One of my greatest adventures while I was in Chile, was my trip down to the very tip of Patagonia. A friend and I flew all the way down to Punta Arenas, and then took a three hour bus ride to Puerta Natales where we had booked a hostel. When we got off our bus and we found ourselves in a tiny town in the middle of no where. It was freezing and windy and we had absolutely no idea where we were going. The woman inside the tiny bus terminal explained in very fast Spanish where we had to walk to find our hostel and then we were off! After wandering around aimlessly for about 45 minutes we finally found it.

We burst through the door in a rush to escape the cold and we were greeted by a very animated man sitting at the front desk. He showed us to our room and then we began to plan what we were going to do. The first day we decided to do a long day hike at the famous national park Torres del Paine. This is a beautiful park with mountains and lakes that are covered with snow and ice. While the lower altitudes are covered with grassland with alpacas grazing and amazing bright blue lakes. It is truly a sight to be seen and was an incredible experience. The park gets its’ name “torre” because at the very peak of the mountain there are two huge boulder that look like towers that can be seen throughout the park.

One of the other days we were there we decided to go out on a boat tour. Except it wasn’t a boat tour through an actual company, instead it was run by a family. We each paid a certain amount, and all we knew was that we were going on a boat to see a glacier and that we could get lunch. However, it turned out to be much more than that. We got on the boat and right away the family was coming around with hot beverages for the passengers. We stayed on the boat for about two hours and we stopped at many different places. We saw incredibly beautiful mountains in some spots, waterfalls in others, and at one of the stops we got to see penguins that were diving off rocks into the icy water. However, the best thing that we saw was an enormous glacier. At one of the stops we got off and hiked up to see the immense cliff of ice which was really something unique to be a part of. Finally we got back on the boat and they took us to a ranch. It was this large house that was on acres and acres of sprawling green land with the water and mountains in the backgroud. There we were served the biggest meal I think I have ever eaten that consisted mostly of meat and potato and it was fabulous. But I will honestly never forget the contrast of the beautiful green land along with the snow covered mountains. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.

What I really enjoyed most about this trip was that we went into it knowing virtually nothing. We had a plane ticket and a hostel booked but that was it. We landed in the middle of know where, at the bottom of the world, and we explored and found our way. We talked to people to figure out the best activities to do and it was such an adventure. We were so immersed in the culture and we weren’t on a schedule which was a really wonderful feeling to have.