During the fall of 2018, I was feeling the urge to do some traveling. It had been a few years since my last trip, and after taking some time to settle into a new city and job, it was time to plan another trip. I had seen a picture of the Swiss Alps while looking for ideas, so I decided I’d take a hiking trip. However, November isn’t the best time of year for weather in the northern hemisphere, so Europe was out. I don’t know many people who had been to South America, so I started looking for ideas. Machu Picchu is a pretty popular hike, but I like to go places nobody I know has been to. Then I came across Patagonia. I decided I’d do the W-Trek through Torres del Paine.
I had never been on a multi-day hike, but after reading several articles and watching some videos documenting the trek, it seemed very doable. There is no climbing involved and the elevation isn’t very high. And since I was doing this alone and during a busy time at work, I decided I’d book an “all-inclusive” type tour. That way I wouldn’t need to worry about carrying camping gear, food, cooking supplies, etc. All I’d have to do is walk about 80km over 5 days.
While researching tour companies, I came across Chile Tour Patagonia. This place was great from the start. They were very quick to respond to emails, even on a Saturday night. And they seemed very willing to accommodate any special request I may have had. Fortunately, their 7-day package had an opening for the two weeks I was free to travel. Since this would involve about a full day of travel on each end of the trip, I broke it up by spending an extra day in Santiago on each end of the trip.
- Day 1: Boston – New York – Santiago
- Day 2: Santiago
- Day 3: Santiago – Punta Arenas – Puerto Natales
- Day 4: W-Trek Day 1
- Day 5: W-Trek Day 2
- Day 6: W-Trek Day 3
- Day 7: W-Trek Day 4
- Day 8: W-Trek Day 5 – Puerto Natales
- Day 9: Puerto Natales – Punta Arenas – Concepcion – Santiago
- Day 10: Santiago
- Day 11: Santiago – Sao Paulo – Boston