The Travel Plan

Fly to Chile and day hike in Patagonia and the Atacama Desert.

Itinerary At a Glance – February / March 2023

DAY 0	Fly from Durango, Colorado to Santiago, Chile
DAY 1	Drive from Santiago, Chile to Viña Del Mar
DAY 2	Drive from Viña del Mar back to Santiago
DAY 3	Fly from Santiago to Puerto Natales in Patagonia
DAY 4	Stay in Puerto Natales at The Singular Patagonia
DAY 5	Transfer to Explora Torres del Paine
DAY 6	Half day hike “Aonikenk”
DAY 7	Full day hike “Alto del Toro”
DAY 8	Full day hike “Glacier Grey”
DAY 9	Fly from Puerto Natales to Santiago
DAY 10	Fly from Santiago to Calama and transfer to Explora Atacama
DAY 11	Multiple excursions: “Puritama”, “Laguna de Chaxa” and Stargazing the Southern Hemisphere
DAY 12	Two excursions: “Dunas de la Chula” and “Tebenquinche”
DAY 13	Full-day excursion “Rio Blanco” (aka the Tatio Geysers hike)
DAY 14	Fly from Santiago, Chile to Durango, Colorado

Part 2 picks up with DAY 5 of our trip and our arrival at Explora Torres del Paine.

Day 5 – Transfer to Explora Torres del Paine

Transfer to Explora: The Explora driver picked us up promptly at our scheduled 11 am. The next two and a half hours were looong and bumpy. The Patagonia rains result in roads that are washboarded and pot-holed. You’ll often see large excavators smoothing out the roads, but when we arrived the weather had temporarily halted their work.

In typical hotel fashion, the Explora check-in process included too much information to take in all at once. The upside is they connected us to the Guide Station to get started that afternoon with a short 2.5 mile hike.

First excursion: We had time for a quick lunch and to unpack in our room, before heading out on a rainy (but no wind!) walk close to the property where we learned about the local flora, including the Calafate berry bush.

Adjusting to meal times: We were ready for a relaxing dinner at 7:30 pm. Dining times at the Explora lodges seem to revolve more around excursion times than customary Chilean meal times. For example, breakfast started at 7 am, giving folks just enough time to grab something before early excursions that left around 7:30. For those who took a day to lounge around the property (which I did), lunch started at 12:30. Dinner started at 7:30, which worked out well since excursions had everyone back to the lodge by 5 or 6 at the latest.

I want to add that the food at Explora Torres del Paine was excellent. A nice selection of white, red and sparkling wines were always available, along with mixed drinks from the bar. Plus, we could always ask for nuts, chips, coffees, etc. between meals.

LINKS

• Explora Torres del Paine

Day 6 – Half day hike “Aonikenk”

Early start to the day: Before every Explora hike they set out bowls of snacks that include a variety of nuts, energy bars, mini chocolate bars, dried fruit and fresh fruit. There’s also water available to fill up the complimentary water bottles they gave us and trekking poles.

Before our 4.2 mile hike we made sure to load up in preparation for our first real Patagonia hike!

Here’s the description of this hike:
“We travel by van to the eastern sector of the park, where we hike, exploring the wildlife. During the walk, we visit a cave with paintings that are over 4,000 years old. We can observe the geese, ducks and swans in lagoon that are on the way. The terrain has various ascents and descent without steep slopes. Return by van.”

Most of the Explora hikes, if not all, are either loops or a one-way trek that ends where a van is waiting to return the group to the lodge. It’s a very thoughtful way to optimize excursions for their guests.

This hike was one of our favorites with grand views of the mountains under a vivid blue sky where condors soared. We got our first peak at Guanacos, considered the ancestor of the domesticated llamas. We also saw a Puma, which is more rare and considered a very big deal by the Explora guides. It was a big deal to us!

Back at the lodge by 12:30 pm, we had lunch and then headed down to the Spa for an outdoor hot tub alongside the lake. Perfect for easing sore muscles.

Day 7 – Full day hike “Alto del Toro”

For our first full-day hike, we purposely chose a hike categorized as “easy.” It was a 7.8 mile, 5 hour hike. Little did we know that this would end up being the hardest hike of our entire vacation.

Here’s the description:
“We begin our hike with a challenging climb that will take us to ancient forests that are little known and rarely visited in this park. We will arrive at a viewpoint that will allow us to have a 360 view of the park, including the Paine Massif and the Southern Ice fields.”

The day was clear and started out with the typical Patagonia breeze that soon turned into a strong wind with gusts.

After a brief snack break around 3 miles into our hike, the hike got progressively harder and the wind more challenging. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking, “We’re probably over halfway through. I’ve made it this far, I can make it the rest of the way.”

Several miles later, our guide stopped, turned to our group, and told us he had missed the correct fork and we had to return to our snack spot.

Suffice it to say, this was not good news and our hike turned into a 13 grueling miles. When we finally returned to the lodge at 6 pm, we immediately checked on hot tub availability to recover from the day. Thankfully, one was open.

Our overall experience with Explora, both at Torres del Paine and Atacama, was excellent. One unfortunate excursion didn’t take anything away from our experience and we would stay there again.

As a cautionary tale, it’s helpful to be aware that things can happen no matter how prepared you, or the guides, are. Difficulties can arise with weather, trail conditions, and in our case, an accidental wrong turn.

As a side note, we happened to get the same guide the following day. He made a point to apologize to us again which impressed me. And yes, the excursion was perfect!

Day 8 – Full day hike “Glacier Grey”

A glacier like no other: Even with the tiring never-ending hike from the day before, we couldn’t say no to the chance to do the Glacier Grey hike. It involves taking an Explora catamaran across Lake Pehoé to the start of the hike and returning via another catamaran so the wind conditions on the lake have to be just right or the boat captain will cancel the trip. The wind forecast for this day promised a “thumbs up.” We were ready to go!

Here’s the description:
“We cross the Pehoé Lake by catamaran to the Paine Grande refuge to cross one of the stretches of the renowned W circuit. Around the midpoint of the hike, we can see the Grey Glacier and the Southern Ice Fields. We continue walking to the beach of Grey Lake where we board a boat that brings us to the glacier and then leaves us on the other side of the lake. We walk along the beach and through a forest to the van.”

At 7:15 am our guides directed us down the walkway to the Explora dock where we boarded their boat to one of the Torres del Paine refugios, or hiking hostels, that dot the trails. We had time for a quick bathroom break and a series of stretches before starting the beautiful 7.7 mile hike that ended at a refugio close to the Grey Glacier. That’s where we stopped for lunch before hiking down to the beach to board the Grey III Catamaran for a 3-hour tour.

For full-day excursions, Explora always provided a menu with several options to choose from. We typically picked one of their sandwiches, but there was also a vegetarian option like couscous or quinoa. The menu changed every day. In addition to the metal meal container that each of us put in our packs, the guides carried hot water for tea and coffee, along with a thermos of hot soup and selection of meats, cheese and nuts, which they would plate and present on top of a cloth napkin. We were always impressed with these “spreads” and Explora’s efforts to make our trailside meals more special and luxurious, even in the Patagonia rains!

By the time we hopped on the glacier catamaran, the weather was sunny and beautiful. Being a public cruise ship, it was packed with a variety of passengers, but our guides made us feel special, getting us Pisco Sours from the bar and taking photos of us outside.

At 6 kilometers wide (~3.7 miles) and almost 100 feet high at its peak, the Grey Glacier is the biggest glacier in the park. Largo Grey, the lake that leads up to the glacier is surrounded by mountains and full of icebergs floating in turquoise water. The glacier itself is a breathtaking shade of blue that outshines the Alaska glaciers (sorry, Alaska).

Day 9 – Fly from Puerto Natales to Santiago

Return to Santiago: This day was a travel day, returning us to Santiago via SKY airline at the Puerto Natales airport. We stayed the night at the same Holiday Inn in preparation for a 7 am flight to Calama the next day.

Here’s a quick note on the Puerto Natales airport. It’s very small. You start out in the single outer room where the airline counters are. Per their transfer schedule, Explora dropped us off early for our 4:30 pm flight. At that time of day, the airport was virtually empty, but within hours it filled up.

Within an hour or so of departure time, they opened the sliding glass doors to another big room where we would eventually board the plane. There’s a small snack shop in this area where I used up a few pesos on a bottle of Coca-cola. Waiting passengers were comprised of locals and tourists of all sorts, mostly backpackers. It was a friendly, relaxing group of people.

We never had any problems with our Chilean flights. They were all on time, smooth and stress-free. We had more issues with our United flights due to several delays arising from dreaded “maintenance light” issues.

Recap

• The end of February, beginning of March was a great time to go. The weather cooperated and we avoided larger crowds.
• We were glad we included both Patagonia and Atacama in our trip. It required more planning and stretched our budget, but it was a dream vacation that we will never forget.
• Staying at a lodge that included excursions greatly simplified that part of trip planning. I didn’t have to prebook costly excursions or be concerned about weather or physical limitations that might crop up. There was complete peace of mind.
• Adventurous locations don’t necessarily require a certain level of fitness or ability. There are often ways to access sites, such as vehicles, boats or horses, enabling you to have unique experiences.
• Never be afraid to ask. For example, at Explora we discovered half-way through our stay at the second lodge that we could get coffee (including cappuccino!) in to-go cups. And we didn’t realize we could ask for nuts, chips or other available snacks at the bar. What other little treats could we have enjoyed had we just asked?
• When planning future trips with multiple stops, I intend to avoid single overnight stays at airports. They’re inconvenient with extra unpacking and packing, plus the Holiday Inn at the Santiago Airport has seen better days, probably due to the amount of travelers coming through. It was a bed to sleep on, but that’s about it. And we did it twice!
• We considered trying another brand for the Atacama portion of our trip, but couldn’t resist the discount that Explora offered on booking two properties. It was worth it, so keep an eye out for those types of offers when planning a multi-stop trip, and make sure you understand the offer. For example, when we initially booked Explora, they offered 10% off each property. I later saw the offer change to 25% off a second property booked. I had booked the less expensive property last and would have received a smaller discount under that offer.
• We packed carefully. Each of us had one medium-sized piece of checked luggage and a backpack. We hand washed laundry as needed which worked out well except for Atacama where items seemed to take forever to dry. In the future, I might pack a bit of extra clothing (we had room) or splurge on a laundry service.