Venturing to “the end of the world” is somewhere most travelers aspire to journey at least once in their lives, and although we did this trip back in February 2016, during a whirlwind 21-day tour when we still had full-time jobs, we’re so happy that we got to set foot in that little sliver of a paradise called Chile. From top to bottom, this remarkable country spans 2670 miles (4300 kilometers) and has a maximum width of only 217 miles (350 kilometers) and offers every type of terrain imaginable.
Because we were on a limited timeline, we only were able to get our toes wet in Santiago, Valparaiso, Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, but it made us realize that coming back in the future is definitely something we hope to do, particularly to continue explorations in the Chilean side of Patagonia. And by that point, we also hope our Spanish won’t be so rusty. Chilean Spanish is undoubtedly some of the most difficult to understand that we’ve encountered.
Another remark, this was the first trip we mentioned on the Explorer Genes Facebook page, and we were just learning to edit photos. Some of them are incredibly over-edited, because, to be honest, we had no idea what we were doing back then 😉 Another note, this trip definitely did not fall into our $40-50/day budget. In fact, It was about $3500 for three weeks, which is nearly triple what we spend per month now. But, that also included round trip tickets from Portland, Oregon. Patagonia, particularly, is not cheap.
Santiago
After an eight hour red eye from Mexico City where not a lot of sleep was to be had, our first glance of the Andes. It also marked our first time in the Southern Hemisphere.
Checking into our Airbnb apartment in Santiago around 1 pm. This was before AirBnb was completely exploiting everyone with their fees. It was $40 a night for inquiring minds. We were so ready to change after being on the plane all night and then sweating profusely lugging our bags from the metro in 90 degree February heat.
The graffiti was incredible. We even saw some “professionals” working on a mural.
We took the funicular up to the top of San Cristobal so we could get a birds eye view of the city, which felt like deja vu to our Bogota trip. Greg taught Mandy early in our relationship to always “get high” in a new city for a great vantage point and it’s so true. Hehe. Santiago spread for miles upon miles.
The offerings
Visiting the famous St Mary Immaculate Conception statue that overlooks the city. Not quite Christ the Redeemer but still impressive. Measuring 14 meters tall, we imagined she was waving at Jesus front across the continent.
Stocking up on cheap eats by hitting the market. It’s always been our fav! We got a whole bag of booty for about $5. Sure glad we upgraded our camera!
Met lots of new friends at the market too.
Chess in the park…at least 20 tables worth. Loved the sense of community!
Abstract at its finest in this piece of public art.
Valparaiso
From Santiago, we took a day trip to the coastal port town known as “The Jewel of the Pacific.” Valparaiso is a colorful and vibrant UNESCO World Heritage site with a glut busting mission about 1.5 hours from Santiago. It is weaved together perfectly with luscious street art, clifftop homes, and an endless display of stairs and funiculars which makes you feel like you’re in a constant game of Chutes and Ladders.
It is absolutely insane how many historic funiculars this city has….16 to be exact. This one, Ascenor Concepcion was built in 1883 and all were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Views from the top
Color, color everywhere
Why walk down stairs when you can slide? Told ya….Chutes & Ladders.
Resting the gluts from all the ladders. Quite a workout here.
It was also interesting to see the little tastes of Europe throughout the city.
Punta Arenas
From Santiago, we took the most turbulent plane ride of our lives down to the most southern city in Chile of Punta Arenas, which is one of the gateways to the magical Patagonia region where Chile and Argentina meet. It was so bizarre for us to head to dinner at 9:30 pm in February and be catching the sunset.
First glimpses of the Strait of Magellan. Remember that guy from history class, kids?
We dined on $2 glasses of Chilean wine and avocado-wrapped fresh sushi. Could get used to this…
Back to school time! Yes, their February=our August!
The view of Punta Arenas from Mirador de la Cruz, and the ever-flowing ocean, all the way to Antarctica.
The famous Magellan statue. Supposedly if you rub his beefy little toe, you’ll return. Guess we’re going back one day!
Isla de Magdalena
One of the major reasons we wanted to pause in Punta Arenas was so we could make a day trip to Isla de Magdalena and see the first penguins of our lives, sin cages. This island is one of the best wildlife viewings anywhere and can be reached from one of the ports in Punta Arenas in about an hour. It is the second largest penguin colony in penguin colony in South America and you can walk freely amongst the penguins.
Pinguinos, Pinguinos everywhere on Isla de Magdalena. We had been wanting to go here since we saw on Departures. The Magellan penguins are migratory birds and are on the island form the beginning of October to the beginning of April.
Mandy learned a new walk!
This is the ferry that brought us over–a tip we got from the Departures guys. It was $50 round trip, which was way cheaper than the $88 tours advertised in town. Yes, even back then, we were always looking for the frugal option.
When the sun ended up coming out, it was simply gorgeous. Barren and treeless; felt very Antarctic. Was incredible (and a little maddening) to be this close and not get to go the final step to the bottom of the world.
Puerto Natales
From Punta Arenas, we took a bus to the port town of Puerto Natales, which was a brief stopover for lunch, some terrible doughy pizza and a quick tour of the most quirky town garbage bins we’ve ever seen. We then took another bus through some of the most breathtaking landscape we’ve ever laid eyes on, including glimpses of the famous Torres del Paine. But alas, the world renowned “W Trek” would have to wait for the next trip, as back then we had jobs to return to, and simply didn’t have time to do it all.
Onward to Argentina!
