Accommodation
Chile Nativo Riverside Camp
Our day begins at 7:00AM in Puerto Natales where your guide and private transport picks you up from your hotel or accommodation. As we travel to Torres del Paine along unpaved roads and past lagoons and pampas we are accompanied at times by the guanacos (relatives of llamas), grey foxes, Chilean flamingos and black-necked swans that call this region home. Entering the National Park, we’ll cross Pehoe Lake by catamaran and arrive at the starting point of today’s return trek. Our destination, the French Valley, is a spectacular natural basin surrounded by peaks and hanging glaciers. At the entrance to the French Valley - a huge glacial moraine - you’ll scramble over boulders and catch the first sight of the hanging glacier atop the valley. From this point, you’ll ascend for an hour through a dreamlike Japanese garden landscape before arriving at the French Valley viewpoint (the “Plateau”). Your reward is a heart-stirring bird’s eye view of granite peaks and hanging glaciers. To one side, the French Glacier and Paine Grande (3050 m); while to the other, La Espada, La Hoja, La Máscara and the main and north “horns” of Los Cuernos arch upwards. In the upper section of the Valley, Cerro Catedral and Cerro Fortaleza loom like turrets above the landscape. Take your time to have lunch at the viewpoint, surrounded by these imposing peaks and open skies. Our return hike is along the same track. We’ll take the short catamaran ride back across Pehoe Lake, and a 35 minute private transfer will drive us to Chile Nativo´s Riverside Camp. A freshly prepared welcome dinner welcomes us as we share unforgettable views of the Paine Massif from the spacious dining lodge. Turn in for the evening to your private double deluxe dome on the shores of the Serrano River.