Introduction
Puerto Natales is the gateway to the beautiful glaciers, fjords and towering peaks of southern Patagonia. The town is a base for adventure travel, as the jumping off point for two of Chile's most spectacular national parks - Torres del Paine and Parque Nacional Bernardo O'Higgins. A visit to both is highly recommended, with stunning scenery to be admired from hiking trails and coastal cruises in the parks. Dolphins and plentiful seabirds can be sighted at Bernardo O'Higgins, while Torres del Paine offers the chance to see condors and guanacos.
Also nearby is the Monumento Nacional Cueva Milodon, a vast cave in which the remains of a prehistoric ground sloth were discovered in 1895. The cave - and the sloth - featured in Bruce Chatwin's classic travelogue, In Patagonia. As such, as visit to the cave is a popular inclusion in tailor-made Punta Arenas tours.
