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Published: February 11th 2009
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I traveled to the small village of Futaleufu, Chile in January 2006 and February 2007 to raft the famous Class 5 Futaleufu River.
January 2006 Trip
My first trip to Futa I traveled alone, leaving my family of 4 for the week. I chose Expediciones Chile (www.exchile.com) as my outfitter based on their reputation for safety and, more important, that they offer a lodging option that does not involve camping...they have a lodge with hot showers in the Town of Futa, in addition to an Eco-Camp out in the woods.
I chose to travel to Futa via Esquel, Argentina, not via Puerto Montt Chile, as most people do. To get to Futa via Chile, one needs to fly to Santiago, then to Puerto Montt, then take a small charter plane to the hamlet of Chaiten, and then travel via a winding road on a three hour drive to Futa. To get to Futa via Esquel, one flies to Buenos Aires, then flies to Esquel via a large jet, then you get to Futa by a paved road in under 2 hours. The Argentine route is much faster and you avoid the "puddle jumper." Flights to Esquel can be
expensive and are only scheduled 3 days per week.
I flew to Buenos Aires and stayed at an amazing small hotel in the Palermo neighborhood called 1555 Malabia House. I saw the sights via a city tour and had a steak dinner at the famous Las Lilas steakhouse. The next day I flew to Esquel. Exchile's driver met me at the Esquel airport and drove me to Futa. I settled in to Exchile's beautiful lodge and met my rafting group and guides. The guides were amazing and the group was fun. Unfortunately, due to overwhelming rain, the Futa was too dangerous to run. The guides had to find us other adventures. We rafted the Espolon River, Azul River, Tigre River, and Palena River, all enjoyable and scenic, but not as exciting as a class 4 or 5 river. These were class 2-3 rivers. We also repeled off of cliffs and bridges and took 2 full day horseback rides. One ride took us to "Eagle Rock" and lunch in a cave. The other--an amazing experience--took us to the Las Escalas Valley and lunch with a family who lives on a farm in the country with no running water or electricity.
We played soccer with the kids after lunch--really an amazing cultural experience. The Town of Futa is beautiful and a lively traveler town. A few bars and internet cafes and a few stores. The weather is a major factor. It was raining and cold everyday and no buildings have heat.
At the end of my rafting trip, I traveled back to BA and stayed at 1555 Malabia again, with another steak dinner at the famous "La Cabrera" restaurant in Palermo.
When I got home, I decided that I need to go back to Futa to raft the Futa. While the trip was great, I felt it was incomplete without rafting the Futa.
February 2007
I spoke with the Exchile people in October 2006 and they told me that the first week of February tends to have the best weather in Futa and that this week had a 100% Futa rafting track record. I signed up (they gave me a 30% discount as an alumnus) and convinced a friend to join me. We traveled to Buenos Aires in early February 2007 and stated at the Home Hotel this time. I loved the Home...it's in Palermo, BA's best
neighborhood, but it has a pool. BA was hot and humid...the pool was great. We had dinner at La Cabrera again, BA's best kept steak secret and headed to Futa the next day. The Esquel flight did not run that day, so we flied to San Carlos de Bariloche and Exhile's drivers picked us up there. The drive...unfortunately...was 7 hours. We arrived in Futa tired, but ready to raft. This time, Exchile had a different, much larger lodge. Also, it was warmer and drier than the prior year. There was a new crop of guides, though the support staff (drivers, cooks, etc) remained the same. The water levels on the Futa were safe for rafting...thankfully. Our first day, we rafted the so called "Bridge to Bridge" or "Heart of Futa" section, which has dozens of Class IV rapids. You cannot compare the Futa to any other river in the world. It's color, volume, scenery, and challenge are truly incredible. On the famous "Mundaca" rapid, three of our rafters fell overboard and we promptly rescued them...no worries. After rafting the first day, we took a 2 hour horseback ride along the Espolon river and enjoyed the scenery and weather. The next
day, we rafting the Bridge to Bridge again, and then continued onto the "Macal" section, a section with several class 5 rapids. On the famous "Casa de Piedra" rapid, we flipped and all entered the dangerous water. Our guides promptly rescued us on the Catarafts and rafts. It was the scariest 30 seconds of my life, but had faith in the Exchile guides, who came through in the clutch. On day 3 of rafting, it was a more leasurely day. We drove up river to the inferno canyon. We put in above the unrunable Zeta rapid and glided down river toward Zeta. At Zeta, we had to hike around the rapid...too dangerous to run. It was fun to watch the guides "ghost" the rafts around zeta. After zeta, we contined down river until "El Trono" rapid (throne room--a tongue in cheek reference to the rapid having a dangerous whirlpool--like a toilet). At Throne Room, we hiked around and met the guides on the bottom of the rapid after they again ghosted the rafts. After lunch on the beach below Throne Room, we rafted the "wild mile" home and beached the rafts at Exchile's eco-camp. This was my only chance to see this cool eco-camp. The chef had hot chocolate and wine ready for us and we all climbed into the wood fired sauna to warm up. On our final rafting day (day 4) we drove back to our put in at the eco-camp and put in above Domino rapid. This portion of the Futa is the most challenging and dangerous. Before Terminator Rapid (class V plus), our guides scouted the rapid for almost 30 minutes! After a scary "motivational speech" from our guide Bob, we ran Terminator....We made it out without a swimmer, though the raft stood on its side for about 3 seconds until it splashed back down...very scary...but fun. After Terminator, we hit 2 more class 5 rapids, Kyber Pass and Himalayas, and navigated both without a glitch. For our finale, we did the Bridge to Bridge or Heart of the Fu section again and enjoyed that run with spectacular confidence for the third time. On Friday, we traveled to Esquel to fly back to BA. We stopped in the town of Esquel (a city of about 30,000) to shop and explore on the way to the airport. On arrival in BA, we stayed at the Hilton, a modern hotel with an amazing rooftop pool in the Puerto Maduro neighborhood, a restored industrial port area that is now a trendy area. We again ate steak at the famous Las Lilas. It can't be beat, except by La Cabrera. On our last day in BA, we went to a leather factory and bought jackets and wallets for our wives--a cost of the trip! We also had lunch at El Preferido de Palermo an amazing Italian deli where you can eat a huge Italian lunch for under $10.00.
This is an incredible trip..though strenuous and challenging. The scenery is incredible..The guides and accomodations are spectacular. Have fun!
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