Patagonia in the Fall WOW - about sums it up! We just spent two weeks in Northern Patagonia (the Arctic of South America) with a rental truck. It is a weird time of year to do it since it is fall now and too cold for most tourists (but not us Canadianses) but it was great because we had the whole place to ourselves!
Ideally maybe it would have been nicer to camp with either warmer weather, or proper cold weather camping gear. We did camp a few nights but were really freezing cold (there was ice involved) so whenever possible we stayed in hostels (which were so expensive, like US$30/night compared to the rest of SA, avg US$10). The coldniss and rainyniss also made hiking slightly less enjoyable, though for the most part we had pretty good weather, considering.
We started our two week truck rental in Puerto Montt (see travel map, southern Chile) and decided to also return it there since it would cost an extra US$500 to drop it off in another town, jeeeesh. We got the extra insurance to be able to cross the border into Argentina (about $100 extra) and then headed out! Our itinerary was a bit screwed up since we didn't have much success researching the best routes to take etc. So if you are reading this as a travel guide for yourself I have a number of recommendations at the bottom of this so you don't waste time like we did!
Ideally maybe it would have been nicer to camp with either warmer weather, or proper cold weather camping gear. We did camp a few nights but were really freezing cold (there was ice involved) so whenever possible we stayed in hostels (which were so expensive, like US$30/night compared to the rest of SA, avg US$10). The coldniss and rainyniss also made hiking slightly less enjoyable, though for the most part we had pretty good weather, considering.
We started our two week truck rental in Puerto Montt (see travel map, southern Chile) and decided to also return it there since it would cost an extra US$500 to drop it off in another town, jeeeesh. We got the extra insurance to be able to cross the border into Argentina (about $100 extra) and then headed out! Our itinerary was a bit screwed up since we didn't have much success researching the best routes to take etc. So if you are reading this as a travel guide for yourself I have a number of recommendations at the bottom of this so you don't waste time like we did!
Chiloe Island and 3 wasted days
We first stopped on Chiloe Island, near Puerto Montt, via a 20min ferry ride. The Island was actually kind of boring, I thought, but it was pretty in a prairie kind of way and quaint with its little fishing towns. I suppose this is how I imagine Newfoundland might be, but I haven't been there so can't say for sure. We spent our first night at a campground in Chiloe National Park and hiked a couple of the short trails nearby. In the morning the keys locked themselves in the truck (yes, THEY locked THEMSELVES in!) so after failing to shove a bucket handle, a rope, some wire and sticks through the tiny crack in the top of the back window, we headed out on foot toward a small shanty town and finally found someone with a phone to call for a helping hand. We had to wait a few hours for a guy to come and he was able to get in in about 2 minutes (and now we know how to do it to any car).
After getting our truck back we were able to move on. Our plan was to get to the south end of the Island where we would take a ferry to Chaiten, on the mainland. Unfortunately when we finally inquired about the ferry we found out that it had left just a couple of hours prior so we had to drive allllll the way back up the Island and through Puerto Montt, up to Osorno and east to the Argentine border if we wanted to head south. This took all day and we spent the night just before the border, camping with a bunch of cows in a field (awesome!). Unfortunately we had now wasted about 3 days right off the bat, but there wasn't really any way to find out about the ferries - everyone we talked to had a different answer - so we had made the choice to see what would happen and this is what came of it. Now we were anxious to see the mountains!
Bariloche and the mountains!
After crossing into Argentina (easy process but we had to go online and buy a visa to enter - you can ONLY do it online but the people were nice at the border and let us use their computer), we booked it to Bariloche, a town that everyone had told us to go. It was really fancy and beautiful! The lake was gorgeous with massive mountains on the far side. The city itself was very touristy (but there were no tourists at this time of year) and expensive so we didn't stay too long.
Next we headed to the nearby Nahuel Huapi National Park and stopped for a short hike in the colourful deciduous tree forest before heading on down the road. It was hard to find a place to stay for the night since most campgrounds were closed and we couldn't find any hostels that weren't insanely expensive. So we found a quiet looking road and snuck our truck behind a little bush near someones driveway where we thought we were hidden, and set up camp. In the morning we were horrified to find that everyone could see us and all the neighbours were out cutting firewood right beside us... No one said anything to us but we definitely got some funny looks!
To open Puerto Montt photo album in a new window click here.
Bohemian El Bolson
Gathering apples under a tree The next stop was El Bolsón, a colourful and quiet little mountain town at the foot of the ridiculously large Piltriquitron Mountain. We wandered around the town for a day and got some much needed laundry done. There were a lot of relaxed looking people (okay fine, hippies) selling art, jewellery, bongs, bong filling, and delicious looking snacks. It was a wonderful place to chill out and enjoy the atmosphere.
El Bosque Tallado Drummer Carving The next day we drove up Piltriquitron Mountain as far as we could and then hiked up a trail toward El Bosque Tallado, an awesome natural art gallery of carved out old trees inside a forest of new trees. Very pretty and surreal, especially since we were there on a foggy day, making the forest and carvings come out at you in layers like a video game. We hiked up as high as we safely could with our summer running shoes and every piece of clothing we owned to keep warm, and stumbled on a little shack where we could buy home made beer! That was unexpected, and awesome! Now we were really feeling like we had found the spirit of Patagonia.
To open photos from El Bolsón in a new window click here.
Lake General Carrera and the Marble Chapels
Llamas on the Argentine - Chile border With almost half of our rental truck time already gone we were starting to wonder how far south we would be able to go. We had wanted, of course, to get really far but were now realizing that it wouldn't be practical with our timeline. So we settled on Lake General Carrera which is where the famous and beautiful Capillas del Marmol (Marble Chapels) are located, and it wasn't too too far south.
It took us a couple of days to drive down to Puerto Rio Tranquilo on the Chilean side of Lake General Carrera but the drive was awesome. Of course we stopped to do some short hikes along the way and take photos of the scenery or herds of llamas.
To open photos in a new window click here.
Rio Tranquilo Marble Caves Rio Tranquilo was awesome - very tiny and friendly with amazing scenery. We stayed in our very own little cabin with a fireplace and everything! It was magical. We took a boat out to the Marble Chapels for an hour or so, just us and the driver, which was incredible! There wasn't a cloud in the sky so we not only enjoyed the amazing natural formations, but also the mountains and lakeviews as well. Before heading out of Rio Tranquilo we stopped at Exploradores Glacier for a quick hike and panoramic view. It was a perfect place, really.
North to Volcán Chaitén!
Glacier in Queulat National Park We took our time driving north from Rio Tranquilo, stopping for more short hikes and even spending the night on the top of a mountain. We checked out Queulat National Park for most of a day and hiked up as close as we could to the glacier! We could hear the glacier crumbling in the sunlight but didn't see any of the movement. It was incredible, and again we had perfect weather!
rhyolitic ash-filled abandoned house in Chaiten I was most excited to see Chaiten having heard about the history of the town - in May 2008 the Chaiten volcano located 10km from the town unexpectedly exploded and erupted after a series of small earthquakes. The violent eruption sent rhyolitic ash into the air up to 30km high and covered the town of Chaiten and other nearby towns such as Futuleufu (70km away). In fact, ash was even seen on the eastern coast of Argentina. The eruption continued and in February 2009 part of the dome collapsed and lava flowed to within 4km of the town. Of course the place was evacuated when the eruption started but the whole place was buried and devastated.
Chaiten Volcano - the cone It is not exactly obvious that this all happened so recently - most of the ash has been cleaned up form the streets and trees and vegetation have started to recover in the area, but if you look closely you can see where some parts of the forest are still struggling to recover, and in the town itself there are still a few houses that haven't been dug up and are still half full of ash.
Yeah hot springs! We spent a day driving out to the volcano and then hiked up as close as we safely could. It is still smouldering and growing, and in December last year a series of earthquakes and the growth of new cones at Chaiten have been making people nervous all over again. Scientists believe that Chaiten may continue to erupt during the next decade, and yet people still live in the town completely out of stubbornness. I can see why though, such a beautiful and interesting place! Also, one of the great things about seismically and volcanically active places are HOT SPRINGS! Yes, we checked them out and they were damn good, how could they not be!?
To open in photos in a new window click here.
Futuleufu and back to Puerto Montt
Futuleufu at dusk By the time we were done checking out Chaiten and the area we had just 2 days to get back to Puerto Montt to return our beloved truck (who we named "Spruce"). We drove around looking at more mountains and scenery and made our way to Futuleufu, just on the Chilean side of the border, before heading back. Futuleufu was nice. The streets were kind of dead (no one around) but the shops all looked very very fancy and touristy. I bet in the summer it is packed with tourists! It was a cold evening so as I was walking around checking out the town I was also nearly strangled by the wood smoke in the air. We had dinner at a strange little restaurant where the cook looked a bit sketchy, but this ended up to be THE BEST DINNER WE HAVE HAD IN OVER A YEAR! And by far the best food we have had in all of Central and South America. It was so simple and yet so DELICIOUS! Thick salmon fillets baked over a wood fire and a delicious salad with homemade creamy garlicy dressing. Soooo good. It is hard to talk about because I miss it so much. :P
Next, since we had determined that heading north in Chile to Puerto Montt from Chaiten would cost us another $200 in ferries alone even though it is sooo close by on a map, we headed into Argentina to backtrack our way back to Puerto Montt. We went through El Bolsón (another reason for this route home was that I left my iphone in El Bolsón at a hostel, oops!) where we stayed for the night and then carried on. It was a long haul, but we really enjoyed seeing this side of the mountain range withought rain or clouds. Also, we were listening to an awesome audiobook (The Goldfinch) so we were happy to have some more listening time.
Next, since we had determined that heading north in Chile to Puerto Montt from Chaiten would cost us another $200 in ferries alone even though it is sooo close by on a map, we headed into Argentina to backtrack our way back to Puerto Montt. We went through El Bolsón (another reason for this route home was that I left my iphone in El Bolsón at a hostel, oops!) where we stayed for the night and then carried on. It was a long haul, but we really enjoyed seeing this side of the mountain range withought rain or clouds. Also, we were listening to an awesome audiobook (The Goldfinch) so we were happy to have some more listening time.
To open photos from Chaten & Futuleufu in a new window click here.
Afterthought & Recommendations
Saying goodbye to our truck was crappy. It was so nice to have this kind of freedom after relying on buses and other systems for everything for so long. The bus systems in South America in general are really great, don't get me wrong, but being able to explore random dirt roads up the side of a mountain, or stop by a glacier lake to make a sandwich for lunch was a great treat!
If you are planning to do a similar trip in Patagonia I would have a few general recommendations to make before you do:
If you are planning to do a similar trip in Patagonia I would have a few general recommendations to make before you do:
What time of year to go? - If you want the place to yourself then come in the fall! Yes it is a bit colder, but if you have warm clothes and camping gear you should be fine. There are still lots of things to see, places to hike, hostels and restaurants are still open and the best part - the colours of the trees were incredible with the white snow-capped mountaintop backdrops. On the flip-side, it would be nice to not have to worry about the cold or the rain so going in the spring or summer might be your thing, but expect a lot of other tourists to be around and higher prices for food and accommodation. In the spring or summer you can also enjoy Southern Patagonia as in the winter some longer hiking trails are closed.
Rent a truck - Having your own wheels allows you to check out those strange side roads that head up mountain sides and lets you go at your own pace. The roads are rough and a car would likely bottom out. In the winter go with 4wd.
Get the border crossing permit - in Northern Patagonia Bariloche and El Bolsón on the Argentine side are amazing, while Chaitén and the Capillas del Marmol further down you cannot miss on the Chilean side. Crossing the border is easy and relatively painless and they don't mind if you are constantly going back and forth.
Pay the Reciprocity fee for Argentina online - If you are from Canada, the USA or Australia you have to pay a $115-180 (depending on your country) reciprocity fee to enter Argentina and you must do it online before crossing into Argentina. Print it out and bring to the border with you. The one time payment lasts 10 years. We forgot to do this an the people at the border were nice enough to let us use their computers, but not all agents will be as nice, especially in busy seasons, and not all crossings have internet. They would normally tell you to go back to the closest town in Chile (which might not be very close at all) to pay and print out your info.
Get the border crossing permit - in Northern Patagonia Bariloche and El Bolsón on the Argentine side are amazing, while Chaitén and the Capillas del Marmol further down you cannot miss on the Chilean side. Crossing the border is easy and relatively painless and they don't mind if you are constantly going back and forth.
Pay the Reciprocity fee for Argentina online - If you are from Canada, the USA or Australia you have to pay a $115-180 (depending on your country) reciprocity fee to enter Argentina and you must do it online before crossing into Argentina. Print it out and bring to the border with you. The one time payment lasts 10 years. We forgot to do this an the people at the border were nice enough to let us use their computers, but not all agents will be as nice, especially in busy seasons, and not all crossings have internet. They would normally tell you to go back to the closest town in Chile (which might not be very close at all) to pay and print out your info.
Drop off the vehicle at a different location so you don't have to back track - Yes it is expensive (extra US$500) but you will be able to see more stuff! If we didn't have to drive all the way back to Puerto Montt to drop off the truck we could have made it twice as far south. And we wouldn't have had to go through the same places multiple times.
Check ferry schedules - On the Chilean side of Northern Patagonia (further south as well) ferries can limit where/when you can go. If we had timed things better we might have been ok to go from the Chiloe Island to Chaiten, but since we missed the ferry we had to waste two days going back up and around the Islands via the Argentine side. Not much fun. We found out that while we were here, the Chiloe Island ferry at Quellon leaves bound for Chaiten on Thursdays at midnight. They might be more frequent in the summer.
Skip Chiloe Island - It was nothing special in my view and really didn't represent anything about the Patagonia in my mind (no mountains!!).
Try and make it further south! - We ran out of time due to our bad planning but it would have been amazing to see Torres Del Paine or other mountain ranges in the south and do a few multi-day hikes. In fact, I hope to return one spring and make it all the way to the southern point. This wouldn't be so practical in the fall or winter, it would be worth doing in a warmer season for sure.
Check ferry schedules - On the Chilean side of Northern Patagonia (further south as well) ferries can limit where/when you can go. If we had timed things better we might have been ok to go from the Chiloe Island to Chaiten, but since we missed the ferry we had to waste two days going back up and around the Islands via the Argentine side. Not much fun. We found out that while we were here, the Chiloe Island ferry at Quellon leaves bound for Chaiten on Thursdays at midnight. They might be more frequent in the summer.
Skip Chiloe Island - It was nothing special in my view and really didn't represent anything about the Patagonia in my mind (no mountains!!).
Try and make it further south! - We ran out of time due to our bad planning but it would have been amazing to see Torres Del Paine or other mountain ranges in the south and do a few multi-day hikes. In fact, I hope to return one spring and make it all the way to the southern point. This wouldn't be so practical in the fall or winter, it would be worth doing in a warmer season for sure.
Thank you for reading & remember, beans can be chilled and you can be chilly.
-Chelsea
-Chelsea
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