Puerto Natales – a Breeze
There is lot of GoreTex and Vibram soles in Puerto Natales, the capital of the Última Esperanza province in Patagonian Chile. The province is named after the Última Esperanza Sound which translates as Last Chance and is a reference to the sound being the last chance to find a route from the Pacific to the Magellan Strait. Spoiler- the sound ends at the Serrano glacier and is not a route to the Atlantic. The town is of most interest to visitors as the jumping off point for visiting the impressive Torres del Paine national park some 75Km to the north. Originally a fishing port, it is a lively little place, especially in summer with hostels and hotels catering to every budget, eateries of almost every cuisine and shops with specialist outdoor kit to buy or hire. We liked the feel of Puerto Natales and it had enough to keep us occupied for a couple of days.
Being so far south, the days in summer are long. Although the town is of an equivalent latitude to Oxford in the northern hemisphere, Patagonia doesn’t benefit from the balmy weather brought by the gulf stream and even in the height of summer in February, it was pretty chilly. It is also incredibly windy as the wind cuts across the bay typically from the south bringing fresh wafts of air directly from Antarctica.
Around town
During the day, many visitors to Puerto Natales are off exploring the mountains and countryside, but come early evening the town is a hub of activity, with many people taking a stroll around the waterfront. There are a number of sculptures to take a look at, including one called Monumento al Viento; dedicated to the relentless wind in the area. There’s also an insta-ready sign saying Puerto Natales in big shiny letters, next to a big statue of the local celebrity the Milodon (more on him later), a playpark and skatepark which kept our kids happy for hours, and spectacular views across the Senoret Channel. Because of the wind (did we mention the wind?) sea spray is constantly blown up into the air, and on a sunny day there are often rainbows to be seen across the bay. The most photographed viewpoint in town is the Muelle Historic, the old pier which has long since burnt down, but the old wooden struts make for an attractive photospot.
We enjoyed a trip to the museum in town, the Museo Historico Municipal where we learnt about the indigenous people, flora and fauna and the life of the early European settlers in the area. The museum was pretty good value too at 1000 pesos (£1) for adults and no charge for the kids.
Cueva Milodon
24 kilometers north of Puerto Natales is the Mylodon Cave. Here in 1895 a German settler, Hermann Eberhard discovered a piece of skin from species of giant sloth which lived alongside the first human inhabitants of the area, and went extinct around 10000 years ago. Later excavations found coprolites and a skeleton from the mylodon. The original skeleton can be found in the British museum, as with so many things from far flung places in the world. Instead, there is a lifesize model of the beast at the entrance to the cave, which Dessa had fun trying to imitate. The Milodon is a celebrity around Puerto Natales, with his likeness popping up on road signs, statues in town and fluffy souvenirs in shops. The sloth skin is described as from a ‘brontasaurus’ and the starting point for Bruce Chatwin’s epic tale of adventure in the region, ‘In Patagonia’ which of course encouraged us to visit the site.
On arrival at the cave there is a small visitor centre with information about the present flora and fauna of the area and about beasts who roamed the land but are now extinct: the mylodon, sabre toothed tiger, hippidion (a type of horse), the macrachenia (related to llamas), giant bear and the Patagonian panther. The main draw of the site is the Cueva Grande, a vast cavern 200 metres long which was formed by an ancient lake eroding the soft sediments and inhabited by both early hunter gatherers and giant beasts. After taking the path through the cave and admiring the mylodon statue, we followed the path on above the cave to a viewpoint over the vast landscape and views north to the Torres del Paine with caranchos swooping above our heads.
There is also a longer walking trail through the site which takes in a small and medium cave and a big rock referred to as Silla Diablo, the devil’s chair.
Bouldering
Boulder Natales is an outfit who mainly offer climbing tours in Torres Del Paine and rent climbing gear. In town they have a small bouldering wall set up and a nice little cafe. A spot of climbing was a great way for the kids to burn off a bit of energy, and Rafe and Jim even gave the practice ice axes a try. It was only 3000 pesos (£3) for the kids to climb, and some very reasonably priced coffees, juices and cupcakes in the cafe for refreshments.
Hike up to Mirador Dorothea
Cerro Dorothea is the hill you can see to the north east of Puerto Natales. The walk to the viewpoint at the top makes for a nice easy warm up prior to the multi-day treks of Torres del Paine, a pleasant warm-down, or just an easy excursion from town. Dessa felt she had done plenty of walking of late, so the trip to the mirador was a boys morning out for Jim and Rafe. The walk starts on the land of a farmer who charges 5000 pesos (£5) per adult (free for Rafe) which gains you access to the path and parking if you need it. We drove as we had a rental car, but it looked like there may be an infrequent local bus service. We also met someone who had hitched out there, and gave her a lift back to town. Walking the roadside would be no fun and perhaps a little treacherous as highway nine is the main road from Natales to the south, carrying many coaches and HGVs.
Following the farmer’s directions we were over the stile and quickly starting up the hillside along the easily follow track. Although a relatively short ~5.5km walk in total (~2.25km up, the same back down). It is also a 430m ascent at a pretty consistent incline – it certainly got the heartrate going. A very welcome workout for Jim, while Rafe of course bounded up it like a gazelle.
At the top you are greeted by an array of antennas and tremendous views across East, South and West. Some are of the masts are clearly cellular network, while others might well be military since Dorothea gives a great view over the nearby border into Argentina as well as covering the rest of the area. It is worth watching out for kids in the high winds at the top which seemed to change direction frequently. Get too close to the edge and it would be easy to pitched down the side. Once at the top of the trail it would be possible to walk along the top of the hill as well, though we didn’t do this. Below is the route and you can also download the GPX file if you need it:
How we did it
We flew down from Santiago direct to Puerto Natales. There was a short line of taxis waiting there, and this was one time when traveling hand baggage only really made a difference in grabbing one.
In general we found eating out fairly expensive in Puerto Natales but the quality was generally good. The best value we found was at La Guanaca, especially the kids menu which included drink and desert too. Smiles all round.
