As we prepare for the holiday season, we thought there was no better winter getaway than continuing our travels in the southern hemisphere. After exploring Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, we are descending even further south to the land of Patagonia. Julia was again ready to continue testing her 2 semesters of undergrad Spanish!
For transportation, we utilized a few options: Car rentals when possible; Uber in Chile; taxis; and when we had to cross the border between Chile and Argentina buses.
We continued getting by using Google Maps for directions and downloading the local maps for offline use. Maps.me is an app that offers the same thing for a larger regional base.
Valparaiso
We arrived to sunny Valparaiso after a one-hour car ride from the Santiago Airport. We were armed and loaded with family and friends for this section. We had a few recurring travel companions - my father Joe, Aunt Sheila, and Aunt Eileen and a new face - our friend Deanna!
Valparaiso was sunny and warm sitting on the Pacific coast of Chile. We had the chance to drive along “sunset boulevard” and take in the beaches and condos nearby. While there were not many people swimming due to how cold the water was, the beaches were packed with volleyball, soccer, and tanning.
We decided to join a local walking tour to learn a little bit about the history of the city, which at one time was one of the wealthiest port-cities in South America. As ships sailed around Magellan's peak, this became the perfect stop to trade goods, restock, or take a break for some local food and drink. Although the city does not have the same status today, it turned into a hipster bar, cafe, and art getaway. The city is known for its famous street art as we explored the variety of canvas sprayed or painted on the walls.
Before setting sail, we capped off our experience with an amazing meal overlooking the bay at the restaurant La Concepcion, while sipping on Pisco Sour (a local drink).
Mendoza
Flying from Chile to Argentina was easy and picturesque. The region is known as the wine district of Argentina and we took full advantage of this by exploring the nearby wineries. We had a blast at the Santa Julia winery named after Julia. Where they showed us the operational side of the facilities before we went to our favorite section, the tasting room!
Mendoza although famous for wine offered a plethora of fun activities to do. We enjoyed a day of relaxing in the thermal baths (less than $5 per person), where they had over 20-30 bathes, a lazy river, pools, and slides.
On the journey back from the thermal baths (located west of town), we made sure to check out the Embalse Potrerillos reservoir. It is a massive dammed lake similar to the hoover dam, but even more remote. The landscape offers a picturesque backdrop to the pristine water. We even had the chance to drive right into the lake as we continued to follow one road.
Along with exploring the town, parks, baths, and winerarys, Julia and I decided to test our faith with a new experience - paragliding! We set up arrangements with a local company, who picked us up one afternoon and drove us up a mountain west of town. Upon reaching the top, the guide mentioned just one rule - listen to your gliding partner for three commands, “Run, stop, and sit.”
As we were strapped in, looking off the edge of the mountain, my partner says, “Run” and so we run down the sloping mountain and at the last minute I hear, “Stop!” The wind had turned. We collected our parachute and went to the back, behind Julia for a second try. In-between our second preparation, Julia received the same command and took off into the sky with screams of joy transcending the airwaves. We soon followed suit one more time without a hitch and were off in the sky.
The experience was amazing, and once you are in the air all of the fear and anticipation is wiped away as we comfortably floated along in the air. It was a glorious view with the mountains to our west and the city and horizon in the far east. Our 20 minute ride was a breath of fresh air as we landed in the soft field below. We both agreed. It is one we will have to do again in the future!
Chiloe
We headed further south into Patagonia away from the desert like northern cities. We arrived in the lush lake and forest district where we met up with or other new travel companion Joel, growing our party to seven for this section.
We rented a car to explore the area and set off for the island of Chiloe waiting on the other side of a short ferry ride. While in Chiloe, we had the chance to stay at a lovely bayside house. This was our jumping off point for the island. We took a kayak out in the water. Chiloe offered amazing views of both nature and the colorful town of Castro, but as we enjoyed paddling the kayak we noticed our boat was sinking. We both were semi-embarrassed as seasoned
kayakers only to realize the kayaks water valve were plugged and we were taking on water. We survived a few close calls of tipping before making it back to land. That was enough kayaking for now.
At the advice of our local host, we went for a scenic drive to the west side of the island Muelle de las Almas. The drive alone was worth it but upon reaching a dead end in the Park Tepuhueico, we were beckoned by the locals to park and hike. And hike we did on a 2 hour journey through a terrain from another planet as the forrest was twisted and turned from the winds off the coast. No tree was alike and they all heading an enchanting feel!
We made it out to a point where the views opened up to the cliffs above the ocean, with one little ramp reaching out off the cliffs into the air. The scene was wrapped together nicely as we took in the setting sun with a herd of cows grazing the fields.
Our trip to Chiloe was not complete without a boat trip the nearby islands making up the natural heritage site of the Isles of Punihuil. For $10 a person we were strapped into our boats and went off the coast for some sightseeing. The cliffs of these islands were packed with a variety of birds including pelicans, geese, duck, petrel, and shearwaters, but the most famous of all were the penguins. This was their breeding grounds of the Chile Pacific coast.
Puerto Montt
Our final section as a group of seven was Puerto Montt. Puerto Montt along with much of Chile was engaged in national protests over the past few months. We had almost forgotten they were going on, if not for some of the broken windows throughout the town. As we were driving through town one day, we got a little too close to the protesters and got a rock thrown at our vehicle. While it left a small dent in the side of the vehicle besides for that moment we never felt unsafe in the country.
While in Puerto Montt we enjoyed a day trip up to the Volcano Osorno to the north. Similar to mount Fuji or mount Rainier that we had explored on our journey before, it towered over the rest of the peaks.
Two favorites of ours were hiking through the Petrohue waterfalls park which winded along the river along multiple waterfalls all with different scenic backdrops including the volcanoes.
The other highlight for us was driving up a section of Volcano Osorno until we almost reached the snow section above the treeline. From there, I set off on foot up the mountain while Julia and our friends opted for the ski lift. Seeing off in every direction above the clouds is both peaceful and mesmerizing.
After a long day of exploring, we opted for a nice final dinner for the group at a small Italian restaurant in Puerto Varys with local wine and food.
El Bolson
As we said goodbye to Joe, Sheila, and Eileen, we continued on with Deanna and Joel as we headed to the Argentina side of Patagonia. We originally planned on a car rental but upon learning about the high fees to take a car across the Argentina-Chile border, we opted for a bus. I must say the bus ride ended up taking 3-4 extra hours in each direction making an already long (6 hour driving day) even longer. With that said, El Bolson and Bariloche more than made up for the bus ride and made it worth the trip!
We stayed under the dome in a sky-lit cabin. It was a great home base for our time there as we went off to explore the nature.
We enjoyed hiking around Lake Puelo to the south, trying local beers in the walkable downtown, and hiking up the mountain sides for the amazing views.
Our favorite activity while in El Bolson though was a rafting trip on the Rio Negro ($30 per person). We had the chance to go with a local family-owned rafting company. As we arrived we thought at first we were going alone but soon learned we would be joined by a local middle school class field trip! It was a blast navigating the rapids with a class of students who were excited to meet us, compete in races on the river, go for a swim, and practice our Spanish and their English!
Bariloche
Our final stop in Patagonia was Bariloche, the Arelauquen Lodge. We of course had to hike up to the top for some of the best vistas yet (I know we keep saying this a lot but its always been true for us so far). The concierge mentioned an easy 2 hour hike. What we learned was it was closer to a 3 hour advanced hike as the terrain became quite steep and uphill in the second half, but it was well worth it.
What we found out was the lodge was sitting in the middle of a golf course, and although we had not played golf in a few years, playing on a course surrounded by mountains and lakes was hard to pass up. Although overall we did not play well (+30 handicap), I was quite proud of my shooting par on a par 3, when I was down to my last ball.
If golf and mountains were not your thing, a simple walk through the surrounding summer cottages on your way down to the lake will blow you away. The luxurious cabins sit around the golf course blending in with the environment. At the bottom of the course, we arrived at the lake where we were met by a few horses enjoying the fields below.
When we needed a “break” from walking, hiking, and golf, we had a chance to relax at the lodge, enjoying the heated indoor/outdoor pool, hot tub, and sauna. The lodge was quiet and somehow we were able to get rooms for just under $100 a night, including breakfast and a round of golf!
Santiago
On our way home we had a 36-hour layover in Santiago. Went off exploring the town in the 90-degree hot summer day. The old town around the Plaza de Armas has a lot of history as the town was a major spot for the Inca Empire, followed by the Spanish rule, and then the place of liberation for the Chilean people in the 1800’s. We learned all of this on another exciting walking tour.
And although Chile gained its independence, they still have spats of unrest and turmoil, with none bigger than the civil military regime that gained power from 1973 to 1990. We learned about all their atrocities at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights.
Gracias Argentina and Chile for opening up Patagonia to us!
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