Yuri101

I'm planning late October 12 days trip from NYC to Santiago, Buenos-Aires and back to NYC. I'm interested in culture, tango, etc, but also would like to do some hiking and outdoors activities.
Any advice on how many days to spend in Santiago vs Buenos Aires?
Any particular recommended outdoor trips (given my time limitations)?
Thanks,
Yuri

soulskier

I would eliminate Santiago and go either to Bariloche or El Chalten if you like hiking. Suerte!

Huentetu

The advantage of Santiago for outdoor activities is that you don't have to fly anywhere to get some great days out in the mountains. In one to two hours you can be hiking, even get to a glacier. Most of Chile's vineyards are within easy reach of Santiago as well. How many days you spend in each really depends on how much time you want to spend on each activity.

clovett37

Hey, I just moved to Buenos Aires a couple weeks ago and without knowing any Spanish decided to take some language classes. I got to brush up on my Spanish, but it actually was a great place to talk to natives and find out the best places to go in the city, they have something going on every night of the week to do in Buenos Aires, it was really cool.

Give it a look on the website, you end up getting a lot for your money so if your just travelling through, i highly recommend it. Most of the students are only in BsAs for a week or two.

www.expanish.com

good luck

bearshapedsphere

Agreed with Huentetu that there are some nice hiking opptys from or near Santiago There's Cajón de Maipo (in general, several hikes here including) Glaciar El Morado, Yerba Loca, La Campana, El Manquehuito (NOT Manquehue, too many assaults to go alone) and Parque Mahuida which gives you access to Cerro La Cruz, Cerro San Ramón and sendero de chile as well as some shorter trails like Sendero El Litre). Rio Clarillo is close by as well, and there's also El Naranjo, Leonera, Cerro El Pintor and El Plomo (mountaineering experience req'd for some of these). I'm probably missing some, but these are off the top of my head.

Suerte, but I wouldn't overlook Chile so quickly... Harder to hike from BsAs than from Santiago, that's for sure!

hope that helps.

eileen

5 years and counting in Chile
my expat blog: www.bearshapedsphere.com

EdEdwards

Could someone please describe the access to the glacier? Would it be reachable by car, and in the Santiago winter? I haven't found this described in my tour books. Thanks.

Huentetu

You want excursions to El Morado. I arranged a day trip for a group of visitors last year and used SWA. Not sure about access in winter but this is one I would use a company with a guide for and not try to go on your own. You have to be fairly fit to do it. Check out a few companies. latitude90 does the trip and, I think, Santiago Adventures.
http://www.swachile.com/tourism/prod...8_trk19_FD_ing

bearshapedsphere

It's near Baños Morales, which is after San Gabriel (about 17 km unpaved) up through Cajón de Maipo. From there, you can stop at a place called... I can't remember the name, it's like an old french Andinista club/restaurant, right side of the road after skipping the turnoff to Baños Morales and they can give you a map and/or describe the route, but there is a road up the where you can start the hike. How far up you make it depends on the weather, your vehicle and your 4X4 skills. It's a few hours walk (maybe 3-4 o/w, depending on where you start), and it's a pretty straightforward, easy hike, with a trail, little scree. What makes it tricky is the altitude, which you're probably not accustomed to. With snow it's trickier, bring trekking poles. I've hiked it a couple of times, and can say that it's one of the easier hikes I mentioned. The view at the top is great, chocolatey glacial lake with the glacier wall pretty close. Iceclimbers are sometimes there climbing their way up.

The other way to get there (I believe it's the same glacier, but at any rate, a glacier is spotted) is through Yerba Loca, which is a fascinating hike with tons of birds, lizards and wildflowers in the spring, but you'd have to spend the night camping as it's a long (slightly uphill) trek to the glacier from that side.

If you read Spanish, check out the forums at foros.tricuspide.com where there is tons of hiking information available.

But the previous poster is right, it's probably all easier to do if you just hire a company to take you there, though of course, the experience is different, and the cost is much higher.

hth!

eileen

5 years in Chile and counting
my expat blog: www.bearshapedsphere.com

bearshapedsphere

I just reread that you want to do this in winter. Hmmm. I wouldn't recommend doing it alone unless you have survival and orienteering skills. Viento blanco (blizzard) is a real possibility, and people routinely get stuck up in the mountains with an unexpected snow as late as Oct/Nov, and have to wait for a thaw to get back out. Plus snow can obscure your footsteps (or the trail) on the way up. I hiked up to Baños Morales at practically New Year's one year (very summery), and there was at least 10" of snow in places. The access road would not be maintained in the winter either.

good luck!

eileen

5 years in Chile and counting
my expat blog: www.bearshapedsphere.com

sofi_2506

Yuri: in Buenos Aires you can also do some outdoor activities. For instance, you can get to know the city by bike, there is a company called 'la Bicicleta Naranja' which offers tours of 3 or 4 hours or you can just rent a bike an go on your own.
There are also daytrips to the countryside or to the Delta in Tigre. In the countryside you spend the day at an estancia where you can do horse back-riding, taste wines and have a barbacue. In Tigre, you can take a ride in a motorboat and then spend the day in an island.
Due to the few days you will be spending in BA, you may consider going to Iguazú. This is a must and it doesn't require too many days. 2 nights should be enough for you to see the National Park and get to the Brazilian side as well.