Jenny Explores Chile's Atacama Desert and Torres del Paine

My husband, Mike, and I excitedly left the US last night for our much anticipated trip to Chile. We decided to fly LAN Chile. Both of us were very impressed with the services we received. I was mostly happy because I could play my own personal games of Tetrus!! I must have played for half the flight down. We arrived to Santiago early in the …

Our flight left for Calama today. Hotel Orly graciously arranged a taxi for us, and again, it only took about half an hour to get to the airport. The airport is so clean and easy to get around. I was very impressed with Santiago and how easy the public transportation was to use. LAN Chile again impressed us with the easy automated check in …

4:30 AM came much too quickly. I put on really warm clothes because it was freezing outside. The night was clear, and we could see so many stars. We boarded the vans and headed off for a long drive up the desert. We gained elevation -- the highest point was around 14,000 feet. It was strange to be in the desert and so high in elevation. We hiked …

Mike and I opted to explore the town for a bit today. We walked around San Pedro taking in the culture of the town. I did a bit of shopping in the local market, and we visited the museum. Later that day we went to a friend's house to meet his family. It was nice to be able to get to know them a bit more. That evening, one of the guides was giving …

We sadly have to leave today. We both wanted to spend a least another day in San Pedro, and enjoy the simple elegance of the Terrantai Lodge. We said good bye to our new friends, and headed off to the airport in Calama. Our flight took us back to Santiago, and then to Hotel Orly. That night, we ate dinner with a couple friends in Santiago. They …

Today, we say goodbye to our friends at the Hotel Orly, and fly to Punta Arenas. It just happens to be Easter Sunday, and hardly anything was open in either city! When we arrived to the airport, we were able to hire a shuttle to take us to our hotel very easily. We stayed at a funky little hostel called the Oro Fueguino. I really enjoyed staying …

Today we were picked up by Cascada to drive to Puerto Natales. In Puerto Natales we met our guide, Rodrigo, for the rest of the tour. We continued on to Torres del Paine. In total, we spent about 5 hours in the car between Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine. The weather coming into the park was absolutely amazing. The light on the towers was …

The next morning we woke up early for a great breakfast. We packed our bags and prepared for our two night/three day trek across the park. We had one porter that went ahead of us. We were each given a small bag to pack a change of clothes, a towel and extra sheet to be used later. Then we packed everything we would need for the day in our day …

Today we woke up early again, ate breakfast and make our way to our next destination. We tried to hike up the French Valley, but got caught by weather and decided to continue onto Refugio Pehoe. We were not as impressed with Pehoe. The food was not great and it felt very commercial. But, we welcomed a hot meal after a long day of hiking.