GET AWAY: 09 days is enough to spend a nice time visiting The Patagonia

Before start reading take into consideration the following points:

Lenght of the trip: 09 days/08 nights
Services: Regular seat in bus that means to share transfers and excursions with, in most cases, small groups for 20 persons. As October it is high season begining we were very lucky to be almost alone in all the services and we payed half amount respect a private tour.
Weather: We traveled in October which is a great time of the year to visit Patagonia. The weather it is much better that in winter but it is cold as well and very windy. We recommend to travel from October to April. After that it is very very cold and all services and excursions are subject to weather conditions, most of the hotels close their doors.

Day 1- Arrival to El Calafate

We take a flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate. After our arrival our transfer was waiting and took us to our hotel. We arrived to our lovely hotel "Hostería Hainen". In Argentina Hostería it is used for small hotels, mainly managed directly by the owners, that makes the place very comfortable. After leaving all our stuff in our room we decided to explore the town. From the hotel you can go easily walking to the town. It as short and very nice walk. After having a coffee with typical Patagonian chocolates we decided to go back to the hotel to rest as on the next day was the visit to Perito Moreno Glacier.

Day 2 - Perito Moreno Glacier
After having breakfast (very nice, with all the necessary things) our guide picked us up and we departed to Los Glaciares National Park. It is approximately 1 hour drive from the city. Just few meters from the entrance to the National Park you can have the first view from Perito Moreno Glacier, it is absolutely amazing. Then it is a short drive until you arrive the starting point to walk through the corridors so you can have more and more views from this big big ice. The walking takes approximately one hour and a half. It is very impressive when you listen how the glacier breaks. After the walking we decided to take a boat to catch a glimpse of the glacier from the water. It is very nice also to take this boat but it is very cold outside. Then we had lunch and then we returned to the city very happy and with very good luck we could see a rainbow which was absolutely amazing!!!!

Day 3- El Calafate to Puerto Natales
Today we waked up early as we had to take our bus to Puerto Natales. The bus departed at 8.30 and we arrived to Natales at 3.00 pm. The duration of the trip will depend on the time you spend at customers and weather conditions. We arrived to our hotel, Weskar, very nice but not located in the city. It is up in a small hill so you can have very nice views from the city and Fiord Ultima Esperanza. We went for a walk and we bought some souvenirs.

Day 4- Balmaceda & Serrano Glaciers
This is a full day excursion most of the time you are on a boat so you have to be prepare to navigate and navigate. We departed from Puerto Natales port. This excursion take part of the Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, the largest in Chile. In its way, you can enjoy an environment surrounded by hills and forests, marine wolves romping in the rocky and hundreds of cormorants venting their wings. After approx. 03 hours we arrived to Puerto Toro where we had a short walk through the forest to reach the foot of the Serrano Glacier. We returned to our boats and we navigate this time for lunch. We stopped at a typical Estancia patagonica and we had lamb barbecue. Absolutely amazing!!!! We returned to Puerto Natales or if you have more energy you can talk a horse back riding. We decided to go back as we needed to rest to be prepare for the next day.

Day 5- Torres del Paine
This day we had to get up very early. Our pick up was at 7.00 am. This National Park is a popular hiking destination in Chile, but we didn’t go for trekking. Declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1978, the Torres del Paine national park (situated in the Magallanes 12th region in Chile) is internationally recognized as one of the most beautiful, unique and uncontaminated places on the planet. It is a place of lakes, rivers, waterfalls, glaciers, forests and incredible wildlife, all of which make it an exciting destination for wildlife observers and adventure sportsmen alike.

En route we visited the Milodon Cave, where lived Monument prehistoric animal called a "Milodon". After that Torres del Paine!!! If you take a regular excursion as we did, it is very tired to go bak to Puerto Natales after the visit. I recommend to overnight at least 01 night inside the National Park and on the next day return to Puerto Natales. We did it in this way.

The excursion it is very nice and complete, they gave us a box lunch and then we had free time to eat. It has stops at the main points of the Park. You will see lot of local fauna: guanacos, zorros, flamencos, condores, and ñandues. We finally arrived to Laguna Amarga the end of the trip for this day and change vehicle to arrive to Hotel Las Torres where we spent the night.

Day 6- To Punta Arenas
Again we waked up early (it is necessary) and took our transfer to Puerto Natales bus station to take a bus to Punta Arenas. This day we took a route from the National Park that we didn't do yesterday so at last we could see the famous TORRES of the park. The bus from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas takes approx. 02 hours. Punta Arenas is a very important and big city from Patagonia Chilena. Its commercial, cultural and social development has made Punta Arenas famous throughout the entire country, especially in the last few years, when it was established as tax-free zone. Thus, visitors to the city may acquire products from all over the world with the benefit of being exempted from taxes. Both visitors from Puerto Natales, lying 260-kilometers away, and Ushuaia (Argentina) seek to take advantage of these advantages. Of course we did it! Our Hotel Cabo de Hornos was very good, located in front of the main square.

Day 7- Punta Arenas to Ushuaia
We only stay one night in Punta Arenas and it was good. Just overnight to connect on the next day with a regular bus to Ushuaia. Another very tired day. This bus takes approximately 11 hours to arrive in Ushuaia. You have to take a ferry to get acroos the Magallanes strait and change vehicle at Rio Grande (Argentina). The bus that should take you from Rio Grande to Ushuaia was delayed so we have to wait like two hours in this small bus terminal almost with nothing to do! But we knew this since we decided to take the regular bus, also there is no other option. We arrive late in the night to our accommodation Hosteria Sloggett and we went to sleep. The location of the hosteria is not really good because it is up in the city and not close from the main street. Next time in Ushuaia I will chose another location.

Day 8- Tierra del Fuego National Park & Beagle Chanel Navigation
Early again and after breakfast we were picked up from the hotel and visited Tierra del Fuego National Park. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was tired after waking up early during all the trip, but I didn’t find nothing interesting and amazing in Ushuaia. I think this is because views and landscapes in Calafate & Torres del Paine are very impressive. The city of Ushuaia it is a dirty city, I didn’t find the End of the World Train necessary to take and also it is very expensive and it is such a boring train. The main attraction for me was to reach Lapataia Bay, the southernmost point of the continent. We returned to Ushuaia and we had one hour to have lunch (not included) and then we walked to the port to take the boat to navigate the Beagle Chanel. In a matter of minutes we were sailing along the bay that surrounds the city from where we could make out the most emblematic buildings and constructions. As we sailed away from the bay, we spotted several points of interest on the coast: the End of the World and the Maritime Museums and the small summits surrounding Ushuaia: Mounts Olivia, Cinco Hermanos (Five Brothers) and Escarpados (Rugged). We were swiftly approaching Isla Casco where the boat slowed down for us to watch a bird colony which had caught our eye from afar. The guides told us we were heading for Bridges Isles, the name the first pioneer in Ushuaia gave the islands in honor of his daughters. After that the boat headed for Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, the real southernmost lighthouse in Argentina, not the San Juan de Salvamento immortalized by Jules Verne as ‘The Lighthouse at the End of the World’. After spotting the lighthouse, we toured Isla de los Lobos (Sea Lion Island) inhabited by those enormous, curious mammals who swam around the boat. On the way back, we saw other islands where imperial and Magellan cormorants fluttered about with albatross and petrels while the waves pounded the bow.

Day 09- Departure day
We were transferred to Ushuaia Airport to take our flight back to Buenos Aires. Our trip ended and we took with us many happy memories.

THE TRIP IN IMAGES: