Carretera Austral

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Carretera Austral

Santa Lucia

We arrived into the small pueblo of Santa Lucia. When I say small, I mean like 30 people, all of which we saw on the day and a half that we were in Santa Lucia. We played soccer, caught up on journals, enjoyed the amazing mountains which surrounded us.

That night, we camped and had a good pasta meal that we cooked up ourselves. The "campground" was a yard next to a mini market complete with roosters and dogs. Not kidding. We played Yaniv an Isreali card game until it started raining then we departed our respective tents. The next monring we awoke, it was still raining, but we broke down camp and ran over to the only cafe in town which is a home and hospedeje as well. Had some fried dough with jam, butter, and instant coffee.

Puyuhaupi

The small fishing village of Puyuhaupi was very quiant and had a small port, which was covered in small boats on the shore. We dropped the mochilas and headed for the mirador (view) up at the top of the mountain. The trail went through cow pasture, through berry trees which we ate, then the accent to a view of two snow capped peaks, the port of Puyuhaupi and the entire town. It was amazing. Only a 1 hour hike to the top from town.

The next day we awoke to rain, which cancelled our plans to go to the hanging glacier at the nearby national park. So, the 4 of us drank wine all day as the rain poured, we had a great time doing absolutely nothing for the day. The next day we caught a bus to Coyhaique.

Coyhaique

The bus ride between Puyuhaupi and Coyhaique was incredible. We saw the hanging glacier, and more views then I can explai and the pictures will not do it justice.

In Coyhaique, we tried to book bus rides for the next day to no avail. And we were stuck again. Nir and Yogev departed Els and I for their next stop on the Carretera Austral. Els and I booked tickets for Chile Chico to leave Saturday (2-17). Friday in Coyhaique, we went hiking along the river of Coyhaique, but only found that the people did not care for their city and enviroment. It was covered in beer cans, broken bottles and trash everywhere. Very disappointing, but the first place that we have been where this was a problem. Coyhaique is that town you want to leave as soon as possible because it is a city not a town, and its good for internet, groceries, etc... but thats it. We did find a great restauarant (Boberos) which means firefighter. Great fish dishes, ate there twice.

Chile Chico
The bus left Coyhaique at 9am to Chile Chico. I awoke at the first stop (Cerro Castillo),beautiful peaks, which continued on what ended up being a
12 hour bus ride. We passed ice blue lakes and more peaks. I will show the pictures when I return. We crossed the border into Argentina around 9pm (2-17).

Back in Argentina
The Carretera Austral and Chile is over. Now I am in Los Antiguas, Argentina. Today is Sunday, 2/18/07. We catch a bus to El Chalten at 4pm today and it is a 25 hour bus ride. Tommorrow (Monday 2/19) I will be in El Chalten. I plan to hike the Fitz Roy in 3 days, then to El Calafatte for the Perito Moreno glacier, then to Puerto Natales for get to Torres del Paine. I plan to do the W trek of Torres del Paine (3 days).

I have eliminated Ushuaia from my trip due to time constraints. It will be back to Buenos Aires for 2 days, then back to the US of A.

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