At just a shade under 300,000 square miles, a little larger than Texas, Chile has more geographical variety than all other countries on earth, with the possible exception of the United States and China. 

It’s the country’s odd shape, extending 2,600 miles north to south and an average of 150 miles east to west, that allows it that distinction. Chile spans 38 degrees of latitude, from the sun-bleached Atacama in the north, earth’s driest desert, to wind-swept Tierra del Fuego in the south, where the inhabitants can count on an average of eight days per year that are both cloudless and calm. 

It’s in the south that Chile holds its greatest surprises. Most North Americans think of South America as primarily tropical rainforest, high, dry mountains, and endless savannahs and prairies. So, the existence of an island-studded, Alaska-like, fiord-indented coastline in Chile’s south goes against the stereotype. The geography there comes embellished with beech and conifer forests, deep blue lakes, foaming rivers, teeming wildlife and sea mammals, extensive glaciers and tall, ice-carved peaks.  

The culmination of this spectacular region, which the Chileans call Patagonia del Sur (South Patagonia), is Torres de Paine National Park, a 700-square-mile region of sheer granite spikes and towers that are among the most beautiful peaks on earth. Torres is Spanish for towers, and these ones, lying at the southern end of the great Andes mountain chain, soar abruptly and exuberantly from the terrain, like a sheaf of exclamation points.  

The Paine Massif, composed primarily of granite, arose 12 million years ago. Its highest peak, Paine Grande, rises a mere 3,050 meters (10,000 feet) – small potatoes compared to the 20,000-plus-footers that dominate the Andes further north. But these mountains rise abruptly from near the sea, with no foothills to rest on or pad their altitude. The most celebrated of the massif’s peaks are the Cuernos del Paine (Horns of Paine) , which look as though they frothed up out of the earth and then were beaten into shapes that resemble the peaks of a meringue topping. They are three-toned in color, with a giant layer of gray granite sandwiched between a base and cap of charcoal-colored rock.  

Deeper into the range are Torres del Paine themselves, three massive granite upthrusts that lance the air like giant spear points. With vertical sheer faces rising 1,000 meters (3,300 feet), the towers are catnip to mountain climbers.

Other things to see

The park’s other attractions include boreal forests tucked away in protected bays and inlets. Most of land is treeless, though, with grass and sedge-like plants dominating. The chief herbivore is the guanaco, close cousin to the llama. They are often stalked by pumas, and the remains of those encounters are scavenged by the likes of the Andean condor and the gray fox.

Unfortunately, there are several estancias (ranches) within the park. Cattle and sheep herders don’t like pumas and will kill any they suspect of poaching their animals. At some point, the government may have to condemn the estancias and move the herders to a less sensitive area.

The park is also a water wonderland. There are lakes everywhere, their basins scooped out by ancient glaciers. The remaining glaciers create fast running wild rivers that slam their way down to the sea through narrow banks and over waterfalls.

The weather here ranges from abominable to barely tolerable to occasionally perfect. Winds are constant and the southerly latitude makes for cool weather at best. People who have visited the Aleutian or west side of the Queen Charlotte islands in North America will appreciate Torres del Paine’s atmosphere. 

There are gentle arguments over the origin of the word “Paine.”  Some say it’s a word in the local Indian vocabulary that means blue. Others contend the towers are named after a Welsh mountain climber, Paine, a not entirely unlikely possibility. Parts of nearby Argentina’s Patagonia are  populated by Welsh settlers, who despite having spoken Spanish as their first language for several generations, are abundantly represented by families named Paine, Jones, Evans and Jenkins.

Despite its isolation in a large country that is only now beginning to enjoy the early stages of affluence, the park is extremely well served in terms of transportation and accommodations. Access by ship or plane is routine and easy, and there are several hostels and hotels within the park that can handle just about any level of service. One of them, the Hotel Salto Chico, located by a spectacular waterfall, is a five-star accommodation noted for its onsite gourmet restaurant (which often serves local trout and salmon), range of activities (hard day treks to lolling on the veranda) and clear view to the mountains. Built in 1993, the 30-room hotel has upped the ante by enticing more affluent travelers to seek out Torres del Paine. As word about the park spreads, its protection grows ever more solid.

Another reason to visit

Besides its amenities and beauty, there’s another reason to consider visiting Torres del Paine. Like the United States a century ago, Chile is at a pivotal point. Its economy has grown strongly over the past 20 years, and it is rapidly approaching the point of affluence (a per-capita income of $8,000) where developing countries become wealthy enough to begin protecting and restoring their natural environments. Until then, Chile is locked in the classical developing-nation struggle between exploiters and preservers.

A good example of that is the ongoing clash between Doug Tompkins, the American former owner of the trendy clothing manufacturer, Esprit, and the Chilean government. Over a several-year period, Tompkins used his clothing company fortune to slowly buy up a Yosemite-sized stretch of temperate rainforest near the Bio Bio River.

It was his intention to cede the land to Chile as a national preserve on the condition it be used to demonstrate sustainable economic uses. Tompkins proposed that an economy relying on eco-tourism, selective logging and the manufacture of handicrafts could offer local people gainful employment. It would, he said, allow them to escape the necessity of engaging in hyper-exploitive activities to sustain themselves, such as clear-cut logging, industrial fishing or stripping the forest cover for farming.

But the Chilean government and many of its people saw Tompkins’ offer as sinister. They noted that the Bio Bio preserve almost bisected the country, and the fact that such a huge tract was in the hands of a foreigner, no matter how benign he claimed to be, was a threat to the nation’s sovereignty.

While Tompkins and the Chileans continue their tussle, areas like Torres del Paine continue to build an attractive infrastructure that draws affluent travelers. As foreign tourists increasingly pump vital foreign exchange into the country’s economy, Chileans are beginning to understand that preserving their landscapes will produce far more income over the long term than gutting forests and damming rivers.

The question is how much of now pristine Chile will have to be sacrificed before the awareness fully kicks in that visitors are, indeed, golden geese. That’s why a trip to enjoy the beautiful austral treasures of this country can at the same time be an act of preservation.

By Patrick Totty