Stark Natural Beauty at the End of the Earth
This remote land of silent fjords, hanging glaciers, pristine lakes and jagged mountains is the most visited part of Chile. Yet much of it remains a vast wilderness, with areas of staggering beauty. The Parque Nacional Torres del Paine offers both: trek around the mighty towers of granite, thrust up like fingers from a mass of basalt buttresses, passing minty green and icy blue glacial lakes in which icebergs float. In summer, you’ll share the awe-inspiring landscape with a steady stream of walkers, but start out at dawn, and you’ll find solitude and silence in some of the most dramatic landscapes on earth.
The quaint port of Puerto Natales is the nearest town, with its tranquil views over the Ultima Esperanza Sound, fringed by lofty far-off peaks. Take a boat from here into Parque Nacional Bernardo O’Higgins where glaciers descend steeply into the water, and you can even trek on the ice.
Punta Arenas is Chile’s southernmost city, a complete contrast to the endless wind-swept sheep farms all around. Here you’ll find superb fish restaurants and classy hotels in grand 1900s stone buildings, relics from the city’s heyday of sheep farming millionaires. Sail from here through the Magellan Strait to the Argentine city of Ushuaia, or head for adventure nearby in the Parque Nacional Pali Aike, to get a sense of how precarious civilization is in this wildest part of Patagonia. For general travel information on Chilean Patagonia, see http://www.interpatagonia.com.
