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Published: December 1st 2023
We premedicated with ibuprofen Wed night after the big hike, so we were actually not too sore on Thurs. We weren't sure how we'd feel though, so we had booked a horseback trail ride. It left at 9:15 am. We didn't know at the time of booking, but it left from the same place that we started the big Mirador hike. So we got to make that drive twice, but this time we got to sleep in an extra hour.
We left the Airbnb at 7am, all packed up again, and started back on the same long empty drive to the park. We made pretty good time and didn't have long to wait when we got to the Hotel Las Torres. Our horseback tour had a few other people: an old Australian woman who thought this entire trip would be a great time to practice her Spanish and kept trying to get everyone to only talk to her in Spanish (her Spanish was not that great), and another couple of women who we think were lesbians (and I think loaded - banker from NYC and "didn't know" how much the hotel cost. It was $800/night when we had looked).
On the trail
We weren't allowed to use our phones and ride, so there are only a few pics when we were stopped and allowed to take picsWe met up with our guide Felipe, who got us outfitted with helmets and gaiters, and we got loaded onto our horses. You ride with both reins in one hand in Argentina (like Western cowboys). The older lady said she had some experience, but she really struggled with the concept of reins in one hand and kept yanking on her horse to get him to go different directions. Something else that we thought was a little unusual was that when the horse pees (which sounds like a faucet below you) you're supposed to stand up in the stirrups.
It was a very fun and beautiful ride through different trails than what we had hiked the day before, with a nice view of one of the many lakes there at one point, Lake Nordenskjöld. I got a horse that wanted to be last in line and was not interested in listening to me when I gently asked him to move up with my heels (as instructed). I spent most of the tour at the back of the line while John and Jamison were up at the front. It's ok though - I could hear things when the guide said them,
and there was another guide back there with me. This tour was more focused on the riding than on education, but he did throw out a few facts. Like the area used to have a lot more trees, then about 10 years ago someone lit their toilet paper on fire and burned the whole forest down. Now there are very strict rules about where to camp and have fires in the park.
It was not a flat trail ride. There were a lot of steep uphills and downhills, some with unsure footing, but the horses handled it like champs (I'm sure they do that so often they can do it in their sleep). We also crossed a couple of sizeable streams, which was a first for me. And towards the end there was a part we could try to gallop! I say try because my horse only got to a trot, but at least he went faster than a walk.
It was a fun tour! About 2-3 hours of riding start to finish. The horses there seem extremely well-cared for, and there's only one tour per day with about 4-7 people. They have a lot of horses at
the stables, but we learned that, depending on temperament, their horses are either designated for guests, guides, or pack horses. Remember that restaurant that was partway up the mountain? That's how they get the supplies there. The horses also have a medical person on site for them who does frequent checks. There's a ton of space for them to graze and wander when not working. Not a bad life for a horse I'd think.
After the horse tour we stayed for lunch in the hotel. Happy Thanksgiving! I had something a little unique and local, and it was huge and filling! Just like Thanksgiving. We've had amazing food on this trip, which I think is one of the things Chile is known for.
We had a long drive to our next destination, so we jumped in the car and hit the road just after lunch. Next stop, Argentina!
We had decided on renting a car early on, and it certainly made things a lot easier. It's possible to do the whole thing by bus and cab, but that seems to add a serious extra layer of complexity. The car was about $650 for the week from a
local car rental guy in Punta Arenas (tack on an extra $100 for papers to go to Argentina and another $100 for insurance because renting from those small places isn't always covered by credit card rental insurance). Very worth it. We were worried about driving, but it was easy for us. I will say that we were extremely lucky that the rental guy had nice new cars. He gave us a brand new 2023 truck with like 2k miles on it! Too bad it was just a dinky 2L engine, but it was enough to do what we needed, including passing a lot of cars on the endless 2 lane highways.
The Torres del Paine park straddles Argentina and Chile, but we don't think there was a way to drive North straight up to El Calafate, our next stop. So we had to go back down South then cut across to Argentina, then drive North and around. The Argentina border crossing was ridiculously easy at midday on a Thursday in a rural area. We had to stop first at the border to leave Chile (everyone get out, go inside, show passports) then again a mile up at another building
Thanksgiving lunch!
That corn thing in front of me was so good! Their burgers were pretty good. But dang that was a crazy expensive lunch. to get stamped in to Argentina. No stamp in the passports unfortunately though. But the whole process was like 20 min, if that.
We drove through Esperanza, Argentina next, which is possibly the windiest city in the world (on both our stops there it was nuts!!). It's the perfect point for gas, and avoids an awful dirt road "shortcut" that Google tries to send people on, but we had been warned about by car rental guy. From there it was a little less than 2 hours to get to El Calafate. Along the way we had seen scattered sheep, horses, and guanacos (like llamas) on the plains. As we approached the city, it was mostly dead guanacos by the side of the road (we assume hit by cars) or hanging from barbed wire fencing along the whole road. It was a macabre sight, and we never got a solid explanation for it. One guy said it was because they are not very good on the ice, and when it was ice, they got stuck then melted. I don't buy it because most of them looked pretty fresh. But apparently hunting them is illegal, so I'm still not sure.
Trails
This was a great map of the overview of the trails in the park! We chose El Calafate (pronounced ca-lah-FAH-tay) because it's the best jumping off point for our last major event: the Perito Merino glacier tour. It's also a very popular city for many backpackers. It had an easy downtown strip with all the main shops and restaurants, and all within walking distance of our hotel!
We had quite the trouble with this hotel during booking the week before. There are no big chains in the town, only small hotels and Airbnbs, same as in Punta Arenas. We wanted to stay close to downtown, so that narrowed our choices down significantly. We chose Hotel Kalken, but because their website was absolutely horrendous, I booked it for us through Expedia. About an hour after booking it, we received notification from the glacier sales company (also third party because it was cheaper), that the date we booked for the tour was not available. We would need to find a different date for the tour and shift our plans slightly. I immediately tried to change our dates through Expedia (our hotel was changeable but not cancellable) but they said there were no rooms. We called the hotel (no easy feat) and they said they did
La Zorra
In El Calafate. Best chicken sandwich ever! have rooms. A few back and forths with them and Expedia, and here's where we stand:
EXPEDIA IS AWFUL AND I WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN. I have a dispute open with my credit card, we shall see (update from Nov 28, Amex has agreed with me based on my supporting documentation, but Expedia has until Feb to submit a rebuttal). We booked a SECOND reservation directly through the terrible hotel website for the correct dates, which ended up being much cheaper than the first one anyway (more on that to come). Expedia can go fly a kite. Also, since the hotel cancelled the rest of our first reservation after we didn't show for the first night, I'm betting Expedia just pockets the rest of that money, which was A LOT. I later found out that Expedia and Hotels.com are owned by the same parent company. Sounds about right since my only other big credit card dispute was with Hotels.com around 2015 for about $2-3k for their failure to cancel my hotel reservation correctly (and then they sent me very detailed information for another random person's booking and personal information - some HUGE problems with privacy and
Very unique urinals!
Inside La Zorra brewery. Creative! security in their systems). So now I will avoid both Expedia and Hotels.com in the future, and I recommend everyone else do the same.
The hotel was also not accommodating or easy to work with. Between that and a laundry list of small and medium problems, we all decided we wouldn't stay there again if given the choice. (Lock on our door didn't work, John's window opened right to the ground/sidewalk with flimsy unsecured shutters, outlets were so loose the plug didn't stay in, and checkout is at 10am (!?!?)). The biggest issue with the room that we had was that we were visiting during springtime to a place that's usually very cool. Much like the Pacific Northwest, no one has air conditioning. I get that. But with very little breeze on a couple of nights and the HEAT on in the hotel, it was sweltering. And no fans. They've apparently gotten that complaint/suggestion before, because when I asked at the front desk and he said they didn't have fans, he told me that they've been given that suggestion before, but no one has acted on it. It was loud and bright with the windows and blinds open (dusk
So many dogs
On the street of El Calafate. This one posed like this for like 30 seconds. So cute! is at 10:30pm) and it wasn't all that cool out anyway. So much for relaxing in our downtime and sleeping in! (It wasn't all bad - they did have easy parking, great location, an ok free breakfast, and amazing water pressure, which can strip the skin off bones with both heat and psi).
We got in right around dinner time, so after settling in, we took off for our first Argentinian meal. It's deceiving how late it is because of how long it stays light. We ended up eating around 8-9 the first night, and it just got later from there. We walked the whole main downtown strip, and settled on a cute place at the very end called La Zorra (The Fox). It would become our favorite place there! We were bummed they didn't sell sweatshirts (just so-so t-shirts). It was a brewery with seriously amazing pub food. Possibly the best chicken sandwich any of us have ever had. The beer was great too! It was packed with locals and visitors every time we went down there. One of the great things about staying downtown is that after dinner we had a nice walk back to the hotel.
More dogs
A lot of them have collars, but still live on the street. I'm confused... By the end of the 3rd day, I was actually starting to recognize the dogs! Perfect to help things settle before going to bed! What a hard schedule it would be if living down there- eat dinner late then go right to bed. That can't be good for you...
And that was our travel day! We were exhausted from 3 early and long days (really, every single day so far including travel) so we sacked out (though still tough when you're hot and there's no fan). If going to Patagonia in their spring, plan to bring/buy a fan for the hotel if they don't have one (none of our stops had AC or fans, we just got lucky in half of the other places). It wasn't as bad, but it was warm in Punta Arenas at night also. But we were grateful not to have to repack our bags for 3 full days! Just a day of relaxing ahead of us.
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Antoinette L Cassler
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Sounds more primitive than I thought it would be. Great adventure!
Almost as "different" as my trip to Indonesia! Also not AC and very hot!