Patagonia

Southern Patagonia
Torres del Paine is justifiably Chile's most famous National Park, a few hours from Punta Arenas and nestling between the wide open Patagonian plains and the last peaks of the Andes mountain chain as they descend towards the edge of the continent. These rise dramatically over the flat landscape to form a series of spectacular soaring granite pillars, surrounded by sparkling turquoise glacial lakes and magnificent rugged plains. In this vast park you can spot more than 100 species of birds, armadillos, guanacos and, if you are lucky, the occasional puma.

Torres del Paine is the perfect place for outdoor pursuits such as walking, mountain biking, boat trips across iceberg-strewn lakes or saddling up a horse for a ride in the shadow of granite peaks. It is easy to cross the border here into Argentina to another breath-taking landscape, Los Glaciares National Park. Alternatively combine your tour to Torres del Paine with an expedition cruise through the Beagle Channel and down to the wild Cape Horn, delving into pristine remote bays past colonies of sealions, elephant seals and magellanic penguin.

Northern Patagonia
The San Rafael lagoon with its backdrop of a mighty glacier is found within the Laguna San Rafael National Park on the Pacific Coast of southern Chile close to Balmaceda. Between the Lake District to the north and the Patagonian steppe of Torres del Paine National Park to the south, this remote and pristine region of fjords, glaciers, temperate rainforest, thermal hot springs and waterfalls has been kept as a hidden paradise bordered as it is by icefields north and south and a jagged coastline of bays and inlets. Few roads penetrate this wonderful landscape and the region is best explored by boat, kayak or on foot through hiking trails.

Of course a highlight of this region is a trip by boat to the gigantic foot of San Rafael Glacier which is one of the largest glaciers of the Northern Patagonia Icefield that calves huge chunks of ice out into the Lagoon below, The San Rafael Lagoon forms part of the 1,742,000 hectares that make up San Rafael Lagoon National Park, and in 1979 it was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. Upon approaching this great wall of ice by zodiac, the scene becomes more awesome with each landslide from the glacier producing a thunderous roar. Admire the impressive sight of enormous masses of ice emerging from the base of the glacier.