Leaving Los Antiguos in Argentina, we headed over the border into Chile to the wee town of Chile Chico. The drive was lovely, travelling around Lago (Lake) Buenos Aires in Argentina, to Lago General Carrera in Chile – the same lake, but with a border through the middle of it, hence two different names.
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| Vdos at Chile Chico's orchard campsite, Chilean Patagonia |
In Chile Chico, we looked for a sunny campsite to warm our bones after the cold of Argentinean Patagonia. We settled on Hosteria de la Patagonia which had camping in its orchard.
This proved a good choice as it was peaceful and sunny, despite the fact that the laid-back owner had not managed to get the toilet and shower facilities operating. We had our own, so no problem.
We'd passed through the border crossing into Chile easily because we eaten all of our fruit, vegetables and meat so had nothing to declare. Now we were in Chile, we needed to shop.
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| Chile Chico village from the town lookout, Chilean Patagonia |
Hosteria de la Patagonia was an easy walk into the quaint village of Chile Chico, which had several mini-marts and assorted shops on the lake front.
Over the next few days, we enjoyed some lovely sunny days, got some shopping and washing done, and relaxed, before heading off again.
When we left, we drove west toward the Andes Mountains on Ruta 265 - the Paso Las Llaves.
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| Leaving Chile Chico toward the Andes Mountains on the Paso Las Llaves, Chilean Patagonia |
The Paso Las Llaves follows the shores of the Lago General Carrera, and is known as one of the world's most dangerous but beautiful road trips.
The story goes that this road was a once a track along the lago and through the mountains, used by bandits seeking to escape justice in Argentina.
On many occasions the track and mountain pass were blocked with snow and when someone wanted to use it, would first ask whether they could pass through. Often the answer was – "it is locked", which has given this road its name of El Paso de las Llaves – Pass the Keys.
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| The ripio, narrow, winding, mountain road called Paso Las Llaves, Chilean Patagonia |
It is now a narrow road of rough ripio (gravel), thick dirt and sand, taking us alongside the lake through narrow mountain passes, blind corners, and steep cliffs with no guardrails.
It was like a roller coaster, and really nail-biting stuff. We progressed slowly, hoping not to meet too much traffic coming toward us on the very skinny road!
Luckily, we got through the most daunting parts before meeting any on-coming cars. Although there were plenty of other obstacles to drive around; mostly the four-legged sort.
The scenery was stunning, with constant views of the lake, craggy rocks, and snow-covered mountains. It took us around 6 hours to drive this 124 km of captivating and ruggedly beautiful road!
At the end of this tricky drive, we turned sharp right and found ourselves on the famed Carretera Austral. This road was previously known as Carrera General Augusto Pinochet. I think we know why they changed its name!
Construction of the Carretera Austral started in the 1970's and is ongoing; it runs for 1,240 kilometres through some of Chilean Patagonia's most beautiful, rugged and remote scenery. Like Ruta 40 in Argentina, it is a renowned drive.
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| Puerto Rio Tranquilo port and boats, Chilean Patagonia |
Eventually we reached the small village of Puerto Rio Tranquilo (population 500), on the western shores of Lago General Carrera. We decided to stop there for a few nights, and settled in at Bellavista Camping, a lovely family run campground with, joy-oh-joy, hot showers!
While there, we organised a boat trip to see the Marble Caves or Capillas de Marmol. This is a natural phenomenon of caves in and beside the lake, formed by wind and waves over thousands of years.
Early the next morning, rugged up because of the cold wind and threatening rain, we boarded a small tour boat that took us across the lake to visit the caves.
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| Beautiful swirls and boat-sized caves at Marble Caves, Puerto Rio Tranquilo, Chilean Patagonia |
We saw an amazing range of caves and rock shapes, marbled in yellow, grey and white. The contrast of the blue water against these rocks was spectacular and it was a unique experience. Some of the caves were big enough to get the boat inside.
We arrived back in Puerto Rio Tranquilo after a few hours on the water, cold but very happy with our sightseeing excursion.
The following day, we decided to do a boat trip to the San Rafael Glacier. However, all trips had been cancelled for several days because of the bad weather, so we didn't get there.
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| The wild Ruta del Valle Exploradores (X -728) to Exploradores Glacier, Chilean Patagonia |
Instead, we drove the wild Ruta del Valle Exploradores, a very rough and narrow road reminiscent of the Paso Las Llaves (but shorter), to see the Exploradores Glacier. No boat trip was required to see this one.
It’s located in Chile’s Laguna San Rafael National Park, on the north-eastern slope of Monte San Valentine, which is the highest mountain in Chilean Patagonia at 4,058 metres.
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| Climbing through the ancient evergreen forest to see the Exploradores Glacier, Chilean Patagonia |
After parking, we had a very uphill but picturesque climb through an evergreen forest to the top of a hill, where we had a distant view of this 18-kilometre-long glacier.
The recent rains had washed out most of the path from there on so we could not get up close to this glacier as we had done with the Grey, Perito Moreno and Viedma glaciers. However, we decided that the distant view was good enough.
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| Exploradores Glacier in the distance, Chilean Patagonia |
Driving back to camp, we gave a ride to two young guys who were building a walking track to the glacier (it would eventually take people safely across the washed-out path). One spoke good English so we had an interesting conversation about being a Chilean, while driving back to Puerto Rio Tranquilo.
The next day we headed north to Cerro Castillo National Park, named after its highest mountain, Cerro Castillo or Castle Mountain.
We set off on the notorious Carretera Austral again. Also, known as Ruta 7 or the Southern Route, the Carretera Austral traverses the least inhabited area of Chile.
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| Carretera Austral to Cerro Castillo National Park, Chilean Patagonia |
For much of the route the road was shocking, but the whole area is surrounded by the impressive peaks of the Southern Andes Mountains.
We eventually arrived at the tiny village of Cerro Castillo (population 163). However, we couldn't find anywhere to park overnight so we continued on, passing over the highest point on the Carretera Austral and seeing quite a bit of snow.
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| Carretera Austral scenery to Coyhaique, Chilean Patagonia |
We soon arrived at Coyhaique, a smallish city (population around 53,000). We found our way to El Camping, a quaint little camp near to the river. We parked there, and the lovely owner loaned us a long power cord so we could have electricity from his house.
Coyhaique is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and rocky peaks, which while beautiful, made the nights a little chilly.
The next morning, we walked up a steep hill to get to the centre of Coyhaique township. While in town, we dropped off a load of washing at the local lavanderia as the weather hadn't been kind for drying clothes.
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| Lake on our Coyhaique hike |
Later, we drove to the Coyhaique National Park for a hike. After a steady 20 min uphill climb, we found a lovely lake and picnic area where we stopped for lunch.
After lunch, we continued our upwards climb, then realised that we were in a very isolated part of the park. We suddenly felt spooked, so without any real reason, quickly headed back down.
At the bottom, we found a sign warning us of wild pigs and puma there! We think we were spooked because we felt we were being watched. The sign advised of what to do if we were to meet a puma. Glad we didn't have to put that into practice!
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| Coyhaique from our hike lookout |
We did a much longer hike the following day, that took us uphill through a forest, giving great views of Coyhaique and the surrounding countryside.
Before leaving Coyhaique, we stopped at the Copec service station to give Vdos her 6,000 km oil change. The next day with a purring Vdos, we headed to the wee town of Aysen. After a walk around there, we drove on.
The scenery along this part of the Carretera Austral was lovely. We passed very few houses or villages, lots of colourful foliage, roadside waterfalls and lots of hills.
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| Colourful foliage along the Carretera Austral, Chilean Patagonia |
Eventually we arrived at the Queulat National Park, where we had planned to see another glacier.
We thought we would be able to camp in the National Park but when we arrived, the ranger said it was not possible and recommended a camp 7 kms further up the road.
After driving the 7 kms, we found the delightful Las Toninas camp where we parked right on the edge of a lake. No electricity, but clean facilities with hot showers.
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| Leigh at the lake edge, La Toninas campsite near Queulat National Park, Chilean Patagonia |
We spent a very peaceful night there, dropping off to sleep to the sound of waves lapping the shoreline just a few metres away.
The next morning, we drove back into the National Park. There, we headed out on a wonderful 3 km uphill muddy hike through a rainforest, to view the Hanging Glacier or Sendero Ventsquero Colgante.
Our strenuous uphill climb was reward with a fantastic view at the top.
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| The Hanging Glacier from the top lookout, Queulat National Park, Chilean Patagonia |
The glacier hangs over the surrounding cliff-face and drips down into the river below. It was quite different to the other glaciers we had seen.
We met a young Aussie couple up there, and had a great exchange of travel experiences.
Later, we headed down - much faster than we went up - then continued our journey along the winding, unsealed, tortuous and beautiful Carretera Austral.
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| The winding road ahead on the Carretera Austral near Queulat National Park, Chilean Patagonia |
After a while, we were stopped by roadworks and were not able to carry on our journey. Apparently, the Austral was undergoing major roadworks in this area.
The thought of travelling hundreds of kilometres back was daunting! However, to allow people to continue their travels, vehicles were transported to a finished section of the road by car ferry, and for free!
As we ferried up the coast, we could see the huge earthworks blocking the road. We felt glad to be here now as in a few years’ time it will be very different to drive - perhaps less of an adventure.
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| Foreshore and boats on Canal Puyuguapi, Chilean Patagonia |
Continuing on, we arrived in the wee town of Puyuguapi (pop 5,000), right beside a huge body of water called Canal Puyuguapi, which flows into to the Pacific Ocean.
We stayed at La Serana Camping that night. It was a challenge as it was the back-yard of the owner’s home, and the amenities were not great. In fact, the whole tiny village was quite grim.
The next morning, we bought a few purchases at a mini-mart to contribute to the local economy, then drove toward the border to cross back into Argentina. We were happy, having seen a few more glaciers.
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