- We've arrived in Patagonia. (rhythmic contemporary music) Patagonia is a region that spans one million square kilometers in the southern tip of South America, between Chile and Argentina. One of the best places to experience everything that Patagonia has to offer is Torres Del Paine National
Park in Southern Chile. We were blown away by its
natural beauty of granite peaks, massive glaciers, and
surprising wildlife encounters. So we want to take you on a journey to see some of the beauty
of Torres Del Paine, to help you plan your trip to this exciting South
American destination. We spent three days exploring
with Exodus Travels, and saw all of the highlights
that the park has to offer. Staying at Hotel del Paine, just outside of the
national park boundary, allowed us to see plenty of
sites in a short amount of time. - Well, this is superb. We are staying at Hotel del Paine, just outside the park, like
literally just outside. And I have this spectacular view of the lake in front of
me, these wonderful cabins. It's a really serene setting, and a great place to spend two nights. - Hotel del Paine is just three kilometers from the national park, and you can book half board. That includes a buffet
breakfast and dinner. They have a great wine list, quiet seating areas, board games, and well-appointed cabins
with views of Paine Massif. You can book excursions from the hotel, but many organized tours also stayed here, including our Exodus Travels group. Nice. (light suspenseful music) - Oh my God, we just saw a puma. - Oh man, I couldn't even believe it. I couldn't believe it
when the driver said it. It was amazing. - I know, we were driving along, and our guide said that,
"We're going to go this route, because our driver said
that there's some puma sometimes spotted along here." And Dave was like, "Yeah, right." - "I don't think so. There's no way where we're
driving along the road that we're gonna see
these elusive animals." - I know, I never thought I'd see one. And then just a couple of minutes later, the driver yelled, "Puma," and there we saw a family of
three, a mom and two cubs. - Yeah, wow.
- Amazing. - What a rare experience to have here in Torres Del Paine, amazing. (melodic Latin music) - [Deb] It used to be quite rare to see pumas in Torres Del Paine, but today it is the best place
to see pumas in the wild. Torres Del Paine has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978, and the wildlife is protected. - It has its own Big
Five, just like Africa, that you can keep an eye out for. It not only has the puma,
but it has the Andean condor that we saw flying in
the distance overhead, the South Andean deer, or huemul, Darwin's rhea, which is
a large flightless bird that reminded me a bit
like an ostrich or an emu, and the guanaco, which is closely related to the llama and alpaca family. You'll see a lot of guanacos. (melodic Latin music) (water rushes) Hiking in the rain in Patagonia. There are several hikes you
can do besides the W Trek or the O Circuit, and a nice short hike for views of the towers is out to the Salto Grande waterfall. (wind blows)
Where are these waterfalls? Salto Grande is a powerful waterfall that is an easy hike from the main road. This is the largest waterfall
in Torres del Paine, and definitely worth stopping
to see its large drop or step from the Paine
River to the Pehoe Lake. (light Latin music) - We have come to the
incredible Cascadas Penas. (water rushes) This is a really beautiful
tiered waterfall. And hey, the towers are right in the back. It's spectacular, one stop after another. - [Dave] Another popular waterfall to see is the Cascadas Paine. It has great views of the three towers, and is located right off the road. Make sure to take a walk up to
see the full view from above, as it's easy to just take a
quick look from the parking lot, but we love seeing its unique
rock formations up close. (chiming Latin music) - We are at Lake Grey,
and we are about to go on the catamaran to see
the Lake Grey Glacier. This is what National Geographic called one of the Eighth Wonders of the World. - Check out that view. The Lake Grey tour begins
at Hotel Lago Grey. We didn't stay here, but
it is a beautiful hotel with views of the lake and glacier. The trip begins with a short
hike out to the catamaran, where you'll depart for a
three-hour tour of the glacier. This tour is not to be missed when visiting Torres del Paine. (contemporary Latin music) - So to get out to the
catamaran on Grey Glacier, it's about a 20-minute walk, I think. (wind blows)
(footsteps crunching) Walk along a trail, then
we walk along the beach. Once on board, you are free to choose whichever seat you like. We had some rough weather that day and had to sit inside during our trip out, but Dave and I hiked fast so that we could get a front row seat. But really any seat will do. - We may not go outside, but at least we get a pisco sour. (laughs) (Deb laughs) A pisco sour is Chile's national drink, and one pisco sour is
included with your ticket. You can purchase more if you like, and on the way back, they even make it with
fresh ice from the glacier. - Well, I'm going to have
to have another pisco sour, because we're getting
pure glacial ice here. So just any excuse for
another drink, right? - [Crew Member] You got it. (upbeat Latin music) - Ooh, I like it. - Well, it was a bumpy
ride to get out here, but the captain has let us out for a bit. I'm not sure if we're allowed
to stay out for a while or if we're just while we're stopped, but we're out on deck. - All right, we made
it here to the glacier. Some really blue ice. Kind of a lousy day, but a fun boat ride. - Well, this is spectacular. I thought we only had two glaciers to see, but we're going to a third, wow. (light contemporary music) - [Dave] Once we arrived at the glacier, the captain let us out on deck to view all three lobes
of the Grey Glacier. This giant glacier is 28 kilometers long, and six kilometers across, and we had a front row seat to view its beautiful shades of blue. - You know, these glaciers here, they're so clean and blue. I've seen a lot of them
where they're really dirty, and this is really fresh and clean. No wonder it's the
third place in the world for the most fresh water. All right, we ended up getting
outside for a little bit and saw the glaciers and the icebergs. It was fantastic. A little windy, a little
chilly, but worth it. (light placid music) - [Dave] One of the most popular day trips to Torres del Paine is to
stop at the main viewpoints to see the famous three
towers of the national park. - We have come to Lake Azul, which is known for its beautiful
reflections of the towers, and today we're quite lucky. It's very still and there's
not a lot of people around. So you can really see the
reflections of the mountains and the towers in this lovely little lake. - By far, the best time to see the towers is in the morning, as the clouds often roll in by afternoon. There are plenty of stops to view the famous towers
of Torres del Paine. Torres actually means towers in Spanish, and the three towers
dominate the national park. Many people often take
a hike to the viewpoints or do the rugged W trek,
but we had limited time, so we spent the morning taking in all of the different
viewpoints on our tour. We're off to check out the Milodon Caves. I think that's how you say it. - Well, the caves cost
8,400 pesos to get in, and you can only pay by credit card, and they do give, for two of us, it was a 2,000-peso credit card fee. So, I think that's why it's pay by credit card only, ha ha. - The Milodon Cave is a
historical monument of Chile, and is worth stopping to see on your way back to Puerto Natales. Big cave.
(footsteps crunching) The trail takes you into a huge cavern that is 30 meters high
and 200 meters deep. A large prehistoric animal
greets you when you enter, and that is because this cave
is more than 10,000 years old. It's kinda cool to see
this big open space. - It is cool to come inside
and walk around the cave. There's a whole path that takes you around this massive dwelling. - [Dave] You can follow the path inside to see what it was like
thousands of years ago as prehistoric people used it as protection from the elements. (rhythmic contemporary music) A trip to Patagonia is truly
one for the bucket list. To truly appreciate Torres del Paine, we recommend a week to 10 days, but if you're doing a grand
tour of Chile like we did and only have a few
days, you can easily see the highlights of the
national park in three days. And that was our tour of Torres del Paine in Chile's Patagonia. If you enjoyed our video, make sure to subscribe to our channel and click on that bell for notifications, because you're gonna want
to see where we go next. (light contemporary music fades)
