One of the main reasons we wanted to go to South America was to explore the so-beautiful-it’s-almost-mystical Patagonia. We’ve been hearing about this region our whole lives and were eager to experience the magic for ourselves! To do this, we explored Chile and Argentina for about 5 weeks total, crossing between the border multiple times. All in all, we spent about 3 weeks exploring Chile, which we will focus on here.
During our South American adventure we had also planned on visiting Bolivia. Unfortunately, due to the significant civil unrest, protests, and violence that broke out when we had planned to visit, we vetoed this plan and instead spent an additional week exploring the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. While not part of our original Patagonia-centric plan, this ended up being an interesting, rugged, and beautiful addition.
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Places we Visited & Stayed:
– San Pedro de Atacama (Airbnb): Our first impression of this area was that it seemed a little desolate. Mostly consisting of small houses/stores and dirt roads, we weren’t sure what to expect. But we were pleasantly surprised when we got to our Airbnb. Located close to town, there were several small cabins clumped together hosting other visitors and locals alike. Ours was all the way in the back, included a large outdoor kitchen and porch area, plus a fireplace. It was small and rustic but quite charming and ended up being exactly what we needed. Plus, we were surprised to find the small bodegas downtown were fully equipped with all sorts of groceries at extremely cheap prices. Between this, and its central location, we were able to explore a ton of the Atacama Desert and cook all our own meals to help offset some of the costs of the car and Airbnb rental.
– Puerto Varas (Casa Apel Hostel & Mapatagonia): Puerto Varas is one of our favorite destinations. We had originally planned to stay in Puerto Montt for a night before continuing onto Puerto Varas, but given a set of bizarre circumstances that resulted in our hostel reservation falling through, we took an evening bus to Puerto Varas instead. We were pleased to find that Casa Apel had room for us in a 4-bed dorm. The house was lovely, consisted of three, spacious floors, and boasting a large, open kitchen. We had our room entirely to ourselves, and walked to one of the nearby stores for breakfast supplies. Quaint and lovely, we enjoyed our brief stay here, although the location was a bit far from the main downtown area (~30 minutes walking).
After our unexpected night at Casa Apel, we continued on to Mapatagonia, which immediately became the new gold standard for all future hostels. We stayed in a 5-bed dorm here, and met some wonderful people in the process. The beds were comfortable and included private storage cabinets for everyone. There were two large kitchens, a dining/living room area to relax in, and a separate cozy area complete with couch and fireplace where we spent most of our time. The views from the hostel were lovely, and we really enjoyed the large backyard. There was also a huge women’s bathroom, which I know sounds weird, but was such a nice touch because it provided multiple stalls, showers, mirrors, hair dryers etc. Finally, the location was perfect, just a 5-minute walking distance to multiple grocery stores and easy to get to the waterfront. 12/10 would highly recommend!!
– Puerto Natales (Vinnhaus): This was far and away the most elegant hostel we’ve ever visited. And you may want to head there soon because they are transitioning from a multi-dorm style hostel to a private room only bed and breakfast! We stayed in a 4-bed dorm here, which was small but comfortable with a private bathroom. There was a lovely courtyard area where we sat and picnicked, and a delicious (but expensive) on-site restaurant. One bonus was that the breakfast was included (and involved french press coffee), and there were plenty of other nearby restaurants that were a bit more affordable! We really enjoyed our stay here, but caution fellow budget travelers that this is definitely on the higher end of our price range!
– Santiago (1 day): We had a 14-hour layover in Santiago, so decided to store our luggage at the airport ($10 for the whole day), and hopped on a bus into the city. The subway system was super helpful and self-explanatory, so we were able to see a lot in our short time there. One of our first stops was a giant two story Starbucks – we realize this is a classic American move but they offer free wifi and their drinks are delicious!! Then, we walked around and took it all in, moseying through parks, shops and outdoor booths lining the street, and observing the crazy amount of graffiti and damage caused by the recent protests. The juxtaposition of old, beautiful architecture and new, angry graffiti gave a future dystopian vibe to the city, and some subway stations were still closed, causing us to reroute a couple of times, but we felt perfectly safe the whole time. We ended our time here with a delicious lunch at one of the best Indian restaurants we’ve ever had, and then bussed it back to the airport to await our flight home.
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Budget Saving Tips:
· Airbnb:
o In some cases, Airbnb’s were cheaper than private rooms or even than 2 dorm beds! Then we ended up saving even more by having our own apartment with a full kitchen that allowed us to cook and hang out at home instead of going out and spending money.
· Car Rental vs. Tours:
o We decided to rent a car for our time in the Atacama Desert because all of the sights are miles (or 1.6 kilometers for our non-American friends!) away. The only other option would have been paying for multiple tours which limits flexibility and forces us to socialize, which is not our ideal situation. While certainly not cheap, you can save some money by opting for sedans instead of larger SUV/truck models. Keep in mind that if you need an automatic this will add significant cost as well. There are a bunch of tour options in the area that may better suit your goals and budget, so do some research to see what suits you best!
· Cooking at Home:
o We realize we suggest this for every country we’ve discussed but that’s because this is THE BEST WAY TO SAVE MONEY WHILE TRAVELING. We saved hundreds of dollars by cooking at home whenever possible! The restaurants tend to cater more to tourists, while grocery stores and bodegas support the locals and are extremely cheap! We were also able to prepare meals to go for all of our excursions through the desert, glaciers, mountains, and volcanoes, which tend to have limited (and very pricey) food options nearby.
· Track Your Expenses:
o Chile was far and away the most expensive country we visited in South America, and expenses add up quickly when you’re not paying attention! We built a budget tracker using Excel to track our daily spending, but it doesn’t have to be that fancy. Select a reasonable daily budget that suits your needs, and bring a notebook with you to write down what you spend so you can add it up at the end of the day and make adjustments if necessary. We ended up being under budget in every country we visited, mostly just by paying attention (and cooking at home). If you are unsure on where to start, reach out, we would love to help!!
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Chile was a diverse and stunning country. We are still amazed that we were able to explore such a special place and are eagerly planning for when we can make it back down there!
We hope this helps anyone else interested in getting out there to Chile. If you have any questions/thoughts, we would love to hear from you!!
Happy Traveling, friends!
Summer & Jackson
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