Puerto Natales is a town in Chile, the gateway to Trekking in Torres del Payne or Bernardo O'Higgins National Parks. It offers good infrastructure, especially a few trekking shops although you'd do better to get your gear in Punta Arenas and not-so-cheap supermarkets. Since 2009 the two larger supermarkets Unimarc and Don Bosco have increased their stocking of foods that are needed by trekkers/backpackers, including lightweight soups, precooked "ramen" noodles, hard cheeses, gorp components dried fruits and nuts, Snickers bars, and drink powders. However, "freezedried" type products are not to be found.
Puerto Natales features a couple of characteristics that visitors should be aware of. One is that the population is largely descended from immigrants from Chiloé, and the "chilote" tendencies cooking, building style are evident. Another characteristic is that there are very strong Communist/Leftist affiliations in this town, so take this into account by being careful with your conversations involving related politics. Aside from the chilotes, you will find many surnames for British and Croatian descendants.
