Punta Arenas--53 South

New city! Punta Arenas is definitely a little bigger than I was prepared for after Puerto Natales, but our place here is within walking distance of the city center and plenty of grocery and restaurant options. Our host offered up some good suggestions of things to check out in the area, too. We spent the first few days in Punta Arenas making sure we were all set for a cozy Christmas and learning more about this immigrant-rich area.

All around Punta Arenas

One of the suggestions we took was to visit Fort Bulnes. We joined a Brazilian couple for a cold, windy tour of this site of strategic importance. On the way there we stopped at the geographic center of Chile, which seems crazy at around 53S latitude until you realize that Chile claims a slice of territory in Antarctica. We also stopped in at the fishing village of Bahía Buena (Good Bay) and passed by and learned about Puerto del Hambre (Port Famine which is where, you guessed it, lots of folks died of famine trying to settle here). We visited the fort, walked through the forest and along the strait, and toured the Museum of the Strait. While the history of the fort and Chile's claim to the area was interesting, the highlight for us was talking to our guide, Eduardo, who shared a lot of information about the general history, people, and politics of the Magallenes region and we appreciate his openness. We also learned a bit about Brazil from our tour mates so that was a bonus!

"Center" of Chile and Bahía Buena

Fort Bulnes

Christmas Eve night is actually when Chileans have their big family gatherings for the holiday, but in the morning and early afternoon, everything was open and bustling! We were up super early to board a boat for a ride in the Strait of Magellan to Magdalena Island to see PENGUINS! This tour did not disappoint. Upon arrival at the island would could see thousands of Magallenic penguins and gulls. Tourists are kept on a very strict walking path, but the birds cross it freely and we were amazed at just how close we were to the birds and their nests. We were there durning a very special time--chicks had been hatching for three weeks and there were a bunch of cute, fluffy baby penguins and gulls! We also saw geese and skuas while we were there. It was awesome. Next we headed for Marta Island for observation of sea lions and cormorants from the boat. It was a little "brisk" and the ride was rough, but the whole experience was really great. I definitely enjoyed this Christmas present!

¡Los pingüinos!

After grabbing some amazing empanadas on our way back home, we had a relaxing Christmas Eve. We played some games, I made a simple cheese/bread/veggies spread, and we watched a movie before the kids gave gifts--I received a beautiful bracelet they'd had tucked away since Peru and Frank got whiskey. Christmas morning we ate pie and cake for breakfast, the kids got to open their gifts from us (snacks, a movie, and some makeup for the girl), and I was surprised with a gift of maté straws. It was simple and wonderful. That afternoon we enjoyed a nice late lunch/early dinner at La Yegua Local with amazing views of the city and the Strait of Magellan. The weather was spectacular so we enjoyed a nice walk through town before returning home. It was indeed a very merry Christmas.

Nothing quite like a relaxing Christmas Eve with my crew.

Gorgeous weather for our relaxing Christmas Day!

We got back to the school grind to finish out our time in Punta Arenas, but also squeezed in a little more culture. We visited Museo Nao Victoria and toured replicas of the Victoria (from Magellan's expedition), the Beagle (from the FitzRoy/Darwin expedition), the Ancud (from when Chile took possession of the Strait of Magellan) and the James Cairn (lifeboat from Shackleton's journey to save his crew in Antarctica). The Uber rides and $5000 pesos per person were definitely worth a visit to that very interesting, educational museum on the shores of the Strait of Magellan! 

On our last day in town Frank and I visited the Museo Naval y Maritimo, the Chilean Navy's museum, while the kids did school. It was a small museum highlighting the Armada's role in exploration and navigation of the area. We loved seeing a plaque from UNITAS in one of the rooms and I especially liked seeing a meteorological room. And being big geeks over the Shackleton expedition, we were really excited to learn more about the ship, Yelcho, and her Captain, Luis Alberto Pardo Villalón, who undertook the journey to rescue the crew of the Endurance. Later we all visited the Museo Maggiorino Borgatello, a diverse museum with exhibits about natural history, indigenous cultures, the southern expeditions and religious missions, regional history, and Antarctica. And on the way home we popped in to the municipal cemetery which is renowned for its beauty. 

Can't keep two Navy veterans out of a naval museum!

And with that (and one more crazy good meal at El Alambrado), our time in Chile has come to an end! A day-long bus ride will see us across the border to Argentina and on to new places, new currency, and new adventures! But there is no doubt that we love Chile (and would return to all of the places we visited) and have so much more to see of this beautiful country.

Vegetarian Pichanga and Meat Chorillana from El Alambrado. It's a ton of food, even with two people sharing the mediano! 

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

A bit of Last Hope, a sloth, and a move

We closed out our time in Puerto Natales with a week of school, relaxing, fútbol, enjoying this cute town, and history! We returned to the same AirBnB we stayed at before the "W" as we really enjoyed being in this local neighborhood, the house worked out great for school, and the house had great TV's for watching the World Cup final (hey, you pick you places your way and I'll pick mine my way!). 

We treated the kids to a night out at Last Hope Distillery for drinks (FANTASTIC mocktails!) and tapas and also took them with us for a night out at Indigo Hotel's restaurant which is where we originally learned about the meaning of "Paine" and the Tehuelche language so many years ago. While I love eating in and stretching our travel budget, it was really nice to have some nights out. The adults had one last date at Last Hope where we officially closed out our tour of the menu, having tried ALL of the cocktails and food on the entire December menu. We look forward to returning in a few years when their whiskey is ready!

We simply love Last Hope! Comfortable, friendly, and delicious!

We don't do "fancy" very often, but we enjoyed this trip down memory lane.

We decided to get one last tourist site in before we left town--la Cueva del Milodón! The cave was discovered at the end of the 19th century with skins and bones of a milodon, a giant, extinct sloth. We spent an afternoon exploring the big cave, as well as two smaller caves (which we actually preferred) and climbed up La Silla del Diablo, "The Devil's Chair," to take in the views and enjoy a snack. It was a nice, easy day of hiking in the hills. 

Cueva Grande and the milodón.

Cueva del Medio and the trail tunnel.

Deep inside Cueva Chica.

La Silla del Diablo.

When it was time to leave our comfort in Puerto Natales we packed up some sandwiches, grabbed our bags, and walked 10 minutes to the bus station. We enjoyed a three-hour ride south through beautiful country and saw tons of guanaco, nandu, and sheep along the way. And after another 10-15 minute walk, we were at our new home in Punta Arenas. This was a super easy transfer.

And then there was a bit of crazy! As we were being welcomed by our host, it was clear she was an American ex-pat so I asked where she was originally from. When she said "northern Illinois" I had to dig a little more. Turns out she was from Peru, Illinois, a whopping 30-minute drive from where I was born and raised. We live in such a small, wonderful world and I love the adventurers that we are meeting along the way!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

The W--Torres del Paine National Park

We did it. We really did it. We hiked the "W" in Torres del Paine National Park with our children. Almost 16 years ago (and when we only had one kid), I remember lying in a tent on this very same trek and saying to Frank, "I want to bring our kids here someday." And we did it. A real dream come true.

The "W" trail (in yellow) and the "O" trail (in red) in Torres del Paine National Park.

Our 5-day trek started with an early morning walk to the bus station, a bus to Laguna Amarga where we checked in to the park, then another bus to the Welcome Center for Torre Central. We only had to walk about 10 minutes to the camp registration office where we checked in, got our meal tickets, and were able to drop our bags for the day's hike to one of the most famous views in the park, The Towers. We crossed a hanging bridge that we totally remembered from 16 years ago and we were off on our trek by 1000. We hiked about two hours to Refugio Chileno, then about an hour through the woods (my favorite!), then began our final hour's climb to the towers. This is where we got the first big surprise of the trip--SO MANY PEOPLE! With people coming down and people going up, there were several points of stand-still bottlenecks. The wind was whipping for our final 20 minutes of climbing, but we were blessed with clear skies and amazing views! But with so many people clustered around the lake we opted to hang back and enjoy a little solitude on a big rock with a pretty awesome view. I cried! It was so great seeing our kids there and seeing them witness the majesty of Torres del Paine with their own eyes. Our hike back down took just under four hours and we "moved in" to our tents just as hot water was turned on at at the campground. Perfect! And the tents were cozy! We opted for the full gear campsite--tents, pads, and sleeping bags all included. And dinner? Delicious AND there was a bar! I think this was "glamping" rather than camping as we had fabulous weather and slept under a glorious southern sky.

This bridge brought a flood of memories! I remember starting our other trek here!

Entering the park and hiking up the valley along Rio Ascencio.

The famous Mirador de las Torres!

Our first campsite had a wonderful view of the towers!

Our second trekking day was an "easy" day with a five-hour hike to the Cuernos campsite. While short, the trail had plenty of ups and downs to keep it interesting. We arrived at the Cuernos Refugio about an hour before campsite checkin so we ordered some anniversary margaritas and settled in for a family game of Farkle under the Cuernos. It was awesome and I definitely think I remembered this place! Our tents were far from the refugio and the bathrooms, but the campground was small and it all worked out fine. We napped, showered, and relaxed. Dinner was excellent again (both the food and the company of a nice couple from Park City!) and we slept great ahead of our next long day on the trail.

We had great weather and amazing views of Los Cuernos as we hiked past Laguna Inge and along Lago Nordenskjöld for the day.

Thanks to the other Americanos for our pic with Lago Nordenskjöld!

The campsite at Los Cuernos was super fun and cozy (and was a nice place to mark our anniversary!).

We expected the third day to be a challenge and...it was! But it was also amazing and Frank recalled it being his favorite day from our previous visit. We hiked a few hours to the new Camp Italiano, dumped our big bags, and headed for Mirador Frances, location of a very cool Earth Cache with stunning views of Frances Glacer! We heard and saw many ice falls on our way up the valley, and got hit with some strong winds right at the viewpoint for the glacier. We opted to continue on another two kilometers to Mirador Británico which we didn't visit during our previous visit due to poor weather and a lack of time. The hike was through some pretty gorgeous woods and the view was absolutely worth it. But 1/4 of our crew was done with heading further for more views so we had lunch (BTW, box lunches were AMAZING) at Británico and made our way back to Camp Italiano to collect our big bags. From there, we had a 7.5km hike to the Paine Grande Refugio. I totally recognized this one! We checked in, picked out our four beds in a six-bed room, showered, and went to enjoy our free welcome drinks at the bar. We again had fabulous view of Los Cuernos and Paine Grande, and could see the wind whipping up the water. We ignored the 70+km/h forecast for the next day, enjoyed a big buffet dinner, and slept like babies in super cozy, warm beds. I think the kids were sold on refugios!

An early start took us right along the shore of Lago Nordenskjöld on the way to Camp Italiano. 

A windy stop at Mirador Frances!

Mirador Británico was amazing!

Packs back on, over some bridges, and into the wind as we made our way to Paine Grande.

Refugio Paine Grande was sweet (and very familiar!). We had great views of Paine Grande and Los Cuernos from our room and saw a beautiful rainbow over Lago Pehoé!

Day four FINALLY brought us some "real" Patagonia weather! We had to hike 11km into that sometimes 70km/hr cold wind to get to Refugio Grey. It was cold, hot, windy, sunny, rainy, hard on the face...everything we wanted the kids to experience from this trek! We arrived at the refugio ahead of check-in, but that was ok--we ate our lunches and hiked about an hour north (and uphill) to a suspension bridge with an amazing view of Glacier Grey! It was so windy on the water, but the hike through the woods was nice and afforded lots of time to reflect on the journey so far. When we returned to the refugio we were surprised that the rooms were four-man and we had one all to ourselves! After hot showers we settled in to the bar for a round of Farkle, snacks, and a World Cup semi-final! Argentina beat Croatia and the bar was lit!

Walking into 70km/hr was a challenge at times, but Lago Grey was spectacular!

Just enjoying the view of Glacier Grey.

We had time before check-in (and the fútbol game) so we hiked up to one of the suspension bridges for better views of the glacier. I loved it!

Refugio life...satellite tv, cold beers, fellow travelers, and plenty of relaxation.

The last day was...easy! We had a late breakfast, a slow hike back to Paine Grande refugio, a fantastic game of Farkle with our hiking friends Oscar and Sofia, and another crazy World Cup semi-final where France beat Morocco before we had to catch our ferry out of the park. I cried again. I love Torres del Paine. I love the challenge it gives my body, the time it gives my mind, and the beauty that it leaves in my memories. And after a half-hour ferry ride we were on the bus that would take us back to Puerto Natales. That bus ride has some stories of its own that I will leave for the boys to tell when they are ready... ;) 

A beautiful hike along Lago Grey (with the wind at our backs!).

Lunch in the forest and our final look at Los Cuernos before boarding the catamaran to cross Lago Pehoé  for our return to Puerto Natales. 

Did the trip live up to all of my expectations? No. I had built this up so much in my head…full of romance, life-changing for the kids, glorious views, new traveling friends, tons of laughs…that’s a lot to ask out of any trip and it’s part of the danger of dreaming about something so hard for so long. But it was many of those things, and that’s enough.

Thank you, Torres del Paine. You were, and remain, a dream come true.

THE DETAILS: There are so many ways to hike the "W" or the "O" in Torres del Paine that fit a range of budgets. When we were here 16 years ago we had a guide, private transportation, didn't worry about any tickets of any sort...we blissfully hiked from bed to bed and were fed! You can also self-book transportation, refugio/tent sites, carry all or some of your own gear and food, and follow the well-marked trails. Or you can go somewhere in between, which is what we did this time. I was trying to self-book the trip, but the booking site was down for quite a while and we were busy enjoying Peru so I started to shop for a tour company. We ended up booking the Classic 5-day W Trek through Vertice Travel. You can opt for camping with or without your own gear, refugios (think hostel) with full bedding or use your own, and with as many meals as you want. Given availability, we ended up with two nights at campsites with full equipment (tents, nice mats, and sleeping bags all set up and ready to go) and two nights at refugios with full bedding. The package included bus tickets from Puerto Natales to the park entrance, the park tickets, tickets for a shuttle bus within the park, catamaran tickets across the lake at the west end, and bus tickets back to town. We opted for the "full board" option, provided us with breakfast, a bag lunch, and dinner every day. And I can honestly say, it was worth every penny (hit me up for price details if you want, but the tour websites all give pretty detailed quotes). Vertice is VERY organized and at our orientation meeting the evening before we left, they gave us a perfectly ordered packet of tickets and vouchers for the entire trip, just like how I would have done it! They gave us some dry bags, water bottles, buffs, maps, and our lunch for the first day (fun fact--the vegetarian sandwiches were often better than the meat ones), then stored the luggage we weren't taking with us. Easy peasy! I personally am comfortable booking all of that myself at this point, but for those new to the park/area, we can definitely recommend Vertice as a reputable tour outfit. Also, no matter how you do it, BOOK EARLY! The best weather is limited to about two months and that overlaps with Southern Hemisphere summer vacations so popular routes/tours can sell out.

FUN SIDE STORY: When we first visited Patagonia (and did the W) in 2007 we carried LLBean packs and trekking poles. We have that same gear with us on the return trip in 2022! (I mean, why else would I have a purple pack?!?!)

That's me in 2007 (upper left) enjoying my first trip to Patagonia with my LLBean pack! And here it is again, in 2022 (and Frank's equally old pack) along with our 16 year-old LLBean Vario Hikelite trekking poles. Good gear lasts (even if the colors are a bit dated!)!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

Return to Puerto Natales

After almost 16 years, we are back in Puerto Natales, Chile! When we first came to Patagonia we said we wanted to return with our kids (we only had one at the time who was home with her grandparents) and it is happening! This feels so right. We are starting off with over a week in Puerto Natales to get used to the cold/wind and get a bunch of school done. 

This is truly the slow part of our journey. We take walks to explore town most every day, shop at the local grocery stores, stop for a coffee or drink, and we do school, cook, clean, pay bills, research locations, discuss future plans, watch some TV...just boring normal life stuff. 

Around Puerto Natales and visiting old favorites.

Last Hope Distillery is amazing! Great tour, creative drinks, and tasty bites. We are going to enjoy our few weeks here for sure!

Ok, it's not all boring life stuff...sometimes we get to celebrate! This week we celebrated Trent's 15th birthday. We rented a few ATV's and spent half a day exploring the dirt roads outside of town. It was sunny, rainy, windy, snowy...all the Patagonia weather! But it was awesome, even if we were super cold for a good chunk of it. We made it our to Laguna Sofia where we hunkered behind a rock to eat our lunch, and found some good, muddy roads by the Mylodon Cave. We were hit with sleet as we made our way back into town so we headed for Patagonia Dulce for some hot, chocolatey coffees! Frank and I actually had coffee there back in 2007! 

This year's birthday experience was a chilly blast!

After hot showers and a few episodes of Andor, we headed to town to buy better gloves for our future outings and to enjoy an amazing Italian dinner at Pizza Napoli--Trent's choice! Then it was back home for more Andor, some bad singing, and cake! Still can't believe my baby is 15!

Happy Birthday, Trent!

And now, back to washing all of the splattered mud from our clothing!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma

35 hours in Santiago

On our way from Calama to Puerto Natales we opted for a brief, two-night, stop in Santiago and it was awesome! We stayed in a family room with a private bathroom at Hostel Merced 88 in Barrio Lastarria. How did we choose it? Well, it was priced well, had great reviews on HostelWorld, had some tempting amenities, and I saw a few parks nearby in Google Maps--that was it. As we were due to arrive at 1830 and wanted an easy trip to the city, we booked a transfer through the hostel and it was a breeze! By 1930 we were checked in to our room and headed to dinner!

So what was our first dinner out in Santiago? German food! Bierstube was a three-minute walk from our hostel and we were delighted to have some amazing house beers and tasty German food. We ended the night with some rounds of pool at the hostel. 

Our hostel worked well for us!

After a late wake-up we grabbed some coffee for a walk through Parque Forestal to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. This awesome (free!) museum features classical and modern art by Chilean artists. I personally loved the sculpture work and the modern exhibit where light strings were woven in traditional ways. It's not a huge museum and you can cover it in around an hour. 

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Right across from the museum is Castillo Forestal, a French restaurant. Of course, our Frenchy girl wanted to go, but the rest of us ended up loving it, too! We dined on the patio, essentially in the park, and the food was fantastic. 

Beautiful food in a beautiful setting! Trent discovered that he really likes Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Next up...WINE! The kids stayed at the hostel to watch the World Cup and play pool while the adults headed to Concha y Toro vineyard for a tour and tasting. We toured the grounds, sampled Sauvignon Blanc, Carmenere, and Cabernet Sauvignon, and got to visit the Casillero del Diablo cellar. It was a nice way to spend a date afternoon!

Adult time and wine!

The Casillero del Diablo cellar was a treat. It's all naturally climate-controlled.

We opted for an easy night back at the hostel, dining and enjoying $6 bottles of wine at the rooftop Restobar before binge-watching shows on our last night of Amazon Prime access. It was a horrible plan as we needed to catch a taxi to the airport at 0500 the next day, but it was fun!

Hostel life was great! And the Restobar food was good and cheap.

We would definitely return to Santiago someday. The brief glimpse we got of the art and food scene was good, and we'd like to see more...and maybe even try Chilean food there. Someday...

~Jo, Nomadic Momma