Day 290: La Carretera Austral – Day 1
Even though we felt like sleeping in, we had a lot of errands to run before leaving Puerto Montt this afternoon, so we rolled out of bed and hit up the buffet breakfast before running across the street to the mall.
Can I just say for the record how AWESOME Chile is? Anything you need, Chile will have it. We had a long list of supplies to pick up before we drove off into the remote reaches of Patagonia and Puerto Montt was the perfect place to stock up. The Ripley Mall had all the camping gear we could have wanted (although admittedly, it’s more expensive than in the USA), plus toiletries and groceries. The one thing we couldn’t find in the mall was a DC/AC power converter for the car so we could keep our laptops charged on the road. We asked a few electronics stores for recommendations and within 30min we were directed to PC Factory which had even our most random necessity. CHILE RULES.
We checked out of the hotel just before noon, picked up the rental car and a spare gas canister and officially started our road trip at 1PM.
We were so exhausted when we arrived at the Vincente Costanera Hotel last night, we didn’t have a chance to notice how cute it is! We enjoy a waterfront view as we stuff ourselves on the buffet breakfast. We almost wish we were staying longer
Last minute shopping in Puerto Montt gets us everything we need – even a power converter for the car!
We pick up our 4×4 Subaru around noon, pick up an empty gas canister (all guidebooks recommend carrying extra gas in Patagonia as not all towns have gas stations), and we are off!
So, we had never heard of the Carretera Austral before this trip. We had actually planned to take a road trip down Route 40 in Argentina. “Ruta Cuarenta” is touted online as one of the most EPIC road trips in the world – the highway runs the whole length of Argentina starting from the border with Brazil at Iguazu Falls in the north, down along the Andes Mountains, ending in Patagonia in the south. The whole road takes a good month to drive, so we were only planning to drive the last 1,500KM of the road from Bariloche to El Calafate.
During the Seabourn cruise, we met Luciano Bernacchi, an Argentinean member of the Expedition Team who was from El Calafate – we decided to ask his option on our route to see it there were any attractions we were missing. He surprised us by recommending we actually *skip* the majority of Route 40 and drive down the Chilean side of the Andes Mountains instead on the Carretera Austral – a 1,250KM scenic road (mostly gravel) that rivals Australia’s Great Ocean Road, South Africa’s Garden Route, and California’s Highway 1 it terms of breathtaking scenery. Well, hell – if even the *Argentinean* is telling us not to bother with his mother country, then we’re staying in Chile as long as we can!
Cruising down the winding road of Route 7 – the Carretera Austral
During our first day of the drive, we actually spent more time on ferry boats than we did on the road. Given that the terrain in southern Chile is so mountainous, there are several places where the government just couldn’t continue the road (unless they dynamite through the mountains like China does), so the only way to continue was by boat. Unfortunately for us, none of these ferries have their timetables or prices listed online, so we gave ourselves an extra day in our itinerary, just in case we missed the last ferry. Turns out, we were incredibly lucky, hitting each ferry within an hour of its departure time!
Just in time for the 2PM ferry at Caleta La Arena
Ferry #1 is a pleasant, 30min ride across the Reloncavi Estuary
We drive another beautiful stretch of highway before we get to the town of Hornopirén
Once again, luck is on our side and we are just in time for the last ferry of the day at 4:30PM
It’s a lovely, sunny day – perfect for a boat ride through the Chilean fiords
The forests covering the shore are so dense, there was no way for the Chileans to keep building the road – hence all the ferries
Ferry #2 is a LONG one: 3 hours! After a while, our eyes get numb to all the gorgeous scenery
The sun sparkles on the surface of the water as we sail through the fiords during the Golden Hour
Near the end of the ferry, we pass a few houses nestled into the hillside and some fish farms in the sea water (this area of Chile is known for salmon production – Chile is now the second largest producer of salmon in the world). We look closely and see a sea lion sitting on one of the bright orange buoys near the fish nets
After we get off the ferry, we only have a 10KM drive down a gravel road to our third and final ferry of the day
Sitting in our car on ferry #3 – today we spent more time sailing than driving!
We finally reached land at about a quarter to 9 – time to find a place to camp! During our last trip to Chile in 2015, we had planned to tent-camp in the desert around San Pedro de Atacama, but found it was too cold and windy to sleep outside, and ended up sleeping inside our SUV for a week. Ghetto? Yes. Comfortable? Surprisingly, yes! We decided not to even bother getting a tent this time, and just picked up some cheap 0⁰C sleeping bags and bunker down in our Subaru.
As we were driving away from the ferry, we constantly had our eyes peeled for a shoulder off the side of the road where we could park for the night. We found 1 or 2 decent spots that didn’t have “No Camping” signs next to them, and we were just about to turn around when we rolled up to an actual campground! Hey, we get to be legit! The campground was pretty small – only about a dozen sites – but it had a clean bathroom and a sink for washing dishes. Lindsay asked one of the campers where the owner was and how to pay for the site, but it turned out the ranger was already gone for the night. She suggested we go ahead and camp and perhaps someone would be along in the morning to collect fees.
Hey – if no one was going to demand payment in return for a campsite, we were not going to lose any sleep over it! We grabbed the *last private site,* whipped up some dinner and toasted our first night on the road with some Chilean bubbles (it’s no Nicolas Feuillatte, bit it’s not bad!).
Another stroke of luck! We roll into a campground and grab the LAST campsite just as it starts to get dark.
Lindsay whips up some tuna & avocado wraps for dinner, which we wash down with a bottle of Chilean bubbles