Chile Patagonia

THE TRAVEL

I flew from Santiago to Punta Arenas and when I got there I immediately knew a chilean traveler, Nicolas (read the funny story about how it happened). We decided to reach hitch hiking the entry of the Parco National Torres dal Paine. We got it in two days. I found it really funny but tiring too; most of the lifts were on the backside of the pick up and the road was unpaved, thus it was a very trembling experience. The first night we stopped in Puerto Natales and we slept in a military barracks. I liked this small town: my main memory are the kids playing everywhere who greeted me passing, and the suggestive raimbow I saw waking up after the rainy night. The day after we reached the entry of the National Park where we began trekking. It was quite tough since the heavy backbag, but in one day I get used. Me and Nicolas got perfectly along: he cooked and I prepared the tent. A kind of couple :-) We trekked several days in the park reaching also the amazing glaciar Grey and meeting some others travelers (see the map above). Then my time was over and I come back with an american couple while he went on.
I met Nicolas two years later in Swiss (read)

IMPRESSIONS

What impressed me of Patagonia were his contrasts. I saw more than 200 Km of flat dry earth swept by a strong wind where there was absolute nothing. I remember when I was waiting for a lift I could see the endless road running to the horizon, and I could see a car coming so long before it reached me. Suddenly the Andes appears. There's no a gradual change of the country, you see high rocky mountains with the world vastest glaciars towering from this flat dry land. It's wonderfull

TIPS

What you need depends strictly by where you'll go in Patagonia; if you are going to trek in the Parks in the north part or simply travel in the Tierra del Fuego, and overall it depends by the period you're going there.

Anyway the GENERAL RULES are :
in the summertime (january-february) the daytime temperature is 12-18 C, but the sun rays burn and it's very windy. Moreover Patagonia is famous for the changeble weather due to the strong winds. It can start and stop raining getting clear severals time in one day.
The best is to be ready to wear and take off clothes according to the moments ("wear like an onion": I mean using layers of thin clothes you can remove gradually if you feel hot, more than one thick one)

EQUIPMENT. Don't forget:

- sunglasses

-a good cap

-lipsalve

-sun cream

-waterproof outfit (it's rainy)

IN CASE OF TREKKING:

-a good pair of trekking shoes (a lot of muddy path, in some part can be 50 cm (20 inches) deep)

-a solid tent (it's very windy!!!)

-a zoom to take pictures of animals like the condor and a long exposition camera for night pictures of the sky (Patagonia is a unique place in the world to admire the stars)

REMEMBER about Torres del Paine National Park:

-to enter the national park you have to pay a cheap taxes and you are suppose to be at least two people (at least this was the rule I don't know if they were strict with it)

-the tracks I did (see the map above) didn't need any particular climbing skill and they were quite easy. Anyway from the other travellers I've met I've not heard about tracks needing a climbing equipment (harness)

-The ferry in lake Grey that let you to nearer the glaciar didn't run because of the icebergs, despite it was summer.

-There are not so many food store in the park, you need to be food independent for at least two- three days.

- The entry of the park is connected to Punta Arenas by daily cheap buses

-If you need some trekking equipment in Punta Arenas you can find everything you want