Patagonia is Better than you can Imagine! by Lia

When we arrived in Patagonia it was very windy and cold because we were high up in the mountains. There was actually a little bit of snow, even though it was currently summer there. Someone who worked for the lodge led us to our cabin, which had a beautiful view of Torres del Paine. We had a small cabin that was big enough for four people. My parents were in one bedroom with a big window across from us and Mateo and I were in the other bedroom with two twin beds and a bathroom. Our cabin was the furthest away from the main lodge and we had a door in the back of our cabin to go out and watch the cows eat grass really close to us. 

I saw giant fields and hills of green fresh grass for Guanaco, sheep, cows and also plenty of food for the wild pumas and foxes to eat. There were also giant mountains with snow showered on top of each one and in the middle of everything was the big Torres del Paine. Torres del Paine is are three mountain peaks within the Torres del Paine National Park of the Patagonia. They are beautiful and everything around it as well. Patagonia in general is truly a magical place to stay even though it can get so windy that it feels like you will fly away at times. 

There are some cons to Patagonia; it can be windy and cold, there are long drives to get to places, we had to wake up early to get there, and it was exhausting with the daily routine of adventure. But honestly, it is a fantastic place to visit. The animals are very nice and friendly and if you’re lucky you might even see a puma sleeping on a hill or walking by your car. If you stayed where we did, the cows also love eating grass very close to the window in your cabin, and you can see the guanacos running up the hills into the forest.

 Every morning we would walk to the lobby to get breakfast. We would eat breakfast, and sometimes even have breakfast to go, such as a breakfast sandwich, some fruit, and a pastry so we could get started on our journey. This would start with our family climbing into a truck with our guide, Christian. Christian would drive us across a river, and he said that sometimes the river gets so high the water is almost covering the whole car. Luckily it was never high enough to use a car snorkel or tube for draining water from our car. We would drive an hour or two to get to our destination each day, which would either be a hike, a walk, or even a horseback ride. We stayed in Patagonia for about a week, and there are a couple of excursions that stand out among my memories.

One of the top expeditions that we did with our guide was going on a long walk to a beautiful waterfall. We started off this trip by struggling to find a parking spot because there were a lot of other tourists in the area wanting to see the waterfall. Once we finally managed to find one, we put on our jackets, coats, windbreakers, gloves, and warm fuzzy hats so that we wouldn’t get blown away or freeze to death. We then started walking on the wide trail. We walked straight up to the fence and looked over at the big, fantastic waterfall. It was nice, clean, blue water with boulders near the top. We would lean over to take pictures of the waterfall, and could feel the water on our face. It was a beautiful sight to see and I loved it. The walk to the waterfall is great for people who don’t want to go on a long hike and still see something very lovely.  

One of my other favorite day trips was when we had lunch with a Patagonia cowboy and went horseback riding through the Patagonia hillside. When we arrived we met up with the guide for horseback riding. His name was Rodrigo. He was actually a Brazilian "gaucho" that used to be a professional bull rider and now tamed wild horses in the Patagonia to be domestic horses. Our ride started off smoothly but my horse was being very stubborn and kept on wanting to eat grass or turn around so I had to switch horses. The scenery was very beautiful even though it got a little steep sometimes. There were lots of guanacos running around and staring at us and beautiful wildflowers. We also let our horses drink from a natural pond at the top of the mountains. The guide’s horse accidentally got spooked because he got in the pond a little too deep and almost knocked the guide off his horse In the end it was very fun and especially since personally I love horseback riding and I used to do it. It was a fun experience and I would love to do it again. It is also great because even if you don’t know who to horseback ride the horses are very well trained and they stay in line.

Actually, the scenery was beautiful in Patagonia, but we wouldn’t have seen as much of it as we did without taking all the walks and hikes that we did. We saw many amazing birds, bugs, animals and more, and we took way too many pictures of the perfectly blue water, the chilly wind blowing against the green grass that the Guanacos are feeding on with the beautiful Torres del Paine in the background and the most perfect sunsets.

If you ever go to the Patagonia please go to the Awasi Patagonia in the middle of the forest. In addition to the amazing views there, they have great service. Also, definitely request Christian to be your guide. He made our stay wonderful. Overall Patagonia is magical and interesting in every way. I would love so much to visit again!