CHILE, SOUTH AMERICA - TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATION GUIDE
PUERTO NATALES, PUNTA ARENAS & SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

CHILE TRAVEL GUIDE:

Travel Guide to Chile:

Sightseeing in Punta Arenas - Chile   by David Ven

With a population of just under 150000 habitants, Punta Arenas is the largest City in Southern Patagonia. The city is located over the northern coast of the Magellan Strait, 3090km to the south from Santiago, the capital of Chile. Across the Magellan Strait, to the south, it is found the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Island. And to the north of the city: the town of Puerto Natales, the gateway of the Torres del Paine National Park.

There are plenty of things to see and do in Punta Arenas. The Salesian Museum (Museo Salesiano) at the corner of Bhories and Sarmiento, is one of the best museums in Patagonia. In this museum, you can see important displays on local indigenous culture and wildlife. 

Another worthwhile place to go, it is the Instituto de la Patagonia. The institute has an open-air museum and library focusing in Patagonia wildlife, geography and history. There are two lookout points, called Miradores, over the highlands of this gust-prone Chilean city.

From these lookout points, dramatic views of the Strait of Magellan and the city itself can be seen.

A recommended day excursion near the city, it is to visit two important Penguins colonies: Magdalena Island and Otway Sound. In these Penguins colonies you can see these friendly birds in their natural habitat while walking almost among them. Besides, there are a few natural reserves near Punta Arenas with plenty of wildlife to see, like Reserva Nacional Magallanes, or the Francisco Coloane Marine Park. The first it is home to coigüe and lenga trees, as well as the gray fox, Culpeo fox, puma and condor. The second, it was the first marine area protected in Chile.

These are some popular places for sightseeing in Punta Arenas that you don't want to miss the next time you travel through Chile.

Discover the beauty of San Pedro de Atacama   by Sanpedrochile

Discover the beauty of San Pedro de Atacama in the most arid desert in the world. It is an unforgettable experience; however, to discover the thousand-year-old mysteries that surround this culture, it is without any doubt, the greatest secret that this land hides. What better way to learn about the Atacama lifestyle in depth, than to take a series of tours that combine the wonders of the desert and the direct contact with its original cultures.

The Tourism Association of Ecored Lickan Antay in San Pedro de Atacama was created to be able to represent a group of indigenous Atacama families, from San Pedro de Atacama who opens the doors of their mud and straw built houses with ancestral designed roof to share their way of life. They offer accommodation services, food, local products and a wide variety of tourist activities.

The day's activities begin with the Communal Trail, an activity that invites you to share the commoners from this beautiful city daily life concerning their traditional activities such as the production of Pataska grain, Chañar and Carob tree syrup and llama breeding. 

Later followed by lunch at the country restaurant, near , "Coyo Trails." In the evening, the Ancestral Caravan is a must; a llama-led hike on ancestral routes to see the spectacular sunset that dyes the Andean sky red from San Pedro de Atacama.

At night and while you wait for a tasty llama BBQ, you can enjoy an Andean Astronomy session, where the stars from this city are contemplated and their relationship with the daily life of the Atacaman people is explained.

This is your opportunity to do Fair Tourism, in San Pedro de Atacama with the indigenous local community, where it supports and strengthens our activity, generating the possibility that the natives from this city will not have to immigrate to the city and that they keep on generating their in San Pedro de Atacama culture in the most arid desert of the world.

We invite you to join us in this unique experience in San Pedro de Atacama, soaking in the spirit of the Lickan Antaynique culture in the Atacama Desert!!!

Última Esperanza Sound, originally inhabited by the Kawésqar tribe or Alacaluf and the Aoniken or Tehuelche, was sailed in 1557 by Juan Ladrilleros, a sailor who was looking for the Strait of Magellan.