without changing planes) that split the flight in half

– Santiago (a city is a city is a city but I find it worth exploring) (2-4 days) with its diversity of food, neighborhoods, nature

– Valparaíso – check out its “elevators” or foniculares and add on nearby Viña del Mar and nearby beaches – though having grown up in the tropics, they don’t rank up there in my book!) (2 days tops, 1 day is doable); a little over an hour drive from Santiago – easy

– Puerto Montt, the Lake District, perhaps even doing the crossing of the lakes to South America’s best known ski resort town in Argentina: San Carlos de Bariloche, and crossing over to the island Chiloé (4-8 days); Puerto Montt is a 2 hour and change flight from Santiago; from Bariloche, one can either turn around and go back to Puerto Montt or fly to Buenos Aires

– Mendoza (OK, this is Argentina but it is almost on Chile and easier to get to from Santiago than from anywhere else!) – wine country is just less than 40 mins away by plane and dirt cheap if you buy the plane ticket from WITHIN Chile (2-3 days). Mendoza is also the gateway for Mount Aconcagua, the tallest mountain outside of the Himalayas, I believe.

Puerto Natales, Chile, Patagonia, Canon EOS Rebel

A typical house in Puerto Natales, the closest town to Torres del Paine

Readers, please feel free to add to the list, comment on the destinations mentioned, or provide other perspectives. Make your suggestions to expand this best of Chile itinerary. I, by no means, saw EVERYTHING Chile has to offer and wish I could say I did. I’d enjoy receiving more reasons to go back!

Pin these images to your travel board, create your own Chile itinerary, and then head to Chile!

Filed Under: Chile, South America Tagged With: chile itinerary, chile vacation ideas, exploring chile, lake district, Mendoza, Patagonia, places to visit in Chile, pucon, South America vacation ideas, Tierra del Fuego, what to see in Chile

A Long Trip to Get to a Glacier

26 December 2010 by Raul 8 Comments

The first time I heard about the Perito Moreno glacier was back in 1991 when an Argentinian friend mentioned having gone there and it being “espectacular!” as Argentines are prone to say when they like something enough. I finally got to visit it but, in doing my research, I was surprised at its location, well inland in Argentina – I had expected it to be near the ocean closer to Tierra del Fuego.

I had to get to the glacier from Chilean Patagonia which meant a long bus ride from Puerto Natales to El Calafate, the main town right outside the ice fields that give rise to the glacier. It took about 4 hrs or so to get to El Calafate and that included a stop at Argentinian immigrations/customs; faithful to expectations, a slow process and rather rudimentary baggage check with some luggage opened on the road and a sniffing dog walking ON (not around) the open luggage. At that border point, we entered the Santa Cruz province which many say is the personal fiefdom of the presidential couple (now just the wife since he passed away). I am not sure if that is the case or not but the place is certainly vast.

The more one gets away from the border with Chile, the flatter the land becomes. The scenery is impressive but then you get a few hours of that same landscape and I quickly dozed off to make up for the early pickup time (around 7AM).

The bus was full of passengers. Most of them were just getting off in El Calafate which seems to serve as a base for backpackers and other travelers but a few of us stayed on to be taken to the glacier, another 1.5 hrs away. Oh and the bus had its share of people who stank but, mercifully, they were towards the front of the bus and I, being the last one picked up on the road from Puerto Natales, got to sit all the way in the back. I guess the Northern Hemisphere folks in the front of the bus thought that being on vacation meant skipping on those showers for a couple of days. Joy.

So, the bus ride was long and tedious. But what about the main attraction, the glacier? Well, one quickly realizes one is facing a monumental piece of ice! The glacier is almost kissing the peninsula directly across from it. When the “kiss” is “deep”, the glacier splits the water body in front of it in two. I hear this is the only place in the world where that happens. After a few years of the deep kiss, the water level rises on one of the sides of the glacier and pressure builds up such that the kiss is broken up. When I went, there was a very small bridge left between the glacier and the peninsula.

The kiss

The glacier’s front walls are monumentally high. Nothing helps one get this than seeing large boats come close to the glacier for a close-up. The glacier is constantly making noises as it moves and shifts and, every 15 minutes or so, a piece of ice (usually small) would break off and fall in the water making a good deal of noise.

The park has been very nicely prepared for the tourists with recently built walkways meandering down the peninsula’s face. There used to be a concrete path but one clearly sees the difference of being in a nicely built walkway vs. the more rudimentary concrete path that one can still see from the walkway. There are different paths to follow and one can go as far as one wants or stay as close to the carpark as one wants. One can see both “faces” of the glacier from most of the walkways so one doesn’t have to risk missing that falling piece of ice!

Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia near El Calafate, Argentina

Great walkways (& lots of stairs!) allow getting close up to the glacier – espectacular, ché!

I feel like something is sneaking up behind me… – portrait of the blogger as a young man

El Calafate was not much of a town but one could do some shopping down the main street. We hear that in winter there is nothing much to do. Our guide told us she read a lot and went ice skating on the part of the lake/bay that freezes. Unfortunately, my time there was limited so I could not discover any hidden gems. I had not budgeted staying a night there (which was probably a good thing) so I hopped back on the bus to ride all the way back to Puerto Natales. But I am happy to report that the bus was mostly empty, and most importantly, free of funny smells 🙂

I have no better way of describing how the vastness and general flatness of the land (it wasn’t 100% flat) that in this image I have of the Patagonian sky: sky in 3-D. Somehow, one gets a sense of multiple layers of clouds as one stares out and scans the sky. Perhaps it is the same anywhere else but I have never noticed this until this trip. I felt validated when later a fellow traveler made the same observation (minus the “3-D” part)…

Patagonia landscape at sunset in Argentina

The long flat road ahead

The vastness of Patagonia

Certainly, the trip from Puerto Natales was way too long for a day trip and, while El Calafate didn’t seem interesting enough for me, spending the night there would have been better for my body. However, I will say get to see Perito Moreno however you have to as it will be worth your while!