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South America

December 2022 - May 2024
Travelling South America in Shibi, our Mitsubishi L300 🚐 Read more
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  • South America
    Day 1

    Santiago

    December 31, 2022 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    To start our trip we arrived in to a quiet Santiago on New years eve and checked into an even quieter hostal Suzi. We met Etienne and Margaux, the french couple we bought our van from, for coffee who updated us on all their vanlife travels the past few months and gave us some much needed tips and recommendations to start our trip!

    Much to our confusion it turns out Suzi Santiago hostel and Suzi Santiago are two different companies that are in dispute and broke apart in the past few years and due to the bank holiday we wouldn't be able to physically get the keys to our campervan until the 3rd of January. Never the less, we went on to explore a good new years eve spot for the night to find most places close over the bank holiday..!! In the end we found a bar in barrio bellavista who had a lively atmosphere and a drag queen host to count us down to the New Year.

    For New Years day, we planned to explore the city more. To our dismay, the whole city seemed to shut down and the only place we could find open to eat lunch was Starbucks. We found a free walking tour that brought us around a deserted city centre with only tourists, homeless and some crazies around.. not the start to our adventures we had imagined! The next day, more restaurants and shops began to open up and we explored barrio Italia which had a lovely atmosphere.

    Finally, on the 3rd of Jan we were able to meet Noam and Fabiola to complete our paperwork at the notary and meet Shibi the Mitsubishi.

    The next day we moved to Suzi's workshop to camp and to start some small van upgrades. On our second night, we were the only ones there when a fire broke out in one of the other campers. We raised the alarm amongst the neighbours with Joe luckily remembering the word for fire in Spanish and Noam's emergency number got called on the second day of us having it. The bomberos arrived quickly and we meet Augustin, a seven year old neighbour and his family who brought us in for tea.

    The next few days were spent painting with a few trips to sodimac, lider, copec, the notary, autoshops, the test centre and a mechanic for a new catalytic converter. We were kept company in the workshop by Yan, the French owner of the burned camper who had just finished a 6 year roadtrip and who kindly shared his stories, positivity and salvaged wine with us.

    Just before starting our roadtrip, we headed back into Santiago for one more night for a reunion with Sheila!

    Recommendations:

    Entel best for sim card 4g coverage
    Galpon italia for food and cocktails
    Galindo for traditional Chilean food
    Malasaña for beer and tapas
    Barrio Italia for cafes, restaurants and wandering
    Barrio Bellavista for nightlife
    Casa Lyon hotel- barrio Italia area and parking

    31/12/22- 08/01/23    Read more

  • South America
    Day 10

    Exploring outside Santiago

    January 9, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    By the 9th of January we were finally ready to start our roadtrip. Our first aim was to spend a few days exploring outside Santiago. We initially set off in the direction of Termas Valle de Colina, a campsite with hot springs. Unfortunately we were stopped by the Chilean police at San Gabriel who had closed the road due to a landslide.

    Feeling deflated, we turned around and pulled into a nearby tiny empty village to look up our map. A friendly local Fran pulled up beside us on her quad with her little daughter and asked if we were lost. After we explained the situation, she kindly invited us to explore her family fundo which turned out to be a massive walnut farm. After a picturesque lunch by the river in the fundo, we visited closeby town San Jose de Maipo and Casa chocolate in San Antonio, an artisan chocolate shop set in a Hansel and Gretel like house. That evening we stayed at our first campsite Los Nogales de Roan Jase which had a astronomy observatory. Unfortunately, we learnt that the moon would be too bright to have a good starry night view. The campsite owners had two friendly mischievous dogs who loved to steal food out of our neighbours Dave and Gail's tent.

    The next day we headed to the coast, west of Santiago via Pompaire, a touristy pottery village. We passed through a number of seaside towns before finding a wild camping spot near El Quisco which provided us with an amazing sunset over the ocean.

    On our third day we continued up the coast towards Valparaiso, stopping off at Quintay a coastal village with beautiful beach.

    That night we decided it safer to stay at nearby Laguna Verde as we had heard reports of car theft and crime in Valparaiso. In the morning we got the local bus in to Valparaiso which was an adventure in itself and completed a walking tour of the street art with our guide Sebastian before heading back to Santiago for the night.

    Recommendations:
    Hot springs at Termas Valle de Colina- although we didn't get there this time
    Quintay Beach
    Enjoy the street art in UNESCO town Valparaiso but be aware of safety

    09/01- 12/01    Read more

  • South America
    Day 14

    Mendoza

    January 13, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    With the 'O trek' our only booked activity of the trip not until March, time was on our side so we decided to make a detour to Mendoza
    to meet Sheila and her friend Megan. We decided to go by bus to avoid lengthy driving for Joe and save on some van mileage. The bus journey was incredibly scenic with a very impressive corkscrew road. It took an age to pass through border control and we arrived at koala hostel 8 hours after departure.

    -Day one, Joe, Sheila and I wasted no time and went straight for steak at El Asadito. We ordered a BBQ platter that came with Argentinian black pudding, short ribs, pork and steak. This was all washed down with incredible Malbec. It was a complete treat to start off the trip and cost less that €10pp.
    -Day two, we started the day with our Western Union trip to get some argentinian pesos at blue dollar rate. This was followed by coffee to plan out our day. We headed to the wine area of Lujan de Cuyo to rent some bikes and cycle between vineyards. We had lunch at Bodega Gieco. We sat in a beautiful garden and the atmosphere and service was so lovely. We had a huge meat and cheese platter and, of course, Malbec. We cycled onto the vineyard Via Monte where we had a 4pm tasting booked. It was concluded that we all have kind of cheap pallets and the really expensive stuff is more or less wasted on us.
    -Day three. We had breakfast and then headed to explore Parque General San Martin. We chilled by the lake, read our books, stumbled across a vintage car show (to Joe's delight) and also the Chilean Mustang Club. After a few happy hour cocktails we had a very lovely and fancy dinner at Anna's Bistro.
    -Day four, needing to have another vineyard fix to went to Roberto Bonfanti winery for lunch. Again it was a platter of meats and cheese but our favourite was still Bodega Gieco. We had a few more happy hour cocktails before we had to say our goodbyes to Sheila and Megan and head back to Santiago on our night bus.

    Recommendations:
    Explore the vineyards by bike
    Bodega Gieco (our favourite)
    Via Montie winery
    Bonfanti winery
    El Asadito for steak. 5⭐
    Anna's Bistro for dinner. It's French.
    White Shark coffee
    Parque San Martin

    13/01-16/01

    *Footprint credit to Sheila Scott    Read more

  • South America
    Day 19

    Parque Nacional Radal Siete Tazas

    January 18, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Following lonely planet recommendations, we headed in the direction of Parque Nacional Radal Siete Tazas, stopping at a campsite in Las peñas outside San Fernando called Mi Capullito de Rosa that had access to a river for an evening swim.

    The next day we arrived to the CONAF national park and had our first experience with the online registration process which was difficult to complete as we had minimal internet connection on our phones.

    We stayed at the CONAF run campsite Parque Ingles for two nights which had access to Playa las hippies, a pretty river beach and swimming hole. It was mainly Chileans on holiday here and it was nice to see extended families listening to Chilean music and playing bingo while cooking with big stewing pots.

    We had lovely sunny weather and completed the El boson sendero, a 24km return trial that brought us up to some mountain waterfalls that had the clearest water to swim in and cool us down after the hike.

    Recommendations:
    Register with CONAF online before arriving
    Option to also camp at El boson but needs to be booked online in advance
    Swim at playa las hippies

    17/01-19/01    Read more

  • South America
    Day 21

    Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay

    January 20, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    On route to our next national park, we stopped for lunch in Molina and had our first fried empanadas at La Casa De La Empanada- so tasty! We then drove through huasos (Chilean cowboy) country to Reservas Nacional Altos de Lircay. Unfortunately we arrived too late to check into the park campsite "camping antahuara" which closed at 4pm but we did met a friendly CONAF ranger who spoke great English and gave us all the info on our hike for following day! We wild camped just outside the park by the road and met a very friendly chilean called Benjamin who loved to practice his English with us while we prepared dinner! The next morning we set off on a 25km trail to El Enladrillo and Laguna El alto. The top of this mountain has a unique brickwork plain formed by rocks that apparently has been the base of many UFO sightings. From the brickwork we had a great view of the Descabezado Grande, Quizapú and Cerro Azul volcanoes, as well as the El Venado valley. After our hike, we arrived back exhausted to the park campsite and had our first night of our trip in the tent!

    20/01-21/01    Read more

  • South America
    Day 23

    Fiesta San Sebastián

    January 22, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Continuing through Chile's central valley, we came across lots of huasos riding along the road before coming upon a massive festival at the roadside. All the huasos were dressed traditionally, wearing flat rimmed straw hats, ponchos over waist jackets, as well as boots with spurs. Parking up to explore, we initially thought it might be a rodeo as there was so many horses everywhere. We followed the crowd through mazes of market stalls to find a big outdoor mass at the end with the bishop of Linares giving out blessings..! It turned out to be a massive religious festival in honor of San Sebastián, the patron saint of farmers, where devotees make a pilgrimage for a week to pay favors and send orders to the saint in the small village of Panimávida. There was no rodeo to be found but huasos ride through the streets and have their photos taken and put up on display. Being the only tourists we really stuck out amongst the crowd but enjoyed wandering through the stalls eating homemade chips, grilled meat and melon lemonade. That evening, we drove on further to Salto De Laja, a touristy town situated by a waterfall. We parked up at camping la Isla, an island campsite along the river that was filled with locals swimming and enjoying Sunday picnics and BBQs.

    22/01- 23/01    Read more

  • South America
    Day 24

    Pucón

    January 23, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    By the 23rd of Jan, we arrived into pucón for 5 nights to link back up with Sheila and Megan. We stayed at Camping Parque la Poza, a campsite in town close to Villarica lake and the girl's hostel Chili Kiwi. It was nice to be back in a town with internet connection after a week exploring national parks.

    Pucōn is a beautiful volcanic town which currently has a semi-active volcano, on alert since December 2022. The town is an adventure hub and is a popular spot for Chileans to go on holiday.

    After settling into our campsite, for our first night we joined Sheila and Megan at their hostel which had a lovely outdoor treehouse to enjoy a few drinks and watch the sunset over the lake.

    -Day 2: We had a slow start to the day and then hiked/hitched to a nearby waterfall Cascada el claro. It was a much steeper climb than we anticipated so we weren't too mentally prepared. Very kindly, we were offered a lift back to town by a Chilean couple from Santiago in their huge truck. Predictably, Joe was very happy with this. In the evening we had the vans first BBQ of steak and ribs with the campsite dogs coming to join.

    -Day 3: this was an advertuous day. We went hydrospeeding which was floating through rapids on a river while lying on top of a tiny foam board. We were all a little unsure what to expect but it turned out to be a great adrenaline rush. In the evening we had our second BBQ, this time joined by Ronan from Dublin and Gandalf the beagle.

    -Day 4: We went to the national park called Huerquehue and did the San Sebastian hike. This was steep and hands down the hardest hike yet. It was 1300m in elevation. It took the full day but gave us incredible views of the area. We were very pleased with ourselves and had a cup of Megan's Barry's tea when we were back down in the van. We ate out at Cassis restaurant and went to bed very tired.

    -Day 5: The last day of our reunion with Sheila and Megan. We rented out kayaks and had Rob from the hostel join us. Sheila and I took turns being in the middle to be the ladies of leisure not having the paddle. We had a few drinks at the hostel before saying our sad goodbyes.

    Recommendations:
    San Sebastian hike
    Hydrospeed
    Rent kayaks
    Cascada el claro
    Puras Pavadas for empanadas
    You can also climb a volcano but it's pricey and we couldn't get to the top as it's active
    Eltit- our favourite chilean supermarket

    23/01- 27/01
    *Footprint credit to Sheila Scott    Read more

  • South America
    Day 29

    Caleta Condor

    January 28, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Leaving Pucón after a great few days, we headed in the direction of Bahia Mansa on the coast west of Osorno. On route we stopped for lunch at playa tres postes which had the clearest blue icy water- we didn't brave a swim.

    Once at Bahia Mansa, we soon learnt that we were once again off the beaten tourist track and no one had any English. With the help of Google translate we attempted to book a ferry for the following morning to Caleta Condor as well as accidentally ordering 12 seafood empanadas. We enjoyed some traditional music and songs at a huilliche festival in the port community centre! Later that evening we followed a steep gravel road to tril tril beach where we camped with a beautiful sunset.

    The next morning, we got up at dawn and headed for the two hour boat to bring us further down the coast to Caleta condor, a remote white beach hidden in an indigenous reserve of the Huilliche community. On arrival, one of the local children Isadella was waiting for us to bring us to her family's campsite ' camping casadas' at the end of the beach complete with roaming horses, ducks, geese, sheep and cows. Our first day here we relaxed on the beach and went for a few drinks at the main restobar. The next day we hiked up to a lookout, a waterfall and wandered along the coast, followed by some more empanadas and homemade chips.

    While we originally planned to only stay 2 nights here, getting a ferry back was complicated again with our limited Spanish and with bookings only organised the night before depending on weather at the only hostel on the beach. As it turns out, our return boat ended up being cancelled which we later learnt was due to high winds. Amongst the confusion, we met a helpful Chilean dad and his family from Valdivia along with a group of 8 Chilean lads from Osorno who were delighted to practice their English and invited us to dinner and to camp with them.

    We successfully got a 7am boat back the following day although it wasn't as smooth as we hoped and a good few people were seasick including Joe. Once back to some network coverage we looked into booking our ferry from Hornopirén to Caleta Gonzalo (start of the Carretera Austral) and realised we were quite late booking leaving us with a limited choice other than a 2am ferry on 8th February.

    In a rush to continue heading south, we continued on to Puerto Varas that afternoon and enjoyed the view of volcano Osorno and lake Llanquihue as well as wandering around the picturesque town's markets.

    Recommendations:
    Minimum 2 nights at Caleta condor beach- also the option of a 2 day hike to it if you don't fancy a rough boat crossing
    Book hornopiren ferry over 3 weeks in advance to get a daytime option
    Puerto Varas: Similar vibes to Pucón. We would have liked to stay longer here but we were on a rushed schedule due to our ferry booking for the Carretera Austral.
    Compass del sur hostel in Puerto Varas- campers welcome and a really nice common area and kitchen
    Cecinas Llanquihue- Sarah's favourite chilean salami brand has a big shop here

    28/01-02/02    Read more

  • South America
    Day 34

    Chiloe Island

    February 2, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We arrived to Chiloe Island via Ruta 5 with a quick car ferry across the chacao channel.

    We initially explored a overcast and gloomy Ancud before driving west in search of a wild camping spot at Mar Brava. We got so lucky here, initially spotting lots of dolphins and a sealion which encouraged us to walk further down the beach where we were able to see a humpback whale from a rocky look out. We met Andrés, a local from Ancud who caught the footage on his drone and shared it with us on his instagram.

    The next morning we woke up to a beach full of wandering cows and horses. We drove on to puñihuil where we were able to jump on a small tour boat to see Humboldt and Magellanic penguins on the nearby rocky islets.

    We then headed along some back roads to Chepu where we stayed at la Maison bleu campsite owned by a lovely French Chilean family. Their little girls loved exploring inside the van. We also met their American workaway volunteers Willow and Mike.

    The next morning we set our alarm for 5:50am and met Miguel at chepu pier to rent a kayak for sunrise. The weather was perfect and we had the river to ourselves to explore the sunken forest. This eery scenery was caused by an earthquake in 1960 where vast tracks of forest became submerged and the rivers became inundated with salt water killing the trees.

    After a cup of tea, we headed on to Linao in search for a rodeo that Sarah found on a Chilean rodeo association website. At first the rodeo was nowhere to be found so we stopped at the local shop owned by a man from Santiago who spoke perfect english and sent us on the way!

    The rodeo turned out to be on a private farm and we enjoyed watching the competition as the only tourists there although we were very confused by the judicating and points system. Joe met one of the competitiors when he needed help with translation while buying empanadas who kindly explained the rules.

    Later on, the man's wife Mane came and introduced herself and her daughter Trinny and nephew Alfoso and invited us into the family farm to see the horses and river as well as later introducing us to her parents who owned the rodeo ring and farm. They were delighted to have some tourists visit to see their national sport and gave us a leaving gift of a rodeo book! Following Manes tips we went on to visit the local beach and arrived to Dalcahue tired, staying the night at Entre Rios campsite.

    We picked up our first hitchhikers, a local mom and her baby, on the way into town the next day. We were lucky to be in Dalcahue on a Sunday to explore the weekly tourist market and also got the chance to try curanto, a local cuisine as well as see their UNESCO world heritage church.

    We then drove on to Castro, the islands capital to look at traditional plafitos ( houses on stilts) and another UNESCO world heritage church. Heading back north, we finished up the evening with a charcuterie board and wine overlooking sunset at condor beach.

    Recommendations:
    Sunrise kayak to see the sunken forest in Chepu
    La Maison blue campsite
    Feria Artesanal Dalcahue
    Cocineria Dalcahue- try curanto at stall 7 Carlitas
    Lemon pie at kunge restobar in Castro
    Wild camp spots at Condor Beach and Mar Brava
    Cucao to Cole Cole beach trek 2 days (we didn't have time to do this)

    02/02 - 06/02    Read more

  • South America
    Day 38

    Beginning of the Carretera Austral

    February 6, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We had a well needed van service and admin day stocking up on everything we needed for the next leg of our trip in Puerto montt before starting our roadtrip on chile's ruta 7 known as the Carretera Austral. The remote highway runs south for about 1,240 kilometers providing access to rural and sparsely populated patagonia. After the first hour of driving on the route, we had our first ferry, a 30 minute journey from Caleta La Arena to
    Caleta Puelche. We then continued along the Ruta 7 to Hornopirén to catch our 2am night ferry. This was the first Copec we stopped at that had to a very long queue for fuel, a sign of how remote our journey was ahead. We also spent some time here exploring the local craft market.

    From Hornopirén we sailed for 3 1/2 hours through the Comao fjord to Leptepu, a supposely scenic journey although it was nighttime so we slept the whole way in the van. Then after docking at Leptepu, we drove 10 kilometers on a gravel road to Fiordo Largo, where we started the second ferry crossing the Reñihue fjord to Caleta Gonzalo arriving at 7am on 8th February.

    After a snooze alongside the road, we decided to make the most of the good weather and completed a short walk along sendero los alerces in Pumalín Park. This path leads through a forest of giant Alerces, some almost 3000 years old. These tall, ancient trees are one of the largest and longest-living species on Earth.

    From here we continued along the road to Volcan Chaitén which is also in Pumalín Park, picking up some Chilean hitch hikers on route. We then started a steep 3hr return track up to the caldera of Volcan Chaitén, which erupted in 2008. It was tough in the heat with little wind and relentless horseflies at the top but worth it for the views. That night we wild camped at the pier in Chaitén and caught a lovely sunset.

    The next day 09/02 we detoured from the carretera austral to head to Futaleufú. The Futaleufu River houses some of the best rafting in the world; best known for the technicality and quantity of its rapids, the incredible turquoise colour and clarity of the water and the stunning mountain scenery! Usually the road to get here is known to be quite pretty although we had mainly an overcast journey on the gravel road. Luckily the sun came out just as we arrived and we found the perfect camp spot along the river just outside the town.
    With beautiful sunny weather, we booked a white water rafting trip with Patagonia elements the following morning. Initially I was quite anxious but it turned into an addictive adrenaline rush surviving the rapids without capsizing. Bri our American guide told Joe he peaked with his first rafting trip experiencing some of the best rapids in the world with the Futaleufú river at the perfect water level! Afterwards we drove back to Ruta 7 stopping for a quick rest in Villa Santa Lucia who happened to have a fiesta with market stalls and a quirky uniformed live band performing to celebrate 41 years of the village. Just as we were leaving, the rain returned and we picked up 2 more hitch hikers Nicolas from Argentina and Philipe from Sweden who had been waiting a few hours for a lift and were just about to give up! We had another few hours of driving through mist and rain to finish at a cute little village Puyuhuapi where we said goodbye to our hitchhikers and found a wild camp spot just at the edge of town in front of a fjord harbour before heading out for a few drinks.

    The following morning, we woke up to another wet day to continue along the gravel roads stopping at Parque Nacional Quelat to complete the hike Sendero Ventisquero Colgante which treated us to views of a hanging glacier. We finished up the day at Camping borderio in Villa Mañihuales which had a lovely little Refugio to shelter from the rain along with a little woodfired chilean stove. Here we meet some chileans completing the Carretera Austral by bicycle. One gave us some foraged El calafete berry's, famous in Patagonia and showed us his book on foraging.

    Recommendations:
    Futaleufú whitewater rafting- Patagonia elements
    Hanging glacier in Parque Nacional Quelat
    Volcan chaiten 1/2 day hike
    El Bosque Cocina&Bar, Puerto Montt
    Restorán Comuy-Huapi, Puyuhuapi

    06/01-12/01    Read more

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