Some friends are considered chosen family, and when your chosen family moves to Chile- you have to visit! Chile is one of our favorite countries due to the breath taking, raw scenery. BC and I had been to Chile before and return in love every time. This time proved to exceed our previous experiences to the point where I told BC to start looking at property. That’s just a pipe dream, but if the opportunity presented itself, I wouldn’t hesitate!
We started the trip with our most extreme adventure yet, traveling all the way to Patagonia. We told the boys we were going to the South Pole to try and find some of the angry elves (if you don’t get that reference, you haven’t watched ELF enough, and it shows). While I would love to actually take one of those Antártica cruises, on this trip we only went as far south as Puerto Natales. That was cold and windy enough for BC and PJC, so I don’t know how they would ever handle the real South Pole.
In Puerto Natales we rented an air bnb with and amazing view over the water. The twin is small, but we found some jewels of restaurants and shops, and especially liked their Calafate Sours. Puerto Natales was the perfect location for our day trips.
On the first day, we drove 1.5 hour to Torres Del Paine. We spent the whole day driving through the park and doing short hikes. We found a few waterfall, herds of Guanacos, and even flamingos. The beauty was raw and we were overshadowed by the famous Torres at every angle.
The next day was just as special. We took a small boat across the bay to a peninsula to visit an authentic estancia. Here we were able to horseback ride along the peninsula’s coast. We were able to observe the Guacho lifestyle and their tradition of hunting wild bulls. The boys made instant friends with there six year old daughter who was even more wild and free than the- yet still played Minecraft- I saw a future wife for PJC. We are the wild bill cooked over the open fire and cuddled new border collies. It’s amazing to experience that this is their real life when it seems like a movie.
We also celebrated PJC’s 8th birthday that evening when we got home. It was a pretty magical day.
The third day, AJC woke up with a fever and feeling horrible. We had planned a day cruise to visit glaciers, but only BC and PJC were able to go while AJC and I stayed in all day and rested by watching movies ad playing card games (actually one of our favorite ways to spend the day). BC and PJC loved their bonding adventure, especially having drinks over glacial ice and feasting on a lamb lunch at a large estancia. PJC will now tell everyone how AMAZING lamb is and you HAVE TO try it!
The next day AJC was on the mend, but we had a chill day staying close to home. We explored a Milodon cave where fossils from the prehistoric giant sloth had been found as well as tools from cavemen hundreds of thousands of years ago. I had read that this wasn’t worth it to visit, but we loved it. The little museum at the site was very educational about the animals and the people of the time, and the boys loved exploring it. After, we ate lunch and explored the small town of Puerto Natales. With kids that means going to the playgrounds and finding a futobol pitch. I am now a person the travels with a soccer ball wherever we go. Of course, when asked about his favorite part of the trip, AJC said playing soccer on the field.
Patagonia was an amazing experience, but we still had more Chilean adventure left. From Puerto Natales, we boarded the sort flight to meet our friends in the lake region. Stay tuned.
Family Stoke 