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Best time of year
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Patagonia lies in the Southern Hemisphere: seasons are therefore inverted and the driest months are December to March. January and February, the height of summer, are the most stable and popular. A three week trip should be regarded as the absolute minimum, whilst those more fortunate will find three months more appropriate.
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Getting there
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This article describes treks in the Parque Nacional Torre del Paine and the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, situated in Southern Patagonia.
Parque Nacional Torre del Paine is reached by travelling from Santiago to Punta Arenas by air and continuing by bus to Puerto Natales. Alternatively, Puerto Natales can be reached from Argentina by bus from either Rio Gallegos or El Chalten from November to March.
Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is reached by travelling from Buenos Aires to Rio Gallegos by air and continuing by either by air to El Calafate or by a 4 hour bus-ride. Alternatively, El Calafate can be reached from by bus from Puerto Natales, Chile from November to March.
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Accommodation
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Hotels, Casas de Familia (B&B’s) and campsites exist in all major towns. Youth Hostels can be found in El Calafate and El Chalten, but not in Puerto Natales.
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Final considerations
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Paying by credit card is widely accepted, but not everywhere. Banks exist in all major towns as do cash machines in Puerto Natales and El Calafate. Nevertheless, a supply of traveller’s cheques is recommended.
- The main form of transport for most travellers is by bus. Rival bus operators offer similar packages and prices, but differ in their departure times, dates and, for El Chalten, their pick up and drop off points. Spend plenty of time gathering all the necessary information from the tourist offices and various operators.
- Private cars are few and far between, making hitchhiking a difficult enterprise. Unless you have plenty of time, do not rely on this as the main form of transport.
- Although bus connections to and from Parque Nacional Torre del Paine are frequent, within the park they are effectively non-existent and they race past fantastic sights at breakneck speed. Having personal transport in the park makes a big difference.
- Buy supplies in the supermarkets in Puerto Natales and El Calafate. There are no shops in Parque Nacional Torre del Paine, and those in El Chalten are expensive.
- A word of caution about the climate: when it decides to, it can play extremely rough indeed. These treks are not particularly demanding, but things can change dramatically in bad conditions. Gusty winds of up to 160km/h make progress extremely difficult and unpleasant, and can bring bad weather in a matter of minutes. Take all necessary precautions, even on the best of days. Having the right trekking gear is essential therefore.
- Water from mountain streams is safe enough to drink and so too is that of Laguna Capri, but it is nevertheless recommended practice to boil water for at least 5 mins. Use the designated loos in Campamento Torres and Campamento Poincenot, even if the former isn’t the most appealing.
- If planning to make a pre-dawn start check out some of the route the evening before. The fork in Campamento Rio Blanco, in particular, can be hard to locate in the dark. A headtorch is of paramount importance. |
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Maps
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Monte Fitz Roy & Cerro Torre Trekking Map 1:50000 - Zagier & Urruty, 1998 (available locally)
Torres del Paine, N° 13 Trekking Map - "JLM
Mapas". |
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Bibliography
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Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – Lonely Planet, April 1996
Trekking in the Patagonian Andes – Lonely Planet, February 1998
Trekking En Chalten & Lago del Desierto – Zagier & Urruty, (Spanish and English) |
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Other sights worth seeing
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- No trip to Southern Patagonia is complete without at least a day spent at the “truly wonderful” Perito Moreno glacier. Organised buses are frequent, but unfortunately do not offer the freedom one desires to explore and contemplate.
- Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, is in many respects a big disappointment and so too is the highly restricted Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego.
- The Reserva Faunística Penísula Valdés, on the Atlantic Ocean and in the NE of Patagonia, is one of the great wildlife reserves in South America. It is worth making the effort. |
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Food
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Eating out is gratifying; Argentinian meat is world famous and so too is Chilean red wine.
Those on a tighter budget will find supermarkets well stocked but expensive, as all food needs to be transported south. |
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