Puerto Natales is an outdoor mecca on Seno Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) that is the capital of the Ultima Esperanza Province of Chile. It has a population of about 19,000 people that expands in the Austral summer and shrinks in the winter.
Visitors who stay in Torres del Paine National Park typically stop first in Puerto Natales, as we did in 2006 when we hiked the “W” circuit. The town now has an airport that accommodates jets connecting from Santiago, Chile’s capital, making the park more accessible. On this trip, we stayed in Puerto Natales and did day trips to Torres del Paine, as described in my last post: https://landscapes-revealed.net/chiles-iconic-torres-del-paine-national-park/.
Location of Puerto Natales
This Google Earth image shows the location of Puerto Natales on Seno Ultima Esperanza. These waterways are all fjords that were carved by glaciers when they were at their apex, most recently 18,000 years ago. Our bus ride from Punta Arenas (farther south) to Puerto Natales took a little over 3 hours. From Puerto Natales it was a 1.5–2 hour drive northwestward to Torres del Paine, with interesting scenery along the way. Here is a photo looking south toward Puerto Natales, on Seno Ultima Esperanza, from our Airbnb house at dawn.
Why the name Seno Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound)?
You probably know that the Strait of Magellan is named after Ferdinand Magellan, who with his crew were the first Europeans to navigate the strait in 1520. It remains an important passage because it connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. On the map above, notice that the strait extends southeast from the Pacific Ocean, then bends sharply to the northeast and extends past Punta Arenas to the Atlantic Ocean.
Seno Ultima Esperanza gets its name from Captain Juan de Ladrillero, who in 1557 went searching for the western entrance to the Strait of Magellan. After several weeks of searching, he was in desperate need of food and water. He eventually found the fjord where Puerto Natales is now located and obtained some supplies, apparently from native people living in the area. He named the fjord the “Sound of Last Hope” because it was his last hope of finding the Strait of Magellan. Although the fjord does not connect to the strait, it did at least acquire an interesting name.
Here is another view from our Airbnb house, this time looking northwest toward Balmeceda Glacier at dawn. Seno Ultima Esperanza is to the left of the photo.
Cerro Dorotea (cerro=hill)
In my last post (link above) I described the geologic history of Torres del Paine and showed folded rocks that were evidence of compression and uplift starting in the Cretaceous Period. Looking eastward from our Airbnb, we had a superior view of other evidence for regional compression.
This is a view of the west side of Cerro Dorotea from our Airbnb house in late afternoon light. I have highlighted the thrust faults with red lines. The rocks are mainly sandstone deposited in a shallow-marine environment after the formerly deep-marine basin had shallowed substantially. Note the thick layer of light tan sandstone that is higher on the slope between the faults and lower on the slope to the left and right of the faults. This means the middle block was thrust upward with respect to the blocks on either side of the faults. These thrust faults require compressive forces to push rocks upward against gravity. One day we hiked to the top of Cerro Dorotea, where we got a spectacular view of Puerto Natales and Seno Ultima Esperanza. The view is southwestward. Visible on the cliff face are the shallow-marine sediments that make up the hill. It was not possible to see the faults from this perspective.We found some interesting plants on Cerro Dorotea. Left-side photo: Alpine garden with a variety of tiny plants. Right-side photo: Anita under a species of Nothofagus southern beech tree. These trees are abundant throughout southern South America. We have seen some stunted-looking varieties and were amazed by these large, healthy-looking specimens.
Some images of Puerto Natales
We spent one day just walking around cool town.
Base Camp is a pizza and beer restaurant owned by expats from Salem, Oregon! The window stickers were not only from places in Oregon but also from the part of Germany where Anita and Ralf grew up. It’s hard to get away from grilled meat in this part of the world. Anita and I don’t eat meat so it was a little stunning to see all of the signs and images of meat. Left-side photo: The Guanaca Restaurant serves many types of meat, including the wild guanaco. Cordero is lamb. Right-side photo: A typical sight in restaurants with grilled meats is a whole lamb browning over a live fire.There was also plenty of fish and seafood. This large mountain trout was enough for four of us to share. It’s topped with mussels, clams and langostinos. We accompanied the trout with a nice Chilean chardonnay.Cats and dogs have full rein! Left-side photo: Perros callejeros (street dogs) are everywhere. They run in packs but many are well treated and friendly. This one really liked Jay. Right-side photo: This fun bar has a name that seems to mean “where the cats are”. It was filled with cat photos and cat art, but sadly, their live cat passed away. Its spirit remains.Flying birds and people. Left-side photo: We frequently saw ibis birds outside our Airbnb house window. They are distinctive with their long bills and large size. Right-side photo: A monument to the wind installed on Puerto Natales’ waterfront. It’s appropriate because the wind can be very strong throughout Patagonia.The southern parts of Chile and Argentina are known as the Magellanic region (named after Magellan). Here the Andes do not make a barrier between the two countries and many people consider themselves more Magellanic than Chilean or Argentinian. Left-side photo: The Chilean flag. Right-side photo: The Magellanic flag.
Final note
From Puerto Natales we took a bus northward to Calafate in Argentina (see map at top of page) and then continued farther north to El Chaltén, which will be the focus of my next post.
As always, Karen and Jay, I love the gorgeous photos and descriptions.
Your neighbor, Sally
Thanks Sally!
As always, I love your photosl and comments and so admire your explorations!
Your neighbor, Sally
Thank you Sally! So happy to hear this.
I’m going back there in. November and your posts are getting me excited. Kathleen, Seattle
Glad to hear this Kathleen!