This remote outpost in the heart of Chile's Patagonia is one of nature's last virtually untrammeled wildernesses. Located just north of Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in the world, it is a solitary region of overwhelming beauty that was not mapped until the 1930s.The 600,000-acre network of deep aquamarine lakes, rushing rivers, groaning glaciers, pampas, and fjords is best known for the Cuernos del Paine—spectacular 10,000-foot towers of rose-colored granite that are part of the Cordillera Paine mountain range. The 12-foot wingspan of the fabled Andean condor occasionally appears against the sky in this surreal landscape; it is one of more than 100 different species of native birds, from the ostrichlike rhea to wild flamingos and black-necked geese. The orange-and-white guanaco, a cousin of the llama, and the mountain puma, among others, also make their home here. Little wonder that Charles Darwin and Jules Verne were among those who fell under the spell of this region at the end of the world. Here the plenitude of air, light, time, and space crystallize the sense of disconnection from life as you know it. Maximize the experience with a stay at the Hotel Salto Chico, located on the shores of the glacial Lake Pehoe in the Torres del Paine National Park.