Unprepared for what we would experience!

We stepped on the plane to Santiago for our 24 day Patagonian adventure with only one night booked. (I don’t recommend that) We had ideas of what we wanted to see but no solid plans of how we were going to do that…and very little Spanish language between us. We learned as we went.

We landed in the Bellavista neighborhood known for its street art and music. From there we started to plan. We knew we wanted to use the bus system to head south into the lakes district. So we found the bus terminal and bought our first tickets. We were headed 6 hours south to Concepción. Everything was new to us and it must have shown on our faces, plus we were relying mostly on translation apps to communicate. But just when we needed an “angel”, someone would show up and help us along the way. (like arranging to get into the apartment we had booked)

We had heard from some people we met in the airport that Valdivia was a nice area to visit, so that was our next stop. Our first big lesson we learned was that you should buy the bus ticket before the day you want to travel. So it took us two busses and 3 more hours to get to Valdivia.

Valdivia was nice stop near the coast. We took a boat ride, went to the Mercado (I still love a good market) and walked through a local park and saw ponds and horses.

Next we were headed on bus #4 to the heart of the lakes district in Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas. We had great views of some of the 17 active volcanoes in the region.

We rented a car and drove to a sweet little town on Lago Llanquihue called Frutillar.

We took a day trip to the island of Chiloe which was a highlight! We traveled by ferry and loved the unique folklore and culture of the island as well as seeing the coast of the Pacific Ocean and beautiful waterfalls.

Puerto Varas was our favorite stop in the Lakes Region of Chile. It has easy access to many beautiful places and we had great Chilean food.

From there we took the bus (#5) into Argentina to see the lakes region from Bariloche. We had remarkable weather so we went on a couple hikes to see the views and of course ate more asado.

Chile is more than 2,600 miles long, so we jumped on a plane for this next leg to move from the lakes region to the Patagonian Mountains . We flew to el Calafate and took a bus (#6) to el Chalten. We had front row seats to the most incredible scenery.

El Chalten is a sweet walkable town filled with hikers, bars and restaurants. The hikes all start from the door of your hostel. We had unusually great weather to enjoy the views!

We bussed (#7) back a couple days later to el Calafate to rest, do laundry and see the famous Perito Merino Glacier. We enjoyed a walk around a bird sanctuary and saw flamingos. The birds in Chile and Argentina were so interesting.

On Thanksgiving we bussed (#8) to Los Glaciares National Park on a beautiful day. This glacier is rare in that it is stable and not yet retreating. It is about 19 miles long and part of the world’s second largest ice field. Being so close we could hear it shift and see pieces of it calve. It was remarkable.

Back on the bus (#9) we left el Calafate to head back to Chile to the town of Puerto Natales. This is the town closest to Torres del Paine national park. The host at our hostel helped us get park passes and explained the routes in the park to us. We rented a car and drove about two hours into the park.

Our final stop on our Patagonia adventure was to Punta Arenas. So after two glorious days in Torres del Paine we hopped on our last bus (#10) and headed to our most southern stop. We had hoped to go on a boat to Magdalena island to see the Magellanic penguins but the winds were too strong. So we rented a car, explored this historic port town and then drove to the tip of the South American continent (only about an hour) and walked the beach to San Isidro Lighthouse.

We flew back to Santiago for one last day to explore the city and then back to the states.

The first thought that comes to mind when we reflect on our time in Patagonia is “The genuine goodwill of strangers”. Over and over again we were greeted with so much kindness and people offered help in so many different ways.

The natural beauty we saw was unparalleled but it’s the beauty of the people that made our trip so memorable.

As Christmas approaches know that we miss you, we think of you often and we wish you all a joyful and peaceful Feliz Navidad!

Love to you

Michelle and Jim