Blogs from Futaleufu, Carretera Austral, Aisén, Chile, South America

We are now in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. We have had a very eventful past few days and our first taste of inclement weather, even some rain!! The roads have just been incredible, with windy metal roads following the shoreline of the many lakes, with snow capped mountains in every direction. Zane had a momentary laps of concentration and narrowly missing a deep concrete culvert, the Transalp now with a modified front section and no screen, Zane with a bit of damaged pride and some zip ties continued on his adventure. We now have David V's 1200 GS on the back of the truck, as it now only has one functioning cylinder. The other one has been damaged beyond our supply of 'Mend it' after his altercation with a ute, incidentally, the same one we ... read more

River! The Futaleufu is a world class, big-water, glacier fed, turquoise and beautiful river that flows from the eastern side of the Andes in Argentina, but then swings backward from its natural easterly course and cuts the Andes in two by heading back to Chile and making a short and steep plunge to the Pacific. While not as long or deep as the Grand Canyon, the water and rapids in the Fu are of similar size. While not having any famous mountains nearby, the canyon systems of the valley are deep, green, forested valleys filled with glaciers and jutting volcanic peaks. It is a magnificent pastoral glacial valley. The Fu is also a precious remaining gem. Several of the biggest whitewater and wild rivers in Chile have been dammed over the past 50 years, and of ... read more