Easter Island (to be reported on in post #25) had been calling to me ever since I opted not to go there on the Antarctica trip extension; the trip that got away. Therefore in February 2011 (a good time to escape cold NYC) I had Galapagos Travels arrange a trip for us to Easter Island starting with a bit of time in Chile. This post will relate the Chile adventure.

We began in Santiago, Chile, where it was in the low 90s and sunny. Our hotel was located in the old part of town and was central for touring on foot. (Something I usually try to arrange.)

This allowed us to walk along the main square, enjoy the beautiful buildings, the day, and the ice cream.  In addition to walking on our own, we had arranged for a private tour to see all the must see sites such as the cathedral, built in 1551 and the lovely Cerrio St. Lucia Park.

We also arranged a private tour to the seaside town, Vina del Mar and the port city, Valparaiso.  The former is a modern city that looks like Miami, but the latter is old and charming – built on seven hills with colorful buildings, artisan stores and wonderful restaurants.  

I loved walking up and down its streets.  

Hiking in Torres del Paine National Park

Chile would not have made the cut of “Special Trips” if we had not had the Torres del Paine experience. And really, would it be a trip without hiking?  At least in 2011. Santiago was not lovely.

We flew from Santiago to Patagonia’s Punta Arenas, the jumping off point for Torres del Paine National Park.

 There are always “adventures” when in a foreign country.  I ordered an avocado salad for lunch and I received 2 lovely ripe delicious avocados sliced – no lettuce – no tomatoes – no toast, just avocados. 

Torres del Pain National Park, our destination, was a 6- hour drive from Punta Arenas, with a stop for lunch at a sheep ranch.

  

As we entered the park, our driver, Fernando took down the side mirrors. He explained that we had to cross a bridge with only 2 cm clearance for the van. It was awesome to watch this fabulous driver on the bridge. 

Hotel Las Torres is the only hotel in the Torres del Paine National Park.  It offers full board (recommended – there is nothing around it) and lots of hiking and horseback riding adventures.  There are many trails that one can take with or without a guide.  My 4-night stay was wonderful, with spectacular views all around, even just from the hotel. 

We took an awesome and challenging hike – and it was more than I really meant to do.  This is how it happened!  The evening before the hike when I talked over the possible excursions with the guide, Sofia, she said there was one all day “Puma” climbing hike starting at 9am and a half-day hike that started at 3pm. I prefer to hike in the morning, but the all-day hike sounded too difficult for me.  She assured me that since we would be the only hikers, there would be three points where we could stop and turn around.  The first stop was at about 1,200 feet; the second about 3,000 feet and the last one went a couple of hours further and up to the top. There would be great views even if we just went to #1. We told her that we wished to hike only to #1 and call it a day. She agreed, but best laid plans and all that.

The Puma hike is on the Lodge’s private property and this trail is allowed only with a guide. Since we were the only ones that signed up for the hike, we were the only ones on the mountain. Yes, wow! We hiked for about 2 hours. It was warm enough that I was in a t-shirt and took the leg bottoms off my pants. We passed many berry bushes, and Sofia encouraged us to try them.  They were delicious.  One berry tasted like apples.

I asked Sofia how far to the first viewpoint and she said not far and we would have lunch there. We continued up. The terrain consisted of grassland and then small trees.

I asked if that’s the first stopping point and she said, no, that we had passed that a while ago. We were heading to the second stop. (She tricked me, the first stop was probably when we could see the 3 towers.) I believe that she had no intention to stop at the previous place – she loved to hike.

Since we were most of the way there (or so I thought), I agreed to continue. Little did I know that this section was a killer. The “trail” was on sandy, gravely, rocky soil. (See picture above). She said it wouldn’t be too steep because we would do switch backs. Sofia’s “not too steep” and my “not too steep” are two completely different things. If you ever climbed mountains, you know that the top is always higher than it seems. You think you see the top, but when you get around the next bend, there is another top. I swear we climbed for ½ hour and the top was just as far. It seemed to move with us.

It was 2:30pm and we had been hiking 5 hours when we reached our lunch stop.

Sofia tried to talk me into going to the last peak (the #3 of the trip), but I was in no shape to do that. Two more hours up then down would have been foolish especially since it would have meant a 10pm return in the dark. I would have had to miss dinner!

Now we had to start down. Up was tiring but required just one foot in front of the other. The first section down was scary. The terrain was a mixture of granulated small stones, larger ankle breaking stones and a few boulders. Sofia suggested letting one foot slide on the gravel till it stopped and then lift the other foot and do the same. We could not trust any of the larger rocks since they would rarely be anchored. Since we were above the tree line, there was nothing to hang on to. I was very happy to have my hiking stick and couldn’t have done without it. We all fell on this section including Sofia. I fell twice but both times ended up sitting on my bottom and did no damage.

I was glad to get back to the tree level because the trail became much easier. Still the 3,000 feet down seemed to take forever. Actually, it took us 3 hours to get down (5 to get up). We got back at 6:30, 9 hours after we left (I am a slow hiker). The hike was about 6 or 7 miles long and I am glad I did it. 

I went on a number of other excursions including a boat ride to see glaciers, and a van trip to see falls. On the way we saw Guanacos (pictured above). We also went on a number easy trails on our own. These trails were quite busy with hikers.  In retrospect, it was awesome to have hiked a mountain where the 3 of us were the only ones on the trail.

When we returned to Punta Arenas, we had a free day to explore.  We climbed the hill behind the town and had a fabulous view of the town, the Straits of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego.

We flew back to Santiago, spent a day going to the Central Market and the Cerro San Cristobal Park. And then home to NYC.

Final comments: 

1. Although I would not have gone on the hike at the park if I had known how difficult it was, I am glad that I stretched myself, especially since I did not injure myself.
2. I loved our private guide in Valpraiso.  She added so much value. Although I would have enjoyed the city on my own, it is wonderful to be with an expert, who knows the best restaurants and shops as well as tells stories.
3. Staying in Hotel Las Torres in the Torres del Paine National Park for 4 days was perfect: not too short or too long.  Well worth being right in the park.