The Carretera Austral or CH-7. It is 1240 km long and runs from Puerto Montt in the north to Villa O'Higgins in the south. Constructions of the road started in the 1970s and is still going on. Sadly more and more parts be asphalted, which is taking the whole charm away. With that said the road condition are from smooth to really bumpy, but never technical challenging to drive. To drive…
The General Carrera Lake (Chile) or Lake Buenos Aires (Argentina) hit us with total surprise with its beauty. The lake is shared between Chile and Argentina, both countries gave the Lake another name. The bigger part of the lake is in Chile and is with that the biggest one in the country. The lake is surrounded by snow capped mountains and look like out of an outdoor magazine from heaven. Beach…
Being back in the Mallin Colorado Ecolodge we relaxed a bit with coffee and small self-made cakes provided by our host. Still trying to figure out what went wrong in the morning, our host suggested we could do one of the hikes on their property in the garden. The weather was sunny and should not be wasted with negative thoughts, for that reason we thought why not. Mallin Colorado Ecolodge We…
Our first full day at the Lago General Carrera we wanted to fulfill a long last dream: hiking on a glacier. For that reason we started our 100 km drive to the Monte San Valentín National Park at 6 am. As the drive itself, one direction, took 3 hours. We were able to see a nice sunrise over the Lago Tranquilo. As well as really stupid rabbits that were running in…
On our way from Coyhaique to Lago General Carrera we drove through the Cerro Castillo National Reserve. The reserve is named after the Cerro Castillo, its highest mountain in the reserve and the main attraction. My original plan was to hike in the area, as this area claims to have as nice hiking paths as El Chaltén without being that popular. Cerro Castillo National Reserve Surprisingly the snowline was in this…
As the drive from Coyhaique over the snowy Cerro Castillo took us over 5 hours the first stop at the Lago General Carrera was the small town of Puerto Rio Tranquilo. The main attraction of the small town are the marble caves. Even that the caves are really popular, it is an attraction that should not be missed on a trip to Patagonia. Boat from Puerto Rio Tranquilo The marble caves…
After our amazing time in the Quelat NP and the Puyuhuapi Spa we continued our travel to the city of Coyhaique. The city was one of the biggest once we visit during our Patagonia Adventure and is mainly a hub to move forward to the unbelievable beautiful Lago General Carrera. As it has an airport is mainly used to get to the remote parts of Patagonia. The city itself was founded…
Usually I am not writing too much about Hotels we are staying but in case of Patagonia I have to make an exception. Last year we saw a documentary about German settlement in Patagonia, which included Puyuhuapi that was found in 1935 by two German immigrants. Puyuhuapi Logde & Spa Seeing this place in TV was unreal, being there was just a dream. But let me start from the beginning. After…
Following our Futaleufu we finally drove on the Carretera Austral towards Puyuhuapi. The drive runs over an unpaved road mainly through untouched nature; endless forests and mountains. When arriving 2 pm in the Queulat NP National Park, the entrance was for free as it was only possible to go on the small hike to the Mirador Panoramico. From there it is already possible to get a nice view on the Glacier.…