Top Treks Around Santiago, Chile

Written by United Planet’s Chile country coordinator, Paul Fischer.

Our in-country coordinators support our international volunteers throughout their volunteer experience. Part of their job is to arrange excursions and cultural experiences for volunteers.  Our Chile Coordinator, Paul Fischer, writes about his time trekking in the Andes outside Santiago, Chile, with a tour company.  He comes back with great advice for our United Planet volunteers and makes recommendations about the best treks near Santiago.

Following email instructions, our group of five Brazilian tourists and I meet our guide, Jorge Soto, at subway station Baquedano in Santiago at 8 am sharp. Although another hot, sunny day is predicted for Santiago, Jorge tells us we should expect some precipitation in the Andes during our all-day tour. We all nod and smile, but I´m dubious. I live in Santiago, in the foothills of the Andes, and it never rains in February.

We get into a van and head southeast from Santiago. That’s where the Cajon de Maipu begins. It’s a fascinating canyon, full of majestic mountain peaks, multi-colored rock formations, glaciers, and fast moving rivers and tributaries. It extends along a narrow, winding road about 50 miles, passing by small towns, cattle grazing in fields, mountain walls on both sides, until all you see is a chain of huge mountain peaks ahead forming the border between Chile and Argentina.

The Cajon de Maipu was formed about 120 million years ago. Scientists have found plenty of dinosaur tracks and fossils, but continue doing their archeological work quietly so as not to attract any tourist attention. We are continually on the lookout for the Andean Condor, and finally spot one flying high above us. Its average 10-foot wingspan is a foot longer than the California Condor.

Jorge’s company, Jorge Excursiones, offers three treks ranging from three to seven hours to explore different areas of the Canyon. I chose the trek to El Yeso Dam and El Plomo Hot Springs because I was told that this three-hour trek could be done by any physically fit person. I wanted to experience the trek myself before recommending it to a United Planet volunteer. In the end, no one in our group had any physical problem doing the climb. And as for the overall trek experience, it was simply awesome.

Regarding costs, my trek cost US$ 80 which included van transportation and a guide. A week before, I discovered a cheaper trekking option at Baños Morales where Monumento Natural El Morado National Park begins. There is van transportation to and from this park from Santiago (Turismontaña, cel. 9-2206090) for $18 plus you pay an $8 entrance fee at the park. It’s a total five to six hour trek to the spectacular El Morado Glacier and San Francisco Glacier. Carrying food and water and a lot of sunscreen, trekkers make the climb on their own along a well-marked path, after first signing in at the park entrance.

The best time of year to trek in the Cajon de Maipu is from November to April. Jorge says that November is the best month because of the unique foliage in spring time. During the winter months from May to October there is too much snow on the ground.

We found out that Jorge was right about the weather. Just as we reached our destination, a beautiful lagoon called Laguna de los Patos located at an altitude of 3,200 meters, black clouds covered the surrounding 6,000 mountain peaks, and then, all of a sudden, in this completely still place, it started to hail. And hard. So hard that the hail stones sounded like little firecrackers bouncing off our windbreakers. We started our descent, energized by this weather change. Jorge smiled and said he had ordered the hail for our Brazilian friends. We all laughed.

Our volunteer quests in Chile offer volunteers the opportunity to help underprivileged children, women, and patients in the Santiago, while exploring all that Chile has to offer.  If you are interested in volunteering in Chile for 1-12 weeks, visit our Chile homepage to read more about each volunteer project. If you would like to volunteer in another country, check out our interactive map to see where we offer volunteer trips!