Puerto Natales is a small little Chilean town with a lot of traffic due to its proximity to the TDP. It’s a lovely town with lot of hostels and camping stores. Like many places in Patagonia it’s a hiking town where walking boots to the pub is a standard.
When I arrived I didn’t have plans to stay long in Puerto Natales but I stuck around for a few days after my hike and got to know a few good spots.
3 o’clock talk
I’d arrived in the morning to Puerto Natales. I knew I wanted to do the trek, but when and over how long I wasn’t sure. After the 3 o’clock talk I did my shopping, packed my bag, booked my bus and was off the next morning.
I wandered to erratic rock for the 3 o’clock talk hours after arriving in the town. I’d read about a free information talk online and thought why not. It was the most useful piece of research I did. These guys are amazing for doing this.
It was here I learned about booking campsites, transport, weather, track changes. It was up to date detailed information. I’ve had a few friends do this walk since and due to time constraints they haven’t gone to the talk. I really think they missed out, even with me regurgitating it to them as best I could.
If you don’t want to walk solo, but you’re travelling alone this is also a great place to meet other people.
Food And Where To Find It
Once again if you go to the talk above they will tell you all you need to know, but for those who like pre planning here a few ideas:
Frutos secos – Esmeralda 455#b
A great store to buy all your dried fruits and nuts. They have a massive selection, so get adventurous with your trail mix, but maybe try it first. They also sell ziplock bags and PEANUT BUTTER. Peanut butter is a rarity in Patagonia some kind of importing thing. I couldn’t see it when I got there and went without, but I have been promised by other hikers on the trail it is there, so if you’re as blind as me just ask. Mantequilla de maní (Peanut butter in Spanish).
Unimarc – Manuel Bulnes
A big chain which sells everything. As they say in the talk, money spent in here doesn’t support the locals just the corporations. But still it’s a good place to buy all your food at once. It’s also open till 10pm everyday other than Sunday’s when it’s open til 9pm.
This store sells all your dried food needs. Small packets of parmesan cheese, zuko, pasta, noodles, lentils, oats, sugar (see below), instant mash potato, powdered milk, cous cous, jam in a bag, spices etc. Plus your veggies and cheese etc. But no peanut butter!
Be warned heating Chilean sugar for hot porridge tastes crap! I learned this after 8 days of disgusting breakfasts. Eat it cold.
So many camping stores
Just walk into town and you’ll pass plenty of camping stores to buy your last minute pieces, including gas. Also check with your hostel/erratic rock because they often have half used gas cans as people can’t fly with them.
In summary there is no need to bring your camping meals, there are plenty of shops in Puerto Natales.
Accommodation – Singing Lamb
I booked this a while before arriving as I’d had my debit card stolen and needed it to be sent to an address (it didn’t arrive for 4 months, Chilean post is slow). I picked it off hostel world. Erratic Rock is also a hostel, but you can’t book ahead of time and it’s always full. This place was clean fun and interactive. Cooking eggs for breakfast with a decent kitchen.
When I came back from my trip I hadn’t booked in because I wasn’t sure which day I’d be back. They were full, but managed to make space as I was a single. For people they were turning away they provided an address of a sister hostel, not as quite as nice but at least they was no concern about having nowhere to sleep.
The staff were all South American backpackers and were all good fun to hang out with. They also store you stuff in a locked storage room for free or provide an individual locker for $.
Information Centre
I stumbled across this information centre, down by the water just outside of the town centre. There are a lot of information centres that are actually just tour companies, so I went in not expecting much. It was the best information centre I went to in Chile. He spoke perfect English which was useful for me and had books filled with free/cheap trips and activities. Helped me figure out my next few days and gave me extra information about wildlife I might see etc all for free.
ATM’s
All around Argentina I had struggled getting money out of ATM’s. This isn’t the case in Chile. I was advised to arrive with all the money I needed as the ATM’s get empty, but I personally didn’t experience that nor did anyone I spoke to. Make sure you have enough money, in small notes, for the TDP ~$100,000 incl entry ($18,000) ferry ($15,000 cheaper if one way), some campsite fees (Chileano $6,000, Seron $8,000 in 2015) plus anything you might want to buy from the small hut shops along the way (note prices could change). Many places in Puerto Natales accept card.
Restaurants – El Living
I only went to one restaurant in Puerto Natales, but I went there 3 times in 2 days. El-living (Arturo Prat 156) was a vegetarian restaurant which was delicious. After travelling Argentina with limited vego options and then spending 9 days on the trail and was ecstatic for the fresh tasty vegetables. The quality of food was very high. I would highly recommend to anyone who likes texture and fresh flavoured food.
Cheap Trips Outside Of Town
I did two small trips around town while I was here.
1. Sierra Dorotea – It’s a 1.5 hour walk out of town to the base and then a 1.5 hour hike to the top. The walk to the base is along a main road. You see some cows and fields, but it is a bit boring. On my way back without even hitching someone pulled in to give me a lift back to town. Hitching in Chile is very common and safe even if you don’t speak Spanish, although that does make it less awkward.
When you arrive at a persons house/farm, you have find someone to pay. It is just their house and the mirador is in there farm. It’s $10,000 and the lady only speaks Spanish. She’s very friendly and put up with my poor communication.
The walk itself wasn’t to exciting, remember I had just finished the TDP and was very spoilt. However, the view at the top looking back at the whole town was really lovely.
2. Laguna Sofia and Milodon Caves by bike over 2 days – In the information centre they told me about both these places as separate day rides, to fit both into one day would be tough. There are a lot of bike rental places in town, all day rentals. I just walked around a few of them asking to rent a bike for 2 days no one seemed to have heard of this before, but eventually 3 or 4 stores in someone said yes. It’s ~$10,000 for one day and they gave it to me for 2 days at $15,000.
I once again I left my stuff at the hostel and set off the 30km to Laguna Sofia. There is a estancia – Pingo Salvaje – with camping for $5,000 including a fire pit, so you don’t need to carry a stove on your bike (I didn’t know this). I believe they do refugios as well, I’m not sure if this is only for horse riders, but it would save a lot of weight.
The road was reasonably flat. I made the rookie mistake of taking my backpack, as these bikes don’t have panniers. I had everything on my back. My butt was not happy. I took a lot of breaks.
Laguna Sofia was lovely with a nice walk and great views which was a delight after the bike. The following day I rode to the Milodon Caves, which was interesting. If you like museums you’ll enjoy it. Less beautiful and more historic. It was an impressive story of the history of the land, but the caves alone weren’t stunning.
The ride back was fine, but I was please to get back.
If I could only chose one I’d go out to Laguna Sofia for it’s beauty. The two days was great, but either pack extra light or strap your gear to your bike.
