Torres del Paine, Chile
/(April 23rd - April 26th, 2016)
It took us almost two full days of traveling and four flights to get to Ecocamp Patagonia (located inside the Torres del Paine National Park), but boy was it worth the wait! On Thursday April 21st we started our journey by flying from Seattle -> Los Angeles, Los Angeles -> Lima, and Lima -> Santiago, spent the night at a hotel literally 100 feet from the airport, and then took another flight first thing the next morning from Santiago -> Punta Arenas. Of course while reading through the airline's magazine we discovered that LAN flies directly from San Diego to Santiago...so next time we'll plan on a more direct route :) Once we arrived in Punta Arenas, we were picked up from the airport and driven to Puerto Natales (about 3 hours away). We met Diego, who was one of our Ecocamp guides, had a delicious lunch where we were introduced to the Chilean spice merkén, and then continued our drive to Torres del Paine (another 2.5 hours away). The scenery along the drive was absolutely stunning and unlike anything we had ever seen before. It was a combination of flat farmland and rolling hills with vibrant colors from all the leaves changing colors. We saw lots of sheep, cows, and horses, but were also introduced to guanacos (similar to lamas) and ñandús (similar to emus). We also saw these cute little huts along the road that looked like Dutch bus stops, but we later learned they were wind shelters as the region is highly susceptible to extremely harsh winds. When we got closer to Torres del Paine, we could see the Andes Mountains, which had just received a fresh coat of snow the night before we arrived.
Our final stop before Ecocamp was at the Milodón Cave, where remains of the long extinct milodón were found many years ago. The cave itself was an incredible geological spectacle as it was formed over 18,000 years ago when advancing and retreating glaciers eroded the slopes of a mountain.
After the final leg of our drive we finally arrived at Ecocamp! It was absolutely incredible and the location was second to none. The camp is completely sustainable and is located in the heart of the national park. The green domes, where we stayed, sat right at the base of Torres del Paine and our dome had a private bathroom and wood stove to keep us warm in the below freezing temperatures. They were simple but very cozy and had all the necessities to keep us warm and comfortable during our stay in Patagonia. Our main window looked out over the national park and gave us an amazing sunrise each morning and a nice view of the moon each night. The view from our front door was the mountains and two of the three towers.
We quickly settled into our dome and then headed to the core domes to enjoy a pisco sour, hear about the excursion options for the next day, and to have dinner. Over a delicious dinner and lots of Chilean wine, we got to know our table mates Stanley (from the Philippians) and James and Allison (from Australia). We had driven from Punta Arenas with them, but didn’t really get to know each other until we arrived at Ecocamp. We formed almost an immediate bond and spent a majority of our time with them. One of the things we enjoy most about traveling is meeting people from all over the world and Stanley, James, and Allison were no different. We truly enjoyed their company throughout our time in Patagonia and all extended offers to each other to host the group if we were in each other’s part of the world.
For our first full day at Ecocamp, we chose to do the photography excursion since the hiking option had been cancelled due to snow from the previous day. We drove to multiple lookout points and in true form, I took way too many photos trying to capture all the amazing views. We decided after awhile that I wasn’t taking photographs, but instead I was taking desktop backgrounds. We saw waterfalls, rivers, lakes, glaciers, mountains, guanacos, condors, and flamingos! Every turn was more spectacular than the last and I have hundreds of photos to prove it! We even stopped off at Pehoe Lake and tried to recreate our own version of a National Geographic cover photo from a few years back. We tried some Patagonian beer during a lunch break and made friends with another group from North Carolina. We also got to know our guides Diego and Maria a little more throughout the day and found out they were dating and had a little dog. We instantly bonded over our love for our dogs and began sharing photos and videos of our pups.
At the beginning of the tour, we were told that the park is home to around 50 pumas and from that point on, Allen was on the lookout. He used all the detective and investigative skills we’ve picked up from our TV shows to try to track one down. Unfortunately, we never ended up seeing one in person, but Allen did find some remains of a guanaco that a puma must have had for dinner within the last couple of days. He entertained the whole group with his curiosity and determination. After a full day of exploring the park (and searching for pumas), we headed back to camp for another pisco sour, a delicious dinner (including an octopus appetizer, braised beef, and tres leches for dessert), and fun with our new friends.
Our last full day in Torres del Paine was the highlight of our time in Patagonia. We chose to do the 15 mile round-trip hike up to the base of the towers. We were told that the hike was split into three sections. The first section was a long, steep climb up the mountain followed by a “Patagonian flat” hike through the “magical forest”. Finally the last section of the hike was a steep climb over rocks and boulders where the only sense of a trail was some orange markers positioned between the rocks to lead you in the right direction. Allen and I were excited for the challenge and looked forward to our first active day on our trip, however the guides required the group to stick together as a safety precaution. Unfortunately for us, that meant a 6 hour climb to the base of the towers. We were hiking with people of all ages, injuries, and athletic abilities so it was a slow and steady climb up. It did however, provide me with plenty of time to take every photograph I wanted :) The views were absolutely breathtaking with snow on the mountain tops and the vibrant fall colors on all the trees.
After getting through the first two sections our guide ended up letting us, Stanley, James, and Allison break off from the group and do the last section on our own. Allen and I pretty much ran to the top due to equal amounts of excitement and hunger. We found a boulder to sit on while we quickly devoured our lunches and took in the view. We could see all three granite towers and a glacier that fed into a small lake below. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the water was crystal clear. It was the perfect reward after a long hike. Our guides told us how extremely lucky we were to have such wonderful weather because during the fall it is usually very cloudy and windy. We had had two very cold but clear days and given my bad luck with weather, we considered ourselves extremely lucky. While we were eating our lunches a small brown fox made it’s way over hoping to snack on some crumbs from our lunches. While we were careful not to drop anything we watched the cute little guy go from person to person looking for his next meal.
After about 45 minutes at the top we had to start our decent so that we would get back to camp before it was dark. Again our guide let our group of five go ahead of the others (since we were returning on the same trail) and we were able to go at a faster pace. It only took us about three hours to get down the mountain, but it was completely dark by the time we got to the bottom and we still had to walk about three kilometers back to camp. With no lights other than our cell phones…it took us about 45 minutes to finally make it back. We were so happy to finally sit down and celebrated with pisco sours and wine. We devoured our dinner since the only thing we had eaten since 8am was a sandwich and some trail mix. The main entree was an amazing king crab dish that quickly became one of our favorite meals.
We were leaving the next morning so we took our time at dinner sharing stories and exchanging contact information with our new friends. Ecocamp was such a wonderful experience and a great way to start our trip. We definitely wish we had another day or two to continue enjoying Torres del Paine, but now we have an excuse to come back! If anyone is traveling to Patagonia, we highly recommend Ecocamp (http://www.ecocamp.travel/). The staff was amazing and it truly is a one of a kind experience. We slept extremely well on our last night and woke up to enjoy one last breakfast with our friends before starting the long trek back to Punta Arenas.
