Breathtaking scenery on trip Santiago to Patagonia

Patagonia | Mar 2 - Mar 17, 2024

Wow, travelling thru 7 cities and 6 national parks of Chile in just 16 days, from Santiago to the Carretara Austral Lake District thru the end in Patagonia was a complex itinerary to plan, and amazing! Thanks go out to Erin and Nara for making this dream trip possible. Special thanks to our wonderful tour guides, hiking guides, drivers and hoteliers. All were very accommodating, knowledgable, punctual and kind. Jass company who provided hiking guides in Alerce Andino and for the Osorno Volcano and Paso Desolacion, and Aysen Tours in Cerro Castillo, and Litour driver in Torres del Paine deserve particular 3 cheers! Highlights of our trip have to start with the beauty of the Carretara Austral Lake District and the hike to Osorno Volcano and Paso Desolacion, beautiful Puerto Varas, stunning scenery of the Cerro Castillo valley, visiting San Rafael glacier from a boat with seals floating by on icebergs, kayaking to the marble caves in Rio Tranquilo, visiting Magdalena Island to see penguins up close in their natural habitat, and of course day hiking in Torres del Paine with highlights the French Valley and Macho canyon and seeing wildlife including a puma in the wild hunting a guanaco, a magellanic woodpecker, flamingos, deer and grey fox. The food in Chile was wonderful, people kind and welcoming, and scenery like a NatGeo documentary. One surprise was that although the average, historical temperature was 50-60 degrees at this time of year, our trip was not the average, with daily temperatures 20 degrees below normal, with driving, icy rain and even light snow falling in early March on some days. Additionally, while I knew the itinerary included long transfers, 3-5 hours straight on unpaved, rocky and pot-holed roads can get very punishing, so traveling thru the Lake District requires some hardiness, but the rewards are worth it!asks again for an amazing trip.