Chile - Patagonia - Falklands - BA
Replies: 6 - Last Post: Sep 14, 2012 9:18 AM Last Post By: ban_janti_return
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Chile - Patagonia - Falklands - BA
So, my wife and I are currently on a RTW trip and we're in Bolivia. we hope to start Salar de Uyuni on Monday or Tuesday next week and then transfer into Chile via San Pedro. I'm having trouble with our itinerary, particularly in Patagonia. The goal is to spend Thanksgiving (Nov. 29) in BA and then we'll start our Africa portion of the trip. I apologize for yet another Patagonia post, I've spent a lot of time looking up threads, but seem to have trouble piecing it all together.Here is the rough itinerary (actually much more detailed than anything we've done thus far), I'd love feedback on things I might be missing.
San Pedro - 5 days, day of rest after Uyuni, Geysers del Tatio, Valle de la Luna by bike, and Star Tours
Antofagosta - 1 night. (break up the trip south)
La Serena - 2 days, visit a scientific observatory (if we get there near a saturday)
Santiago - 3 days, (any recommendations on must see items here?)
Pucon - 1-2 days
Puerta Montt - 2 days, just enjoy the city
Here is where I falter badly. How should we get to El Chaltén? What should we see along the way there?
El Chaltén - 3-4 days, Laguna de los Tres, Laguna Torre, anything else (less touristed) that might be worth a visit?
El Calafate - 1-2 days, take a minitrekking tour on the ice at Perito Moreno
Puerto Natales - ??? days, TDP, whats day trip type things might we do, I don't think we want to do the whole W, we're a bit worried that we'd be able to complete it. Anyone have a comparison to Colca Canyon (we did a 4 day hike through and the 1100m ascent nearly killed me)?
Punta Arenas - catch flight to the falklands
Falklands - 1-2 weeks, info on this appreciated as well
Ushuaia - 3-4 days, hike various trails in Tiera del Fuego
Reserva Provinvial Punta Tombo - 1-2 daysI assume this will have to be via Rio Gallegos, anything along the way to break up the trip? Any idea on how long it will take?
Reserva Faunistica Peninsula Valdes - 1-2 days
Buenos Aires - again, any idea how long this would be? Anything along the way of interest?
To leave some flex I'm assuming:
14 days northern chile and Santiago
28 days Patagonia
7-14 days Falklands
For a total of about 56 days which would bring me to about the 15th of November. Leaving wiggle room for additional trips, issues with transport, etc.
Any help would be appreciated. Not sure if anyone out there is a runner, but my wife is an avid runner and any advice on good trails she might be able to run for this leg would be greatly greatly appreciated (she hasn't been able to run much in Bolivia due to altitude, though she's gotten to almost every day in Sucre).
- daniel
1
I can't help you with details about Patagonia, but I will tell you for sure to cut 14 days in Northern Chile and Santiago in favour of the South, you may stay a bit longer in Lake District - it's lovely.You will not really see anything special in North Chile after you SE Circuit trip in Bolivia.
I would say skip it altogether, spend 2 days in Santiago, 2 days in Vina / Vallparaiso and head South!
2
What are you going to do for 7 - 14 days on the islands?There are some very good dayhikes around Ushuaia, several along the coast and others up into the mountains. Senda Costera in the National Park or just head east from Ushuaia along the coast, take a taxi till the faro at the end of the road and keep on walking till estancia Tunel and Rio Encajonado, or west, take a taxi till Hotel Los Cauquenes and keep on walking till Bahia Ensenada (sometimes a bit tricky to find the trail but it is always there). Laguna de los Tempanos and Laguna esmeralada are 2 good trips into the mountains close to Ushuaia. At El Chalten add Lago Electrico. You have to find a transport or taxi till the starting point of the trail 19 kms north of El Chalten close to Hosteria Pilar. The same way you can also start the hike to Laguna de las 3 from Hosteria El Pilar and then return via the normal more trodden route.
Try to avoid Rio Gallegos a dull and expensive place. Punta Tombo is reached from Puerto Madryn and you has also a very nice penguin colony at Isla Martillo close to Ushuaia
3
Definitely visit Valparaiso. Its 2 hours down the road from Santiago and well worth a visit, much more so than anywhere else further north in Chile in my humble opinion.4
Thanks for the replies.I've seen a lot of recommendations for Valpo so we'll probably add that to the itinerary.
We're now thinking that we might just skip the Falklands this time around. I'd wanted to go for wildlife viewing, but we should be able to get a fair amount of that in during our time in Patagonia. Plus, it is expensive to fly/stay/visit there and there are places where that money is probably better spent.
We may end up spending a bit of extra time in Ushuaia as many people have said the hikes there are very nice.
ban_janti_return - we won't be cutting out the northern portion of Chile. As noted, we've got a lot of time and, while expensive, I've heard good things about the area around San Pedro and the activities there (in particular the geysers). Plus, I'm a nerd and the astronomy bits are exciting.
5
There is very good wildlife around Ushuaia or lets say overall in Tierra del Fuego. If you take a tent and hire a car and maybe take a specific guide for 1 or 2 days you can spot a lot different wildlife and it will be much cheaper than on the Falklands. And there are much more dayhikes or multidayhikes to do around there. As everywhere in southern Patagonia or on the Falklands, you have to be prepared for bad weather and very strong winds. If you need any specific advice about this area feel free to send me a PM.6
Your choice - area around San Pedro is generally the same as parts of SE circuit in Bolivia and cost triple than that.San Pedro (town) is overpriced tourist trap
