Chile, officially the Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile, [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈtʃile]), is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.
I debated with myself how I was going to post this trip, do I do a separate page for each country, as I usually do, or one page for the entire trip as we start in Chile, go to Argentina and then back to Chile. Obviously, you see that I decided to go with one page for the entire trip, so I have included the country name with the cities to help you keep track. 🙂
Santiago, Chile
We arrived early morning and I only had one thing that was on my “must do” for Santiago and that was to go up the funicular, mostly because I don’t come across them often and it would give a great view of the city. OK, OK, I’m still a kid at heart and they are cool, that’s the real reason. 🙂
After exploring the gardens at the top we descended into the city and did a little exploring before meeting the group at dinner.
Punta Arenas, Chile
Early morning flight down to the southern most public airport in the world. This is also where we got our first introduction to the high winds that the Patagonia region is known for. It was hard walking from the plane to the terminal!
I was actually surprised the city was as large as it was, I guess my thinking is, with the area known for such severe weather why would people live here? However, the landscape is absolutely beautiful and being remote can be an attraction for many.
Ainsworth Bay, Chile
Our first excursion off the ship and a chance to stretch our legs. To get off the ship we board the typical rubber dingy from the stern and try not to get wet when getting out. The waters are very cold and it’s not fun walking in wet boots. This is the first place that we saw the Andean Condor but it will be a number of days before I could get close enough for any pictures.
Pia Glacier, Chile
OK, glaciers are just cool! 🙂
Cape Horn, Chile
Cold, very wind and just awesome to be able to disembark here and visit the small post office, and yes, they even have a souvenir store. We did this early morning and were back on the ship for breakfast. The captain thought the seas might be calm enough that he could go around the Cape but when the dinner plates started to fly off the tables he did a quick U turn. It was a shame as it would have been great to say that I had been around the Horn, but standing at the southern most point is still something that very few people can say that they have done.
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina [reˈpuβlika aɾxenˈtina]) is a federal republic located in southeastern South America. Sharing the Southern Cone with its smaller neighbour Chile, it is bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north; Brazil to the northeast; Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east; Chile to the west and the Drake Passage to the south.
Ushuaia, Argentina
The cruise part of the trip ends here and now we are just a group of ten. Ushuaia is a larger port town than I expected but we would not be here long before starting the drive further north.
Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
Wow, and I don’t even think that describes it. Slap on the crampons, go for a walk on a glacier and finish with a glass of scotch with ice chipped off the glacier your standing on. This glacier is huge and I hope it is around for many future generations to enjoy.
El Chalten, Argentina
A full day hike today and it was great, my legs had not been that sore in years but views were incredible. This is what hiking was meant to be, difficult terrain with great rewards for those that are up for it.
Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina
Another day of spectacular scenery and lots of animals to spot. We did two small walks today instead of the long hike option and I definitely think we picked the correct option as we heard the long hike group spend most of the day walking through fog and not seeing anything.
Paine National Park, Chile
On this day we picked the lighter option as I could not pass up the chance to see cave paintings and ended up seeing a large number of Andean Condors. Many examples of how harsh this environment can be and that only the strongest survive.
Punta Arenas, Chile
We came back here for the night before flying back to Santiago another night and then off to home. On the way back to Punta Arenas we made two wonderful stops. The first was for lunch at a little private zoo. I am not a fan of private zoos as often the animals do not get much room to roam, but they did such an excellent lamb BBQ for us. I don’t think I have ever eaten so much. The other stop was not on the itinerary but we convinced the guide to stop at a penguin rookery. It was cold and pretty windy but so great just to watch these penguins in the natural habitat. A great way to end an awesome trip!
Logistics
This trip was organized by Mountain Travel Sobek and was their “Patagonia Explorer: Cruise and Hiking Adventure in Chile & Argentina” itinerary, which they no longer offer. Normally something like this would be out of my budget but we got it on their 40th Anniversary special (2 people for the price of one) so that made it more affordable. The trip started and ended at our hotel in Santiago Chile, I prefer when airport transfer are included but being a major city it was not much of an issue to take a taxi.
For the first part of the trip you are cruising along the coast with small land excursions and great food on-board. After sitting and eating for a few days then they start you off hiking. Some great hikes in Patagonia and they usually gave us options each day, one group would do a longer more difficult hike and the other group would do something not as difficult but still interesting. Some times it was a difficult choice as both options were of interest.
Overall, a very good trip with some exceptional food and local wines.
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