Along the Carretera Austral

After a well needed shower in camping Castillo and a stop for food supplies, we headed in the direction of Puerto Río Tranquillo along with the twins Noah and Jack with Sarah demoted onto the day bed in the back of the van. The road was quite rough in sections so we ended up wild camping at Puente Río Murta on route, a lovely clear river with a bank suitable for van and tent.

The next morning we arrived to Puerto Río Tranquillo, strolled around the village and booked our kayak trip to explore the Capillas de Mármol (marble caves) later in the day. Over 6,200 years, the huge marble deposits on the edge of the General Carrerra Lake have been worn away by the water, creating caves, tunnels, and huge columns of pure marble. We enjoyed kayaking through the marble maze and seeing some beautiful rock formations up close including the famous 'marble cathedral' and the 'marble chapel'. The lake also has a lovely bright blue tint that comes from the glacial meltwater.

Back in town, we caught the tail end of a rodeo with the twins before saying our goodbyes and setting up camp at the waterfront. The following morning we enjoyed some fresh trout the twins had caught and gifted us the day before. We then set off for a day of scenic driving along the carretera austral. With the sun out and shining, we stopped at Bertrand lake for lunch and washed our clothes with water from the lake. Further along we stopped at Coihue cafe along the Rio baker to enjoy homemade ice cream and cake while admiring the scenery and crystal turquoise water of the river. A nice 15 minute walk from the road brought us up to the Confluencia Río Baker/ Neff. Here we could see the turquoise waters of the Baker River meeting the waters of the Neff River, a grayish color due to minerals from melting glaciers, which transforms the "new" Baker River into a greenish color that accompanies the Carretera Austral further south. We finished the day wild camping on a very windy Lago esmeralda just outside Cochrane.

The next day, we headed back into Cochrane in the hope the tourist office might be able to get us some last minute tickets for the weekly ferry from Puerto yungay to Puerto natales. This would help us avoid crossing the border into Argentina and driving another 1000km to get us down to Torres Del Paine for the O trek on 3rd of March. Having first learnt of this ferry back in January, despite frequently checking the website and also calling the office we weren't able to find any availability. Unfortunately, no one in the tourist office was able to help. For a final try, I messaged an old Whatsapp number from ioverlander. A lady got back to say she no longer worked with the ferry company but gave two other numbers to try. We tried both and waited patiently for any replies and for the roadworks out of Cochrane to reopen the road at 4pm. At 3.30pm one of the numbers got back to say the ferry was still fully booked. With all hope lost, we started the drive out of town and internet when just before 4pm, the other number Cesar got back to us to say he had secured two tickets for us.. a close call with luck on our side!

Recommendations:
Sandwiches at La Cocina de Sole Food truck on Villa Cerro Castillo
Kayak to the marble caves, shop around town for best prices
Burgers at Ruedas y ríos, Puerto Río Tranquillo
Coffee and cakes at Cafeteria Calafate Nativo, Puerto Río Tranquillo
Coique Cafe, Río Baker
Confluencia Río Baker/ Neff

17/02-20/02Leggi altro