Santa Cruz, Chile

Our second to last stop in Chile was a day in Santa Cruz! Deep in wine country, we fittingly spent most of our day at the the beautiful Vina Santa Cruz. We hadn't made any reservations in advance and luckily were able to immediately get a table in the restaurant. After eating we rode their gondola up the top of a hill where they have a self-guided tour. My absolute favorite moment was stumbling across two llamas trying to escape the heat—llamas are one of my favorite animals! 

After our time at the vineyard we headed into Santa Cruz to check into our hotel. Along the way we stopped so my dad could buy a traditional Chilean hat, and the woman was gracious enough to let us take her picture with her sewing machine. The rest of our evening was spent wandering around the town and relaxing by the hotel pool. The next morning we visited the Colchagua Museum which is on the same property as the Hotel Santa Cruz. If you find yourself in the area it is a must see, the museum covers our history from 400 million years ago up until the twentieth century. While it is an unexpected location it was one of the best history museums I have ever visited! The last few days of our trip flew by and I just have one more place to recap. Be on the lookout for a few photos from Valparaíso next week! 

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Nordenskjöld Lake and Lenga Forest Excursions

Our final day in Patagonia was spent on two horseback rides! First we went on a ride to Nordenskjold Lake, and then in the afternoon we went through the Legna Forest. After our hike the day before it was nice to get a break from walking, and still get to enjoy the scenery!

This was definitely the most beautiful place I had ever been on a horseback ride, I especially loved the view of the towers on our afternoon ride. After getting back to the ranch we grabbed some dinner and then headed to the spa for a massage. This was also New Year's Eve, so that night we attended the hotel's party before getting up early to head to the airport. Hopefully I will get to return to Patagonia someday and make the hike to the towers and the lake just below them! This was the one thing we missed out on that I really would have loved to have done, but we just didn't have the time (or the energy) by the end of this part of the trip. Thank you Hotel Las Torres for showing our family just how magical Patagonia can be! 

Valle del Francés Excursion

Our second excursion day in Patagonia was spent on a LONG hike to the Valle Del Francés. Going through these pictures genuinely surprised me — this was a pretty spectacular day. During our hike, however, I was personally exhausted from rushing to get to the glacier viewpoint and then immediately hiking the seven miles back to catch our ferry. Looking back, I'm really grateful we had this day — no matter how tiring it was at the time. It's not every day you get to see several waterfalls and glaciers! 

We started out the day by hiking to the same waterfall we saw the day before. With the rainy weather it was a completely different experience, and the green color of all the plants was magnified and magical. Afterwards we took a ferry across the lake and began our hike! There was some disagreement within the family just how far we had actually hiked at the end of the day, but we agreed it was at least 12-14 miles. I wouldn't consider us expert hikers either — my youngest sister and husband definitely led the pack the entire day! 

And here we all are with the glacier in the Valle Del Francés behind us! While I loved this view I also really enjoyed hiking through the forest where there had been a fire. The burned trees made for some unusual scenery, especially with the cloudy weather. These photos don't really do the views justice, but I'm so happy I have them to remember our crazy hike and all the silliness of the day. Enjoy! 

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Full Paine and Glacier Grey Excursion

Hello, friends! Our first full day in Patagonia was spent on the Full Paine excursion offered by Las Torres. They describe it as the best way to get the fullest introduction to Torres del Paine National Park, and I definitely agree! We began the day walking over the Puente Negro (Black Bridge) and then went on to the Nordenskjöld Lookout, the Sarmiento Lookout, Lake Pehoé and the Salto Grande waterfall. 

After a wonderful lunch at a camp site we went on to the southern shore of Lago Grey. There we hiked across the lake and up to a viewpoint where you could see Grey Glacier. Afterwards we hiked back down and boarded a catamaran to get an up-clsoe view of the glacier. It took an hour to get to there, and then we we spent an hour viewing three sides of Grey Glacier. It was truly beautiful. We learned that Grey Glacier connects to the massive Southern Patagonia Ice Field — it really is impossible to describe its size. One hour later we took a short hike back to the car and we were headed home for the evening! This ended up being one of our favorite days of the entire trip. We had beautiful weather and got to see so many wonderful views of the park in a really short amount of time. Thank you Las Torres! 

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Arriving in Patagonia

After our first day in Santiago we boarded another flight South to Punta Arenas. While in Patagonia we stayed at Hotel Las Torres, a beautiful ranch right at the foot of the Torres del Paine. On our way to the hotel we had a chance to stop at the Estancia Cerro Negro (Black Hill Ranch), which is owned by the same family as Hotel Las Torres. There we experienced a traditional Patagonian lamb barbecue and learned about the farm. 

Before eating we received a tour of the farmhouse and learned about what life was like for the Kusanovic family (they moved to the region from Croatia). After our delicious meal and some time spent at the farm we were back on the road. A few hours later arrived at the park! Our driver was even kind enough to pull over several times for us to take photos of a beautiful blue lake and to observe a guanaco. The scenery was even more beautiful than I imagined, and I can't wait to share our three full days we spent in the park. Enjoy! 

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Santiago, Chile

I'm so excited to share the first of a few posts from my family's recent trip to Chile! My dad lived in Chile for a year when he was in high school as an AFS student and our whole family was finally able to make the trip to meet his host family and see the country.  First up was Santiago: we stayed there for one night before flying to Patagonia. We also stayed for another day after the flight back, so these pictures were taken over the those two days. Because of the New Year holiday I think we experienced a much quieter city than normal! 

Both of the hotels we stayed at were in the Las Condes neighborhood of Santiago, which I definitely recommend! From there we ventured Cerro San Cristobal where there is a gondola to take you up the hill, and also a large swimming pool and zoo. We mainly enjoyed the views from the gondola and from the gardens at the top, but the pool looked very inviting! Afterward we went over to the Cerro Santa Lucia which features the Terrazzo Neptuno. Another favorite of ours was the panoramic view of the city from the Costanera Center! You could see everything, and were lucky to not have an extremely smoggy day. We loved the warm weather in Santiago, especially since it was snowing back home. Next up, Patagonia!

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