What it is like to stay at Estancia Mercedes and immerse yourself in Chilean Patagonian culture

Where in Chile is Estancia Mercedes located?

Estancia Mercedes is located on the Antonio Varas Peninsula, near Puerto Natales, in the Magallanes Region, southern Chilean Patagonia.

Sr. Luis, the friendly boatman who ferries passengers from Puerto Natales to the Antonio Varas Peninsula

Pack winter gear: sturdy footwear and a waterproof windbreaker jacket, hat, and gloves. You’ll likely need these for a more comfortable trip.

The history and concept of Estancia Mercedes

The family-owned cattle ranch was founded in 1916 when Sebastián’s great-grandparents, Spaniards who arrived on the peninsula in 1902, bought the property. They kept the name of one of the previous owner’s daughters: Mercedes. Today, it’s Sebastián, Grissel, and little Naitiry who welcome tourists. Sebastián is an agronomist who provides consulting services in the region. Grissel is from Puerto Natales but met Sebastián in the city of Valdivia, where she worked in tourism for the government at the time.

Together, they’re eager to expand experiential tourism on the property, connecting travelers to everyday gaucho life and showing that Patagonia isn’t just for admiring, it’s for feeling! They also want to leave an ancestral legacy for Naitiry, the couple’s daughter, and Esperanza, daughter of Mauricio and María de los Ángeles—Sebastián’s sister and a multiple award-winner in mountain riding.

The accommodation

Homey and cozy vibes fill every moment in this rustic setting. Many of the things you’ll see here are family heirlooms, while others were handmade by María de los Ángeles, like the stones glued to the walls and woolen crafts. The space features a shared kitchen and living room. The living room invites you to read and savor the rain when it falls. In the kitchen, great conversations, enticing aromas, and delicious flavors steal the show.

Outdoors, there’s a covered space perfect for celebrations, plus vast lands where horses and sheep roam free. The property borders the Almirante Montt Gulf where, at times, you can spot toninas—a species of dolphin.

The room

Just like all the other rooms, the suites are heated with firewood. The bed comes with blankets that hug and relax you. The silence is broken only by the crackle of burning wood, it’s practically a “yoga nidra” meditation guided by the fire. I slept so deeply here that, as I write this article, I’d give anything for another night at the ranch.

That said, not everything’s perfect. For showers, you need to alert the hosts to turn on the water pump for pressure. Then turn on the shower and let the water run for a few minutes until the pressure and hot water kick in. In those moments, you’re reminded of the everyday privileges at home that we take for granted.

Meals

Four meals are included in the daily rate. The focus is on simple, traditional eating, but they can adapt the menu to guests’ needs.

Mate, a popular South American herbal infusion, is your inseparable companion all day long. Breakfast and afternoon tea feature fresh fruits and homemade breads. Lunch and dinner fill the air with farm-fresh aromas and flavors. Here, you’ll enjoy wood-fired dishes prepared from scratch with love, patience, and tradition.

These are some of the delights I sampled at Estancia Mercedes:

• Carbonada: A classic Natales dish. It’s essentially a hearty stew with meat, pumpkin, potato, carrot, corn, peas, garlic, onion, and seasonings.
• Spanish tortilla: Made with potato, egg, onion, and salt—but they add carrot here.
• Jamón de capón: Charcuterie from sheep meat.
• Panqueque con manjar: A pancake with dulce de leche.
• Calzones rotos: Fried doughs with a light, crispy texture.
• Menta sour: Pisco sour with mint.
• Vino navegado: Hot wine spiced with cinnamon, orange, and sugar.

All paired with fresh veggies and herbs straight from the garden.

Sustainability

When it comes to sustainable accommodations, we often picture a modern hotel with a green roof, bioconstruction, or cutting-edge tech that saves water and electricity. But the truth is, small family-run inns have a much smaller environmental impact and provide direct income for the families who run them.

At Estancia Mercedes, a remote spot where the hosts live off and depend on nature, sustainability isn’t a marketing gimmick; it’s a necessary way of life. When you blend environmental care with cultural immersion, the place really shines.

Their carbon footprint is minimal: the hosts plant and harvest their own food, compost, and cut their own firewood. They even hunt the cattle they’ll eat, with help from their horses and wild dogs—a regional tradition practiced by few these days, one that landed Sebastián on the cover of National Geographic in 2014.

The organic garden features rosemary, mint, lettuce, chicory, garlic, rhubarb, apples, calafate berries, and much more. Everything is fertilized with cow and horse manure plus crushed bones—here you see true zero-waste living, as even the bones from the animals they eat return to the soil to nurture new life. Wood scraps mulch the garden to lock in moisture. Sebastián employs intensive organic gardening techniques to maximize yields in a small space, paired with a smart irrigation system—a soaker hose that releases water only when the soil needs it.

Water is treated with utmost seriousness, since they rely on uncontaminated soil for pure drinking water. Graywater from the inn flows through a biofiltering garden for treatment. Blackwater heads to a septic tank, with waste hauled away by truck once a year. In the future, they plan to add composting toilets to the guest accommodations, just like the one they already use at their home.

Discover some of the amazing experiences the ranch offers:

1. Live like a gaucho

Staying at Estancia Mercedes isn’t just about sleeping in a different destination. During your visit, you’ll get to immerse yourself in local culture.

Mate, chats, hearty meals, and of course, the traditional bota de vino are all part of the experience. A battery-powered radio sets the soundtrack to gaucho daily life, with Chilean, American, and Mexican tunes. In this remote spot, you’ll relearn how to tend a fire, which is responsible for heating your room and your food. Here, I discovered that gaucho culture extends beyond southern Brazil all the way to the tip of our continent.

Oh, and I had the privilege of being there for María de los Ángeles’s birthday. When it came time to sing “cumpleaños feliz” I witnessed something unexpected: the candle wasn’t on a cake, it was on the head of a roasted pig. According to her, it’s a quirky tradition she invented for her special day.

A reality very different from what we experience in big cities

I know that images like this one of the pig might be hard to stomach for some folks, especially vegetarians. But we need to remember that when we encounter different cultures, we must stay open-minded and look kindly on other ways of life. For Grissel, killing an animal to eat isn’t easy, but she sees herself as part of an ecosystem—and she needs to eat to survive too—so she respects and is grateful for those animals’ lives.

“It takes a lot of courage to live here. Far from medical care, with limited electricity, chopping wood just to stay warm, simply living off the land.”

Grissel González – Estancia Mercedes

2. Horseback ride

3. Drink truly pure water

I bet you weren’t expecting this one on the list, but I have to share that even after traveling to nearly 30 countries, I’d never tasted water like this. When people say pure water has no taste, they’re probably talking about the water I drank at Estancia Mercedes, virtually untouched by humans. Here, the tap water flows straight from the mountains, and you can drink it safely.

This really hit home for me, prompting reflection on how us humans have neglected something so essential to our lives and all living beings.

4. Cooking Class

Grissel taught me how to make homemade bread, but you can also learn other recipes like the famous Chilean empanadas, calzones rotos, and more!

5. Anti-stress program

Grissel has an anti-stress program that really piqued my interest. After all, with so many conflicts in the world, who isn’t stressed out?

She’s overcome various life challenges that triggered anxiety and panic attacks, from a phantom pregnancy to postpartum depression. Researching ways to heal, Grissel picked up techniques that help her manage anxiety and tune into her body and emotions to prevent crises. She wants to share these daily tools with others, so they can carry them wherever life takes them.

She admires Matthieu Ricard, who describes happiness as a collection of quality moments, and stresses how we need to make sure we build those quality moments into our everyday lives.

Grounding

Grissel introduced me to a technique called “grounding”. The process starts by choosing a tree to lean against while sitting. She led a guided meditation, directing my mind to imagine my feet gripping the soil, sprouting roots that stretch all the way to the Earth’s core. The energetic pole of the Earth’s core flows up through the roots, pulsing with light wherever it goes. This energy rises through the feet, knees, hips, organs, and finally reaches the brain.

Totem / Amulet

One of the program’s activities is crafting a clay amulet you can carry in your pocket on a daily basis. So everytime you look at it, it reminds you to ground yourself and reconnect.

6. Other possibilities

Opportunities go even further and can be customized to suit each visitor’s desires. Here are some other experiences I wasn’t able to join:

• Hiking trails and horseback rides to viewpoints and a small waterfall;
• Lessons in cow herding and sheep shearing;
• Calafate harvesting;
• Gaucho party on Chile’s Independence Day, September 18;
• Camping at Laguna Cóndor.

Prices

Find out how much it costs to stay at Estancia Mercedes or do day trips from Puerto Natales:

My overall review of Estancia Mercedes, accommodation in Chile

I really wanted to connect with local culture on this trip to Puerto Natales and understand rural Patagonian family life. My dear friend Jorge Moller recommended staying at Estancia Mercedes, and it blew me away. Not only did I achieve my goal, but I also found the peace I didn’t even know I needed. I had a reunion with myself, gained priceless lessons, and made friends at “the end of the world.” Now, I carry beautiful lifelong memories and the desire to return and share this refuge with more people.

Elaine Villatoro

I hope our Estancia Mercedes review has helped clear up any doubts and make your decision. Got any questions, or opinions/additional info to share about this stay? Leave a comment 🤗.

Custom travel itinerary to Chile

Would you like a personalized itinerary? Just email [email protected] requesting a quote and providing your name, WhatsApp contact number, expected travel date, number of travelers, and a brief summary of what you hope to experience at the destination.

Extra tips

1) Stay connected

We always need the internet for maps or even to call a ride via app, right?! With Airalo’s international SIM, you get online access as soon as you land in Chile.

New to this tech? In this article, we explain what an eSIM is and how it works.

2) Don’t forget to get travel insurance!

Always remember to take out travel insurance. SafetyWing has a comprehensive coverage which includes adventure sports.

🦊 The sincere fox informs:
* All the prices mentioned in this article were collected in April 2026 and may be subject to taxes or change at any time.
** The photos featured in this post were taken by Elaine Villatoro.