Hiking

Hiking and Trekking Tours with Children in Chile

The best hiking possibilities in Chile are often in national parks and nature reserves.

You can ask national park guards for information about trails, which usually are well signposted, so you can find them easily.

As requirement for a successful trip, it is imperative that our kids have fun at the tour, therefore some ideas:

 

• Children often don’t like to hike or to be active as adults, they look for adventure. They are not interested in how many miles they walk, they want to see lurking wild animals, they don’t mind how high they get, but they like Cowboys fireplaces, they even don’t care about the expecting landscapes, but they would love to discover hidden treasures.
• Choose near hiking targets with short access times. Especially for the first trips it is an advantage to know the route, since you will be able to estimate if it is reasonable for children.
• Children love to spend time with other children. Look for equally disposed parents and discover nature together.
• Often the best route is the most boring one. Wide forest routes or highways do not correspond to the idea of adventure. For children the principle “The way is the target” is valid. A narrow path, small streams to overcome and gnarled roots on the way challenge the little hikers and make them feel enthusiastic.
• The day should be well-considered and structured. It is recommended to start early in the morning and to plan the more difficult milestones for the first half of the day. The lunch break should be really celebrated, children love a nice picnic. Also young hikers look for day target, an old tree, an empty hut or a look at a volcano.
• For children there is nothing more exciting than to spend the night in a tent with a fireplace under the sky full of twinkling stars. Your child shouldn’t be a simple fellow traveller, but an active participant. As long as he or she is having a good time, he/she should be allowed to help in setting up the tent, looking for firewood and in cutting potatoes.
• The child will be happy on the outing only if the parents also are, so choose targets and activities that you also find attractive.
• The greatest bonus, which children achieve with this, is also our most precious gift � to spend time with their parents. Don’t ever forget, that this is the best meaningful way to spend your time.
• “Why?” This question brings us soon to our own knowledge limitation. Believe it, it is not only our knowledge that we have to pass on, but if we also show interest and enthusiasm, one day we will see our interested and enthusiastic successors.
• Unfortunately, Chile is in many places very polluted. Garbage bags decorate tree branches, a big number of empty cans lie on picnic grounds, fireplaces anywhere endangering the forest and toilet paper flutter, such as Tibetan prayer flags, towards the children to welcome them. There is no sense in hiding all this, so better show them the erroneous actions of other people and teach them how to do it right.