Puerto Natales(Chile): 2N/2D

December 2019      itinerary link

Puerto Natales is not really a destination. It is more of a jumping ground to other natural attractions around it. We went there in order to go to Torres del Paine National Park, one of the highlights of Patagonia. The flight from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas was two hours. This time, I did not get a window seat, thus, I don’t know what the view was like on the way. What made a great impression was the wind speed that clocked in at 50 miles/hour & so strong that they could not open the door to the cargo bay. We had to wait over an hour to get our bags.

We were nervous because we were supposed to get on the bus($12) for a 3.5 hour trip to Puerto Natales.  Luckily, the bus stop was right out the door at the small airport terminal. There were many buses coming and going, mostly to and from Punta Arenas downtown. Our bus showed “Natales” as destination when it finally arrived 20 minutes after the designated time. The bus was comfortable, and we ate our  homemade sandwiches with much appreciation since there was no other way of finding lunch on the way.  There are flights that go directly to Puerto Natales(population: 18,500) from Santiago, but it would have required us to fly first north to Santiago, then transfer to Natales. That would’ve been a much more time consuming and expensive way of getting there. The scenery we saw through the window on the bus was quite pleasant.

Puerto Natales was a laid-back, more of an old time backpacker friendly town than a flash touristy depot.

 

The bus terminal, which was bigger than most other buildings in town, was the orange dot on the map above. We took a cab to our Airbnb apartment 5 minutes away. We could have walked in 15 minutes, but we had bags.

Our 3 bedroom apartment was the corner unit in this building.

Two old churches stand next to each other by the central square, Plaza de Armas.

It was raining off and on, but but we did manage to walk around to get the feel of the town. We just prayed it would be sunny the next day for our Torres del Paines visit.

Amor al Viento (Love of the Wind), a sculpture on the waterfront

There were some artsy shops, but the predominant vibe was backpacking adventurers heaven.

 

We had a wonderful dinner at this restaurant.

Our prayers were answered, and the sun came out the next morning. We had a grand tour of Torres del Paine without a hitch. After that, our dinner was at a restaurant near our apartment that was filled with locals. Their food was not anything exceptional, but the service was great. Townspeople were all very nice in general.

 

The whole town seemed to be on fire when the sun was setting that evening.

Our journey: Puelo -> Puerto Varas -> Puerto Natales -> Torres del Paine National Park