After a month in Argentina, I made my way on foot through one of the only open borders into Chile. I spent five days in Punta Arenas in Southern Chile and a few nights enjoying the hiking base of Puerto Natales, before heading into the wilderness for my 8 day hike of Torres del Paine’s ‘O’ Circuit.

Crossing the border

The pandemic is still a serious issue in South America, and Chile is probably the most strict country on the continent when it comes to entering and leaving the country. This has caused many borders to be closed, so there are limited places to cross over land from Argentina, and many people are paying extra cash to take multiple flights instead.

I took two taxis (as buses are currently not allowed through) to get through the border and this was a three hour process on the way in, and a six hour nightmare on the way out. At least I have loads of stamps in my passport now though! The strangest parts of it were that so much of the process still relied on paperwork and physical paper stubs (not ideal when standing outside in high wind). Also, the fact that the crossing at Integral Austral is in the middle of nowhere and has a kilometre of no man land between the two countries.

Punta Arenas

After crossing the border, I made Punta Arenas my base for five days, this large Chilean town is not very touristy but it does offer some good cafes, and stores to gather supplies for the upcoming trek, for better, local prices. There is a promenade of sculptures that runs along the shoreline, and a very strong maritime vibe, but the best local thing I did was visit a nearby national park, for some practice trekking. The Magallanes National Reserve is a twenty minute taxi ride to the top of the town, and as you travel higher you start to see various safety signs, to tell you that this is the place to be if there is a tsunami. A little off putting..

It is about £5 to enter the park, and then there are several trails available with many lookout points that can keep you busy for hours. I went on a very misty day so I did not see many views but the plants and trees especially were cool to see.

From Punta Arenas you can also take an excursion to see penguins and sea lions. I did this on thankfully the warmest day of the week. It is an early start followed by a few hours on a coach and then an hour journey to the main island by boat. Dotted around this small island are thousands of penguins, meandering within their couples. You can walk very close to the birds and follow a trail around the island to the lighthouse and back to the boat.

The tour then travelled to an even smaller island that was home to hundreds of roaring sea lions clambered together on a beach and swimming close to our boat. It was very nice to see these animals in their natural habitat as oppose to a zoo, and it was great to get out from the town and be on a boat for a few hours.

Puerto Natales

The next town which is the base for the Torres del Paine National Park, is Puerto Natales. This small town is full of hostels, camping shops and restaurants. I only spent a short time here to sleep and eat at the beginning and end of my trek, but there was little else to do than that as it is just set up to drain tourists of their leftover pesos.

Prepping for the ‘O’ Circuit trek

There are two main overnight treks that can be done at the Torres del Paine National Park. They are the ‘W’ and the ‘O’, named after the shapes their routes make on the map. The ‘W’ is the most popular and is known around the world for its views, but some people that have longer and want to see more of the park, choose to walk the ‘O’. this is the full circuit. It has several campsites on route and most people do it over 8 days. Each day of the trek varies in landscape, and the walks are between three and twelve hours, more or less.

Feeling like an experienced trekker, I decided to push myself to complete the ‘O’. I must say though that I forgot how out of shape I am, again. To prepare for the trek, I had to book my reservation to the campsites about three months in advance. I was able to use a new booking website that pulled it all together easily for me, instead of going to several different suppliers which could be quite complicated.

I decided to pay for my meals to be cooked and provided to me everyday, to avoid carrying a stove and heavy food. There is also an option to pay extra to have a tent provided and set up for you. I didn’t do this but met several people who did, and their tents varied in quality but their walks were obviously much easier than those of us carrying a tent. I rented a tent, sleeping bag, mat, and 65L rucksack from Rental Natales in town, and they were really helpful in getting everything sorted and providing me with advice.

I stocked up on nuts, cereal bars, and a bar of chocolate for some snacks for the first day, and midnight treats. I also took a Swiss army knife (although I never used it), a first aid kit (I did use part of this), and my phone power bank (charging is limited in the parks and signal is non existent, air plane mode was switched on the entire time). There are not any laundry facilities so a decision needed to be made about how many clothes to bring. I went with 4 outfits, and I made the conscious decision to smell rancid after half the week. Unfortunately, I still did not find an open launderette for two days after I had finished. Very gross.

The campsites

The campsites on the ‘O’ varied in quality, but I am happy to say that they all had real toilets. I was very thankful for this. I was scared I would be falling into a poo hole in the ground in the middle of the night. All the campsites had some sort of kiosk which sold snacks and most of the campsites had a bar/restaurant where you could buy drinks or enjoy your prepaid meal. Some of the campsites have refuges or domes as well so that you can sleep in luxury rather than a tent if you have the right reservation, and some of the sites had wooden platforms to pitch your tent on instead of the ground. I would argue that the ground is better though, as you are less likely to trip, and its easier to set up the guidelines, and pegs, and its actually a bit warmer than having a void underneath you.

The food I was given during my stay was generally excellent and although it was pricey to do this option, it was well worth it, to not have the hassle. I always had more food than I needed because the portions were very generous. There was always a warm breakfast, a large lunch pack and a four course dinner with different dietary options. The only downside was that hot chocolate was extra and I don’t drink coffee!

I spent time with a great mix of people whilst staying on the ‘O’ circuit campsites. I befriend a group of US visitors, a man from New Zealand and many groups of Chileans. It was great practice for my spanish, especially as in Chile, they have a unique slang. For example the word for egg is what you might call a

Favourite campsite: Dickson. This campsite was on a piece of land surrounded by lake and glacier, and also had a beautiful ranch feel with horses roaming around amongst the tents.

Least favourite campsite: Frances. Frances had what was needed but it is located in a shady and damp forest, and all the facilities are far away from the tents and down a hill…

The landscape

The trek itself is over 100km of varied landscape, and climates! The first day I was walking through long grasslands in hot weather, on the fourth day I was shivering in the snow and wind whlilst gazing over the Patagonian Icefield. Many people will simply do their chosen circuit, whilst others may add in the extra viewpoint trails, or you can even just do a full day walking, sailing or riding excursion through the park.

I found the hikes very challenging at times, especially as a solo walker. This was mainly because of some of the heights of the rock faces on the trail. I had to throw my very heavy bag ahead of me and boulder a couple of times which was nerve wracking with no one there. Whilst the paths are very rough, the way markers are very consistent and I was impressed by the placement of some of them.

There is a variety of plants and animals to see, I was very nervous about coming face to face with a puma as they live in the park, but in the end my only animal sightings were a noisy woodpecker above my tent and the poo left behind by a fox! If you are determined to see a puma though (I was not) you can join special expert tours to track and watch them.

Having done the full circuit now, I would definitely recommend the ‘O’ to anyone that thinks they could manage it. The authenticity, and atmosphere were better than the ‘W’ circuit which is much more commercial. The park is absolutely beautiful and I would love to visit again and do more activities there.