Chile - Caratera Austral - Gravel Road Land

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This time I am going to take you with our entry into Chile in Futaleufu all the way south to border-town, Chile Chico, where we crossed back into Argentina.

As the title already reveals, major parts of the way we drove on gravel road. It was very bumpy and rough, so I had to wait until we have reached a stable environment, now seating at a table I can write about this journey.

We have spent the night just slightly out of Futaleufu, but the weather was not with us that evening, and it rained the whole night and most of the next morning. In the morning, we waited for a short break in the rain, to pack our tent, sleeping bags etc. and continued our way south, entering soon after "highway" 7 - 'Carretera Austral'. This is the only way going from north to south in Chile, streches for about 1200 km, - though 90%!o(MISSING)f this single road is Gravel! But, though it is a tough road and you need to be very patient, yet many travel this road by bikes, by bus or just hitchike. In one of Chile's travel web sites we found the following statement about this road: "Chile’s Ruta 7, the Carretera Austral - one of Latin America’s most famous highways....from spring to fall, travelers mount their motorcycles and bikes to undertake the 1247 kilometer (775 mi) journey... Some backpackers (especially Israelis fresh out of their military stints) stand by the roadsides, thumb outstretched, to explore the road that way." And indeed we met MANY Israelis along this road, many of them were indeed hitch-hiking, but mostly waiting in vain for hours, as the traffic is so sparse...

Alongside the raod, we have seen lots of water - either lakes, rivers, or some waterfalls. Some of the waterfalls, actually were spilling over the road, many of which seem to be something that the rain of the last days have created and not the constant type of waterfall. There were also a lot of trees in fluided areas, sometimes these were dead woods "swimming" in the water to their waist, but the fact that there were many of them, suggests that in the past there was no water around them and they could grow. A very common type of plant we saw in great amounts along the road was the Giant Nalga - the leaves of this plant are huge - as you can see in the picture of Omer standing next ot one of those weird plants.

Puyuhuapi was our second night stop on this road. We were lucky and found a camping site with roofed lots and a dining room with fire place, so though it was raining the whole day and was expected to continue, it was easy to camp, cook and have dinner. The campground was tiny yet fully packed, and out of the 8 tents that were in the camp 6 were with Israelis. Again... Puyuhuapi is a very small village, with probably not more than 1000 people habitants. Yet, that night, we have met at least 50 Israelis that were also making the night in the town.... The only other toursits we have seen were 6 French and 1 German guy.

In the morning, the rain slowed down a bit, and so we went to see the 'Ventisquero Colgante' (Hanging Glacier). We had again some luck, as in the two hours we have spent in that park on our way to 2 view points, there was no rain at all and we could clearly see the glacier (something that on the day earlier people have told us was impossible).

20 km further down the road, we have made another 2 hours hike into "Bosque Encantado" (which means "enchanted forest"): a strange forest, lots of fallen trees, all covered with thick moss, streams of water are flowing anywhere, wooden bridges over them, thick vegetation, darkness around - altogether creating a legend-like forest, made us wonder were the trols and fairies stride in front of us?!

We hoped to get at the end to see a lake with mini glaciers floating in it. However, unfortunately, the trek ends before one could reach this lake, as a bridge over the river was swept away in the rainy season. Though it was raining the whole time, we hardly felt the rain as the dense woods have protected us above. Yet, the trek was very mudy and when we got back to the car, we were full of mud all over the pants and shoes - Nevertheless, it was a beatiful walk and we were very pleased we have made it.

With all these walks we have spent time on, and the need to travel at no more than 40 km/hr due to the conditions of the road and the constant rain - we did not make it to the main city along the road, as we were hoping, and so we had difficulties finding a place to sleep. Even farm houses that we thought might let us spend the night in their farm, or indicate us to an accomodation, were deserted and we could not see people - it was the combination of the rain and the date, Christmas Eve.

Eventually at almost 10pm (being so far south, it means that the sun does not set down before 10pm), we have noticed an old man standing near his farm house. We have stopped the car to ask if he is familiar with any place for camping or accomodation, and he told us there is nothing. So we dared, and asked if he would let us use his empty barn as a place to put up our tent - not only that he agreed, he even offered us to sleep in his house, an offer we politly refused to. He was very kind to us, boiled water for us for tea after dinner, tried to set light in this old barn, and again boiled water for us in the next morning (our gas finished right after finishing to cook dinner that night). It was a strange location to camp, yet very convinient - we had a roof, so the rainy weather did not bother us at all, we had water for cooking and washing, we had chopped woods which we have used as table and seats for dinner and breakfast - what does a family need more...

The next day we drove toward Coihayque which is the biggest city along this road. It was Christmas day and rainy - so even this city seemed empty and deserted, and since it does not offer any special attractions and it was mid day, we have decided to continue our way toward Villa Cerro Castillo, to which we arrived in the afternoon. We have arrived to a nice campground, "just" 11 km south of Cerro and surprised the owner that did not expect to have anyone on Christmas day, but was yet very happy and welcoming . We have been invited to join their family and friends party that included a traditional special BBQ - Asado al Palo, as they were using the camping 'Quincho' (kind of a dining room with a fire place that many campgrounds have). It was a great experiance for us - not only because we got to eat better than our plan (we had pasta and cold hot-dogs on our menue...), but also beacuse we got to talk to them, got to hear their music, and on top - they danced 2 typical dances and off course drunk lots of wine, directly from a special leather container, I believe it is called wineskin . Tal also tested his skills drinking the wine from it, and I can tell you it is not an easy task...

We also learned over there how to use a semi-automated laundry machine - you fill in the water manually and squeeze partially manually etc. Drying is done by hanging over the stove - yes, yes the one that is used in the kitchen burning woods. This also meant, that our underwear, socks etc. ended up hanging in the kitchen / saloon of the campground;s owner.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions (yes, the rain did not yet stop!), did not allow to do much of the trekking or horse riding one could do around Cerro Castillo, and so we had to give up on this attraction and keep going south. At the exit from Cerro Castillo, we met in the bus station, a nice Israeli guy, Liraz - hitching for a ride. We have met Liraz before in our trip, long ago in Rurrenbaque Bolivia, and he was the one that recommended us to go and stay with the Amish family, which we enjoyed so much. Therefore, the kids immediately insisted that we take him with us, no matter how crowded it is going to become in the car and its trunk. Liraz was delighted to come with us, and did not care at all that his company is a family with kids, nor that it was slightly crowded at times in his seat - for him anything was better than his previous ride in the back of a pick-up driving very fast in freezing conditions and with the wind and SNOW blowing on his face. We drove most of this day in rain, with similar views as I have already described. We saw along the way, 1 or 2 Gauchos - the local cowboys, riding their horses, their legs wrapped with sheep leather, wearing a kind of a poncho and a french-style beret hat...

Late that night we have arrived in Rio Tranquilo. As the rain did not stop and we could not find a camping place, we have hired a basic cabana while Liraz went to one of the hostels in this little village. And again, like in many nights before, we ended up going to sleep very very late, at around midnight or so ("we" - means also the kids!). So, once again, the next morning we did not wake up until it was already around 11am, and found that the rain was not bothered at all by the fact that the night have passed and a new day have began - it went on and on.

Nevertheless, we have decided to take the famous boat trip to the
Marble Caves, which is the main attraction in that area. Some Israelis we have met in town (and changed books with - a very important achievement for that day!), have told us they have enjoyed that same trip the day before although the falling rain and clouds, and that even though the sky is grey, the water around the caves could still be seen amazing torquoise as usual. We have managed to gather with us 5 other Israelies (some we have already met before along the way, especially in Puyuhuapi) and so we cut a better deal with the boat operator. The marble caves were GORGEOUS. Strange black and white marble formations, and millions of years of constant lake waves cutting into the material created an amazing caves and little islets close to the shoreline, among which we sailed in pristine torquoise water, enchanted to watch this trully natural wonder. We did not care at all with the cold on the way, nor with the wind directly blowing in our faces, as it was so awesome - though it seemed like it stopped raining for the majority of the ride.

On the return it not only colder and rainier, but since we sailed against high waves, it was VERY BUMPY, and we found ourselves a few times jumping above our seats... A luna - park ride for the same price... Shachar got a little scared and I had to hold him really tight. But, we all made it safely to ground - if one does not count the fact we had freezing hands and we were wet to our underwear (fleeces, rain coats etc. did not manage to keep us dry).

From Rio Tranquilo we drove the whole afternoon, evening and into early night, until we made it to Chile Chico. We took with us Lee, another Israeli girl that was hitching along the road, which we have already met before. We found her in an internet cafe, alone, lonely, freezing and confused... She left behind 2 friends that were travelling with her, as they could not manage to find transportation that will take all 3 of them. The views throughout this drive were beautiful, we drove along the shores of an immense lake - the second largest in South America, streaching between Chile (were it is called General Carrera Lake) and Argentina (were it is called Lago Buenos Aires). The weather also was much better, it stopped rainning. When the clock showed it is already past 9pm (though there was still full light) we started looking for a place to put our tent, but could not find anything, especially considering the fact that Lee was with us, and she had no tent to camp. So, we had to go somewhere that will also have a hostel or a B&B kind of accomodation. This meant we kept on driving, until we finally arrived to Chile Chico at around 11:30pm. But, it was too late to knock on doors of hostels, even for us rude Israelies. But again, luck was aside us, as we found the perfect spot to put up the tent right on the beach of the lake. We got organized to sleep - we would sleep in our tent, as usual, and Lee on the back seat of our car... covered herself with her sleeping bag. Cosy? maybe...

Chile Chico was actually our last stop in the caratera - from there, on the next morning, we crossed the border back into Argentina, to Los Antiguos, were we also said goodbye to Lee, who decided to stop in that town and wait for her friends.

Tal was excited to get back to Argentinian land - that night, he knew for sure, he will eat better, at last, since we can once again buy freash meat and make ourselves a decent argentinian BBQ!

Hasta Pronto,

Lilach

All our photos from the Caratera Austral

You mat also watch the attached video, depicting Chilean dancing. Have fun!

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Photos

Caratera Austral - typical view
Many Giant Nalca plants along the road

Omer & a Giant Nalga leaf
Omer is posing so you can realize how big are these leaves...

Breakfast in the barn
If you look carefully, you will see that our laptop is open - this is because we use it as music player!

'Asado al Palo' - chivito
A goat coocked on the BBQ, in a standing position (on a pole)

Comments

[Pam]

This was by far my favorite blog/entry..so fascinating! My daughter is fascinated with how you organized the trip and how you put it all together! As always we enjoy your many adventures...Pam and Co.