Today enjoy a full day excursion driving 2-hours across the dry scrubland of the Magellanic Steppe to Torres del Paine National Park - a 242,000 hectare UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its soaring mountains, electric-blue lakes and many glaciers.
We drive past several large cattle estancias, which are home to the Chilean 'baqueanos' (also called 'huasos' or cowboys) who love to compete in local rodeos and drink a distinctive caffeine-rich herbal tea known as 'mate', which is served in a round cup. A variety of rare wildlife can be seen in these pampas (lowlands) including the elegant guanaco, a type of humpless camel related to the llama, and the lesser rhea which is related to the ostrich and emu. If you are fortunate you may see giant condors soaring in the thermals, as well as eagles. Grey and red fox also live here, but are rarely seen.
We continue past Figueroa Lake to the Sarmiento Lake viewpoint for postcard views of the Paine Massif. Here the landscape changes dramatically to spectacular turquoise glacier lakes frequented by marine birds, lofty waterfalls and magnificent granite mountain peaks covered by ice. The enormous Campo de Hielo Sur icecap gives the park four main glaciers - Grey, Dickson, Zapata and Tyndall. Two other glaciers descend from the west side of the central massif.
We also stop at the viewpoint at Lake Amarga ('Bitter Lake') where, weather permitting, you will have one of the best views of the three granite Torres del Paine ('Towers of Blue') from which the park takes its name.
Once inside the park we drive along a beautiful chain of glacial lakes, stopping at the Lake Nordenskjold lookout, with its view over the different peaks of the Paine Massif, including the famous 'horns' (Cuernos del Paine) and Paine Grande, the highest mountain in the park at over 10,000 ft (3,050 m). Guanaco are plentiful on these eastern plains, as are their main predator - the puma (also called mountain lion, or cougar), but as they are nocturnal and have excellent camouflage they are rarely seen.
We also take a 15-minute walk to the powder blue Salto Grande Waterfall that flows into Lake Pehoé.
After an included lunch, we continue to Grey Lake where you can walk across a hanging bridge over the Pingo River to its shores. From here you can walk 30-minutes each way to get closer views of the spectacular blue icebergs that have fallen from the Grey Glacier, which can be seen in the distance.
After leaving the park we visit the Milodón Cave on Benitez Hill, where the remains of several extinct animals have been found - including a sabre-toothed tiger, an American horse and a gigantic herbivorous mammal known as the milodon. We walk 30-minutes to the main cave which is 200 meters deep, 80 meters wide and 30 meters high and contains a life-size replica of the milodon. You will also see stalactites, before returning to Puerto Natales in the late afternoon.
Note: Sometimes this tour operates in the reverse direction.