Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales - Southern Patagonia

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Saturday 21st - Thursday 26th January 2023

Dropping below the cloud line as we came into land, we got our first real glimpse of what we’d imagined Patagonia to look like; huge deep fjords sitting low between mountains reaching up into the sky, topped with snow and dotted between smaller mounds of rocky earth which levelled out to plateaus covered in towering green trees, all with a deep blue sea in the background, stretching endlessly into a hazy horizon. We’d made it to the end of the world (well, almost!) and it looked beautiful.

Punta Arenas, capital of the southernmost region of Chile, is the coldest coastal city and one of the most southerly ports in the world, serving as a gateway to the Antarctic, and I can confirm, it is definitely colder down here! Dropping our bags at the hostel, we wrapped up in our warm jackets and hats and went exploring in the cold wind, feeling thankful we haven’t come in winter. Still morning, our minds were thinking of coffee, and, having walked through long, straight, very quiet roads, we were surprised to find a very busy and bustling cafe. Warm and smelling good, with friendly staff, we instantly felt at ease here and enjoyed a really good coffee.

Peeling ourselves away from the comfort we continued to explore Punta Arenas in the fresh sea breeze and now, thankfully, a warm sun. We walked along rows of almost deserted streets, past big old colonial style buildings and smaller shack like houses, saw a few monuments, visited a couple of museums, found another large cemetery named as one of the most beautiful in the world with its rows of cypress trees, and enjoyed walking along by the sea. We liked it here but, whilst it felt safe enough, there was a slightly odd vibe about the place, with a few fast cars whizzing around the quiet blocks and a fair few young people just hanging about on corners; hmmmmm.

The following day we joined the many, many other tourists on one of the tours that most people come to Punta Arenas for; to see some penguins! Magdalena island is a protected island full of many different sea birds, most famous for the Magellanic Penguins, who nest on this island every year after months at sea. The clearly guided path takes you round a small circuit where you can watch these funny birds waddle around and sun bath contentedly, with lots of shaggy looking teenager penguins huddled up and getting ready to start swimming for themselves. The tour also takes you to near Marta island where we saw (and heard!) hundreds of huge sealions and many more sea birds. Unfortunately, no whales or dolphins spotted, but apparently it’s almost guaranteed on the other longer, main tour a lot of people do here.

Sadly, it’s mega expensive so instead we headed inland the next day to a near by national park which turned out to be really good. Following red posts on a well marked path, we weaved through tall mossy trees, up and down over rocky and sandy terrain, and rested at some awesome viewing platforms. After a little rest back at the hostel, we then made it out to their local cinema to watch the premier of a documentary on Patagonia, having seen a poster advertising this free event the day before, which we enjoyed although found a little boring; but that may be just due to the language barrier.

The following morning we soon found ourselves, after a short 5hour bus, in Puerto Natales; the gateway city to the Torres del Paine National Park which is where we are heading soon to do the 4day W-trek! Exciting! First though, we had some time in this small, coastal city, and found many similarities to Punta Arenas; long and straight roads in a grid design, quiet streets but less of an odd vibe, random monuments, a small museum, good cafes, and a very cold wind. However, being closer to the national park, Puerto Natales also has a bigger mountainous backdrop with a busier centre of tourists and lots of outdoor gear shops.

After a really helpful tourist information centre stop, we had a rough plan of what to do here but became very aware that things seemed pricey! With no Uber here and limited bus services, the 5 taxi companies around seem to have the right to charge more than we’ve seen any taxi charge on this entire trip. Still, we managed to use one to get to a local viewpoint, Mirador Dorotea, where we got our legs walking again; got to prep for the upcoming hike! Climbing for an hour, the path was often steep and stoney, with some loose dusty gravel sections, but it felt good to be hiking again. The weather however, decided to turn from sun to cloud to rain, so on went the waterproof layers. Reaching the top, it was now a thick mist of rain, increasing in waves of wind and so we had to just assume the view from here would be pretty amazing. We ventured along and down a slightly different path, where in brief moments we were treated to a clearer view of the town below and the sheer cliff edge we were now apparently walking along, and I was grateful when the path eventually turned inland a little and rejoined the original trail back down.

The next day we managed to catch one of the few buses to a protected area called the caves of the Milodon. This now extinct giant sloth can be spotted everywhere here in the form of drawings and models, and it’s because the largest concentration of their remains were found here in these caves. It was interesting to walk in this huge cave and read about the ancient animals and first human inhabitants here, with a clear old sea bed of rocks and pebbles hanging above you, to the side and below. Walking along to a viewpoint, another cave and the ‘devils chair’ we enjoyed the moments of sun in a strong cold wind and had a close fly by from a condor which was cool to see over an ancient and unique landscape.

In between all of that, we also made sure we had everything ready for our upcoming four day hike. The famous W-trek in the Torres de Paine national park has been a key goal of this trip, with the idea in mind ever since we started walking longer trails, and it’s finally here. A little nervous still but super excited to get hiking again! Here we go!

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