Exploring Patagonia’s National Parks From Puerto Montt to Tierra Del Fuego

Arrive in Puerto Montt and transfer to the Radisson Hotel Puerto Varas (or similar). In the early evening, gather for an informal reception and a drink at the hotel. 

Enjoy a morning of exploration, and then relax and enjoy lunch before embarking on the ship in the afternoon. 

Spend the day exploring Chiloé’s culture and natural history, including its attractive palafitos: colorful fishermen’s houses precariously built on stilts along the water’s edge. The town is full of little shops and a large open-air market where the Chileans show their indigenous wares such as alpaca sweaters and lapis jewelry. You may choose to visit Chiloé National Park to see its forests, wetlands, and wildlife, with a selection of longer or shorter walks. Alternatively, visit some of the welcoming small communities that dot the countryside and learn about a unique way of life. One of the unique features of the island’s history and culture is its wooden churches, collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The churches and many of the houses are covered in protective shells of wooden shingles in artistic designs. 

Pumalín’s 750,000 acres in Chilean Patagonia are protected as one of the last areas where the unusual alerce forest remains. These huge trees are similar in dimension to California redwoods, with some specimens about 2,000 years old. The Pumalín Project was established in 1995 by the late American conservationist Doug Tompkins, who wanted to preserve some of the remaining virgin forests in Chile. Have a choice of walks in the park with naturalists in the forest, visiting a hidden waterfall, or climbing along a rushing stream and looking for forest birds along the trail. In the afternoon, head for the Golfo de Corcovado in search of marine wildlife, looking for Magellanic penguins, sooty shearwaters, dolphins, and—with luck—whales.

Today offers a choice of two interesting excursions.  

You may decide to take a morning excursion to a nearby, exceptionally beautiful privately owned park, Aiken del Sur. The park has well-maintained trails, set in an evergreen forest with lovely waterfalls and lakes, including a 75-foot-high cascade. Bird possibilities include ringed kingfishers, woodpeckers, and a variety of forest birds. A Patagonian lamb barbecue (with vegetarian options) and entertainment by local musicians await at the end of the walk. 

Alternatively, take a full-day excursion to the Coyhaique National Reserve, driving up into a beautiful valley nestled in the Andes, with views of the snow-covered peaks. Entering the reserve, drive through an evergreen forest full of giant rhubarb and ferns to the transition zone of the deciduous Nothofagus forest. The starting point for the hike is Laguna Verde, “Green Lake.” Coyhaique National Reserve is home to three Chilean woodpecker species, passerines, diurnal and nocturnal predatory birds, and other animals such as pumas and foxes. After the hike, you’ll have a picnic lunch and visit the city of Coyhaique, seeing its central plaza and the artisans’ stalls, with excellent handicrafts. Then return to Puerto Chacabuco and National Geographic Resolution.  

This huge region of incredible scenery provides days of adventure for you. A vast area of snowcapped mountains, gigantic glaciers, thousands of islands covered with forests and other vegetation, lakes, soaring granite walls, and waterfalls, the archipelago is untouched by humans except for a few fishing villages which perch at “the end of the world.” With a National Geographic Photography Expert and a certified photo instructor by your side, you’ll have boundless photo options.  

One of the many highlights is the Pio XI Glacier, the longest glacier in the southern hemisphere outside of Antarctica, running some 60 miles from the Patagonia icefield to the fjord where it noisily calves off gigantic ice masses, at a rate of one every several minutes. It is 2 miles wide and rises nearly 200 feet above sea level. Explore by Zodiac. These days offer multiple opportunities to hike and to use Zodiacs, kayaks, and undersea technology to explore the beautiful protected waters. En route to Puerto Natales, transit the Kirke Narrows, a dogleg between unforgiving rock bluffs.

From Puerto Natales, drive to the monumental Torres del Paine National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere. The landscape is big, wide, and sprawling, with razor-backed ridges, Andean condors, flamingos, and rheas. It’s hard to imagine that the park could top the drive, but the Torres del Paine is an amazing sight: jagged granite mountains topped with a thick layer of dark slate. Discover one of the most spectacular and wildlife-rich areas in the Americas, covering 450,000 acres of glaciers, forests grasslands, rivers, and colorful lagoons. Chileans themselves dream of visiting this magnificent park. You’ll be able to choose whether to hike or drive to some of the most scenic places in this great setting.  

Tierra del Fuego is one of Patagonia’s crown jewels. Established in 2004 through a gift from Goldman Sachs, Karukinka is one of the largest donations ever made for conservation. We’re thrilled to have special permission from the Wildlife Conservation Society to visit this private reserve, which spans 1,160 square miles and harbors endangered Culpeo fox, Andean condors, and many other kinds of wildlife. Explore Jackson Bay, backed by a skyline of rugged mountains, and look for wildlife including black-browed albatross that nest on one of the nearby small islands.  

Sail the Beagle Channel, named after HMS Beagle. The ship, commanded by Captain FitzRoy, surveyed the region between 1826 and 1830 and returned in 1833 with Charles Darwin on board.  Explore more stunning wilderness as you see the fjords and glaciers of the region by Zodiac, kayak, and on foot. A vast area of soaring, snowcapped mountains, gigantic glaciers, thousands of verdant islands, serene lakes, and waterfalls—the archipelago is scarcely touched by man. Take Zodiacs out to explore these protected waters and rugged shores, the blue and white of ice contrasting with the greens of the forest highlighted by splashes of flowering plants. Look for the Andean condors, albatrosses, grebes, petrels, fulmars, shearwaters, and many other birds that inhabit this otherworldly realm.  

Disembark today in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Have time to explore before proceeding to the airport for the charter flight to Santiago and homebound flights.