1st April 2008: After seeing the beautiful scenery at Seno Ultima Esperanza, we couldn’t help but see it again. This time though, we wanted to get away from the town and immerse ourselves in nature. And what better way to do that than taking a horse ride through the fields and meadows that touch the water.

The area we rode in is called Puerto Bories. This area was once a bustling port where sheep were sheared, slaughtered and shipped north. So while the packing plants, and even the sheep, are mostly gone, they have been replaced with cattle, horses and the odd visitor who comes to admire the beauty.

Behind me is the stable. Although most of the time the horses are left in the fields to graze.

Up and ready to go

For miles we saw no one, it was just us, our gaucho (cowboy) guide, and the occasional cow, flock of birds or sometimes a wild hare.

 

In the distance behind Grace, you can see some of the cattle and further behind are the mountain range leading to Torres Del Paine National Park.

The flat land reaching the sea was in sharp contrast to the mountains which rose around us.

At one point we had to cross through the shallows of the sea. Our horses were steady, but not enough for a clear picture

Once out of the water, we were lucky to come across Andean Flamingos which were migrating through the area and feeding in the shallows.

We wished we had more time to ride again, and again, and again. The scenery was breathtaking and on horseback we could see more of it while still soaking it in.

So if you like nature and want to see it all on horseback, you could consider getting a piece of land and some horses in Patagonia. According to the gaucho who rode with us, horses are cheap in Patagonia. A good horse can cost around US$500, but if you’re not too picky, you can probably find one for just over $100. Maintenance is pretty cheap too, most people just leave them in the fields to graze, and in the winter move them to winter fields that have been growing untouched all summer.

Only downside, you’re really at the end of the world. It’s a 2-3 hour drive to the nearest “proper” hospital or major airport, a 4+ hour flight to/from Santiago, Chile, and then over 12 hours of flying to North America or Europe.

The day we arrived to Puerto Natales, we took a stroll around town to get a bite to eat and a feel for the place. After satisfying our appetite with some of the dishes which we posted pictures of in our previous blog, we decided to have a look at the body of water the map calls “Seno Ultima Esperanza” which in English would be roughly “Sound of the Last Hope”.

On the map it didn’t look too impressive, just a body of water that came in from the sea, but once we reached there, we were mesmerized and couldn’t take our eyes off the beauty we had encountered. The stillness of the water; the mountains and glaciers reflected on it filled us with a sense of serenity and tranquility. It was as if we had stepped into some magical world, so different from the streets of the town we had just walked in.

The water was as smooth as glass - every time a bird would land, we would see the ripples stretch far away.

For a while we just admired the beauty, then we decided to take pictures of it.

Before long, we were joined by a friendly dog who seemed to enjoy the view almost as much as we did.

He didn’t like to hold still for too long though, and once he realized we didn’t have any food, he was off to enjoy the view with others.

Talk about a picture perfect location

Those wooden moorings in the middle of the sound look like some work of art. It looks almost as if they were made to guide the eye toward the mountains and glaciers behind them, not that they could be missed though.

We want a house with a view like this!

As the clouds parted, the sea seemed to glow where the light would shine on it.

When we finally managed to tear ourselves away, it was because the sun was setting, and since the streets of the town were poorly lit, we had to find our way before it got pitch black.

It’s more than two months since we were in the southern Chilean region of Patagonia. We miss Patagonia so much our hearts just flutter every time we browse through the pics we took while there!

On 31 March 2008, we arrived in Puerto Natales, a town in the Chilean Patagonia (located nearly 250 km to the north of Punta Arenas) after taking a 3-hour bus ride from Punta Arenas. Puerto Natales is the “capital” of both the commune of the same name and the Última Esperanza Province of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. We put in the quotation marks because it’s more like a very remote small town, quite bare of touristic shops.

When we were there, it was almost the start of the winter season, and so there were very few travelers there. The place was so peaceful and skies so cloudy that we couldn’t help reminding ourselves over and over again we were “at the end of the world”. There is only one “real” hotel in Puerto Natales; the other type of accommodation are basically family-run guesthouses or inns. There are 2 small supermarkets, and one was already closing and getting rid of its goods before winter.

We hope Puerto Natales stays this way - real, authentic and unhyped - for the sake of preserving its laid-back atmosphere and incredible scenery.

First day in Puerto Natales

 

Most shops were closed for the afternoon

 

Cute dustbin!

 

Grace with a mural of local painting behind

Church

We’re still not sure whether these trees were artificially shaped to look so rounded, or whether they grow into this shape naturally without help. We saw so many of these rounded trees (even in Punta Arenas) that we think perhaps it’s all natural.

 

Pedro with an old locomotive from the early 1900s

 

The inside of one of these round trees. After seeing this, we thought the trees might be naturally rounded.

 

Looks like something from a movie set

 

One of the hundreds of stray dogs in Puerto Natales. We’ve never seen so many stray dogs as we saw in Chile!

 

One of the buildings along the road. The place felt so much like Scandinavia.

Very yummy beef stew!

Fish and chips a la Patagonian

The most beautiful part of Puerto Natales is the sea and the Última Esperanza Sound. We’ll show you that in the next post!