Chile - A week in Torres Del Paine

We have been wanting to get to Patagonia for several years now. We originally started thinking about it after a good friend went and in late 2019 / early 2020 actually started working with the travel agent and pulling together an itinerary. In March of 2020 we booked it, sent the deposit and thought hopefully whatever this covid that everyone keeps talking about won’t mess up our trip HA. We have since rescheduled it 3 maybe 4 times dues to covid and the most recent reschedule due to Matt’s knee surgery. But eventually we got there!!!

Day 1 - Santiago

We started our trip off in Santiago and with all of the covid requirements for entry into Chile needed a night there to get our covid results and fly down to Patagonia the next morning. Not going to lie the logistics of travel to Chile right now aren’t simple, but it can be done and it is worth it. We had all of our paperwork, testing, vaccination proof, insurance, travel affidavit etc. etc. etc. organized and ready to go. Upon arrival in Santiago we waited in line for probably an hour to get our documents checked, waited maybe another 30 minutes to get our second PCR test done and maybe another 30 minutes to get through immigration. Not exactly the most fun way to spend the first two hours after a 10 hour flight but we made it through all of the airport checkpoints and on to our hotel.

We stayed at the Hotel Magnolia which is pretty centrally located in Santiago. The place is nicely decorated and done and the best part for us was that we were able to check in early, shower and relax while we awaited our covid test results and our mobility pass to be activated. They also have a nice rooftop bar and restaurant that we were able to take advantage of while awaiting our results. We walked around town a little but were hesitant to go inside any restaurants without our mobility passes activated. Luckily just before dinner we received our negative (YAY!) test results and ventured over to another part of town for dinner at Tiramisu. It was a simple dinner of salad, pizza and wine but those were all things we were capable of ordering with our minimal spanish and it hit the spot. That area was a cool neighborhood that we would definitely go back to if in Santiago again.

Day 2 - Santiago to Torres Del Paine / Explora

Explora - Torres Del Paine - Photo from our room

The next morning we were to the airport early to catch our flight down to Puenta Arenas. The drive from Puenta Arena into Torres Del Paine is about 4 hours and honestly not a ton to see until you get really close to the park. Ideally you would fly into Puerto Natales as it closer to the part but unfortunately the flight times didn’t line up right with our dates for us to do that on the way there. Our resort did take care of our transportation to the resort and included a stop for lunch along the way which was crucial as we were starving from a full day of travel.

While it was a long couple of days to get down to the end of the world… when we got there we immediately knew it was well worth the planning, travel time, exhaustion etc. because WOW. Just wow the view from Explora was incredible. We knew it would be good but was even better than I had anticipated. After taking in the initial excitement of the view and finally being there we unpacked, got a drink at the bar, attended the welcome sessions where they walk you through the different exploration options and then sat down with the guide to plan out our hikes for the week. The guides were great about helping determine based on the weather which activities would be best for which day.

Day 3 - Glacier Grey

Our first full day at Explora we were up early, the breakfast before the hikes was great! And out on the boat headed over towards the trailhead by 7:30am. The hike was a little over 7 miles with some incline but nothing crazy. We were surrounded by huge peaks, looking back at blue lakes, and headed towards lake overlooks and glacier views. It was so relaxing and just felt so good to be back fully in nature in the middle of nowhere and soaking in the sights around us. Once we arrived at the campsite we went a little further to an overlook where we had lunch overlooking the glacier. We hiked with a great group of people that day, a mom and two daughters from Charlotte believe it or not and a couple Simon and Claire from the UK. Both groups and our guide were all good company for the day. After the lunch stop we headed towards a nearby beach where we were picked up by boat and taken closer to the glacier where we enjoyed calafate sours over glacier ice on the boat ride. After the boat ride we had a short walk across a black beach to the van to head back to the resort. Overall a really nice first full day in the park.

Day 4 - Base of the Towers

Day two was the day we had been both looking forward to but also kind of dreading…. the base of the towers day. We knew from our friends that this was a hike we really wanted to do but were also a little intimidated by the difficulty mostly because of Matt’s knee surgery about 7 months ago. Again we were up early and left the resort a little after 7am, the sunrise on the way to the trailhead was so beautiful. I didn’t get any images but wished we could have stopped for photos. We started the trail pretty close to 8am and the first bit wasn’t too bad, we then got to a steeper climb that reminded me a ton of Roy’s peak because there was no shade you were looking back over some lakes and rolling hills that reminded me a lot of New Zealand. The climb was definitely tough and it didn’t help that our guide was really pushing us to move quick as she wanted to keep the head start we had ahead of the buses of people coming in from Puerto Natales. Matt was struggling some with a cold he developed from the day prior so it was a bit of a struggle at times but we eventually made it up to windy pass where things leveled out a bit and even got some sections of decline which was a much needed break. Surprisingly enough “windy pass” wasn’t very windy at all! Sometimes it is so windy that you literally can’t cross it so we were fortunate to not have that issue. Soon after windy pass we crossed a beautiful bridge and then had a break at the refruigio.

From there we started into the forest which was a little easier and full of rolling hills, a nice break from the initial big push. We also had opportunities to stop for fresh water from the streams that was so refreshing!

Of course the easier forest section went by really fast and before we knew it we were at the next big climb which is about a mile push with a ton of elevation gain on a good bit of more technical rocky terrain. It was tough and took us close to an hour in this section but wow when we got to the top it was totally worth all of the hard work! We were nervous on the last 20 minutes or so of the final push that clouds were going to roll in and prevent us from actually seeing the towers but as soon as we turned the corner the towers came into sight and they were massive! I knew they would be big and tall but they were much larger than I had expected.

Day 5 - Nordenskjold

After the base of the towers we wanted an easier day so slept in, took advantage of the jacuzzis at the spa and did a shorter and easier hike called Nordenskjold in the afternoon. While much easier than the day prior we still had incredible views from this short hike and absolutely beautiful weather.

Day 6 - Rest day at Explora

Originally we had planned to hike into the french valley and to the plateau overlook but decided to take it easy again as Matt wasn’t feeling great and the weather in the morning was pouring rain and pretty windy. So much so that you couldn’t even see the valley from the hotel at the time they left on the hike. I ended up going on a shorter self guided hike around the resort while Matt rested, we read and journaled while looking out at the incredible view from the hotel lobby. We finished the day with massages at the spa before enjoying cocktails and a beautiful sunset on our last night at Explora.

Day 7 - Puerto Natales to Santiago

On the last day at Explora I was able to fit in a short Horseback ride outing before we had to head to the airport for our flight back up to Santiago. This time we flew out of Puerto Natales which is much closer to the park and the ideal scenario if you can make the flight times work. It was around 7pm by the time we got back to Hotel Magnolia so we quickly grabbed a drink at the rooftop their that we had become quite fond of before walking over to Bocanariz for wine flights and a delicious dinner!

From Santiago we headed over to Argentina which is going to have to be its own separate post.

Overall we had an incredible time in Chile and have already been talking about going back. Traveling in covid times is challenging and Chile is especially strict when it comes to entry requirements etc. so that part was not fun but in the end was 100% worth it. And while mask wearing was also pretty strict it was also comforting to know that your odds of getting sick while there are lower dues to the requirements and we never really worried about getting covid or anything in Chile, can’t say the same for Argentina (will get to that in the next post).