Today’s post was a few months in the making, but I’m so excited to share the first of a few travel posts from Chile and Argentina! It was an incredible trip full of backpacking, discovering places at the end of the earth, and getting a little out of our comfort zone – in the best way possible.

We’d both been overwhelmed by work for a few months, and we decided that we needed to take some time to unplug and explore someplace new. I’d never been to South America before, and Patagonia had always been on my bucket list of places to see. Luckily for me, Tom was totally game to go on a big adventure, so we {but mostly Tom…} planned a 2 week trip to Puerto Natales, Patagonia and Buenos Aires.

We headed down in mid-November, right at the start of South America’s summer, which was perfect since our winter was officially starting in Chicago. We miraculously found a super cheap round trip flight to Santiago, Chile, and we took another flight to Puerto Arenas and then drove to Puerto Natales, one of the largest cities in the southern most tip of Chile. The trip took about 30 hours from Chicago with layovers and crazy long flights, but it was totally worth it. When we stepped off the plane in Puerto Arenas to drive to Puerto Natales, the views were like nothing I’d ever seen before. You truly feel like you’re at the end of the earth {mostly because you are!}, and everything looks and feels different. There are tons of boulders scattered among the fields as you drive into the city, flamingos dotting the lakes, and the most beautiful mountains lining the roads in the distance. It’s truly a pretty magical place.  We stayed in Puerto Natales for a few days to get some rest after the long trip down south, and to explore the city before we headed to the backpacking leg of our trip in Patagonia. Puerto Natales is known for being the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park {one of the most famous parks and places to explore on the Chile side of Patagonia}, and as a port for boats touring the Patagonian fjords. We stayed at Bories House, a cute and affordable boutique hotel right outside of the city of Puerto Natales that was perfect for unplugging and relaxing in their beautiful living room overlooking the mountains.

Our room in the hotel was pretty incredible, and we had a huge window overlooking the mountains and the horses on their little farm in the backyard. Plus, this cute little pup was always running around playing with the horses and laying out in the sun. It took pretty much everything in my power to not attempt to take him home! The people who worked at Bories House were so incredibly sweet, and it made you feel like you had a little home away from home {except this one was much better since they made breakfast for you and sold lots of cheap, Chilean wine!}Downtown Puerto Natales was also adorable, and surprisingly not very busy when we were walking around. As it’s known as the last city before Torres Del Paine, it’s full of hiking and backpacking shops for travelers needing that one last thing before heading out. Tom and I spent an afternoon exploring the town, drinking coffee, scoping out the best places in town for dinner and walking along the charming streets.  I wouldn’t say you should go to Puerto Natales for more than a few days since it tends to be a stopping point for travelers, but it was a cute little stop on our trip that we both loved. We found so many delicious places to eat, and The Singular Hotel restaurant was one of our favorites. The hotel used to be a major port stop in the area, and the building was built over 100 years ago as one of the most important structures of the city. The hotel preserved a lot of the history, and the dining room is this beautiful room with exposed bricks, high ceilings, a cozy fire place and the most delicious food in the city. It was so good we went twice during our 3 day stay!

We also loved Cafe Kaiken, a quaint and more local restaurant located in the heart of the town. The homemade pasta was to die for, and it’s such a small and intimate space that you feel more at a friend’s home than a restaurant in the city. We also heard amazing things about Afrigonia, but didn’t get a chance to make it since we only have a few nights for dinner while we were there.   Another highlight of the trip was horseback riding at Pingo Salvaje a little outside of the city for a few hours one afternoon. It had been years since I’d been horseback riding, so it was nice to get back in the saddle and explore Lago Sofia, a beautiful lake just a few miles out of town. It was Tom’s first time horseback riding, so I spent most of the trip taking photos to document this very important moment in history, haha. It was one of the highlights of the Puerto Natales leg of the trip, and I would highly recommend checking it out if you have any interest in horseback riding at all! The horses were incredibly sweet and the tour guides did an amazing job telling us about the history of the area in both Spanish and English.  On our last day in Puerto Natales, we decided to take a tour boat out for the day to explore the Patagonian Fjords the area is famous for. What we didn’t know {which we will blame on the fact that my Spanish is that of a 2nd grader} was that it was going to be an all day adventure – with a 3 hour boat ride to the Fjords and farm for lunch, and then another 3 hours back to the dock. If you haven’t recently traveled 30 hours to South America, you probably would be more excited to spend a whole day on the boat, but Tom and I were a little antsy which made it an especially long day 😉 Long story short – as long as you know what you’re signing up for, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot more!  Overall the boat trip was really beautiful, and we stopped to admire waterfalls, penguins and sea lions along the way to the largest glacier fjord in the area, the Serrano Glacier. The glacier is pretty incredible, and very easy to explore unlike some of the other mountains and terrains in the area. The boat dropped us off at the base of the park, and after a quick climb we made it to the base of the glacier, which was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been to.  Also, can we talk about my super chic hiking style? The socks and hiking boots combo is so very charmingly styled, haha.

But truly, I loved every moment we spent in Puerto Natales. It was such a beautiful and vibrant city, and the people who lived there were some of the kindest people I had ever met – it was the perfect way to kick off our South American adventure by spending some time relaxing and beginning our exploring too. If you’re looking to go to Patagonia, definitely make the stop in Puerto Natales before heading up to Torres Del Paine, it’s the perfect way to kick off your backpacking trip! xx