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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 45

    The Cerro Castillo Circuit

    February 13, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 6 °C

    On the 12th of February, we were happy to wake up to sun and enjoyed the views along some paved roads for a change on route to Villa Cerro Castillo.

    In the village, we checked in for one night into Camping Castillo to prepare for our first multiday hike, a 57km trail called 'the Cerro Castillo circuit'. Having a quick look at the forecast, we expected a wet start but the weather expected to improve over the week. On a tight schedule to make our booked O trek start date, we had no time to waste waiting another day for the weather to improve so we set off in the rain the following day on the bus to Coyhaique. On the bus, we met a swiss couple who had attempted to complete the full trek a few days prior but had to abandon before the second pass due to bad weather and hadn't seen any views in the cloud... We hoped we would be luckier!

    By the time we arrived at our stop 'Las Horquetas' - the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, the rain was belting down..! Being the only ones getting off the packed bus, everyone looked on sympathetically including the bus driver who climbed on top the bus to collect our already drenched bags. Within the few minutes walk to the rangers hut, our gloves were already soaked through. The rangers offered to quickly warm them on the stove as we signed the register, the only ones checking in on this miserably day. With no other choice, we set off on our trek.

    Halfway into the first day, we came across Marcus from Norway and his dutch friend retracing their steps for their missing fishing rod. They had entered the park the night before to escape paying the entrance fee but due to the cold and wet had decided to hike out. More ill prepared than us sporting no waterproofs, a hoody and leather jacket and with their soaked through sleeping bags hanging off the side of their bags, we didn't expect to see them again.

    By the time we arrived to our first campsite, the rain stopped and the sun started to shine through the cloud to warm us up. We were cheerily welcomed by Chester, a nice Chilean man who offered us some of his homemade beef jerky. To our surprise, there were a few people at camp who had had hiked in the previous day and were waiting for the following day to complete the first pass. Even further to our surprise, Marcus and his friend with their soaked bags appeared after finding their fishing rod!

    However, within the first hour after putting up our tent, a ranger appeared to tell us a Patagonian storm was approaching and the park was closing meaning we would not be allowed to move from camp for the next three days including retreating back to the road. With a disheartened atmosphere in camp, everyone busied themselves for the evening building up defense walls around their tents to defend against the incoming weather.

    After a very peaceful night without a puff of wind, we were sceptical of the rangers advice however after discussing with Chester, we decided to hike out as we didn't have enough food, time or patience to be stuck at camp for the next 3 days and did not want to continue to the pass against ranger advice.

    During the morning, the weather annoyingly continued to improve as we walked the 15km out. Just as we neared the rangers hut, half a km out, we were amazed to be greeted by at least 15-20 people walking in our direction to find out they had just re-opened the park...!! Tired and in a predicament, Joe mentally had checked out of the walk but my fear of missing out wanted to turn back. Here we met Noah and Jack, twins from Washington that were doppelgangers for Patrick! They provided the American positivity and spirit we needed offering us extra food and gas if we needed, giving us no reason not to turn back! For the third time, we followed the route to the first camp, this time walking it in the fastest time, deep in conversations with the twins, Antonio from Paris and Elena from New York who turned into the best hiking group for the rest of the trek!

    The next few days we had glorious weather and got stunning views from the top of El Peñon pass, Laguna glacier peñon, Laguna Cerro Castillo, Cerro Castillo pass and Laguna duff. Elena thought us the hiking game knives, forks and spoons and we enjoyed getting lots of Paris recommendations from Antonio and hearing all about the back country in Washington from the twins. Overall, our first multiday hike was a success, finishing the trek in villa Cerro castillo with 87km completed over 4 nights and 5 days.

    Recommendations:
    Quieter than Torres Del Paine
    Look for a good weather window for the passes
    Always cook dinner at a scenic viewpoint- Elena's advice

    12/02-17/02    Read more

  • South America
    Day 49

    Along the Carretera Austral

    February 17, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    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

    17/02-20/02    Read more

  • South America
    Day 52

    Patagonia National Park

    February 20, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Delighted after securing last minute ferry tickets for Puerto Yungay to Puerto Natales for the 25th February, we were a little richer with time so headed into Parque Nacional Patagonia to explore for a few days.

    The Patagonia National Park is one of Chile's newest parks, officially created in 2018. It is made up of the former Tamango and Jeinimeni reserves, and Valle Chacabuco, a sector that was donated to the State of Chile by Douglas Tompkins, and which was formerly one of the largest cattle ranches in the country. In the 1990s Tompkins (North face founder) and his wife, Kris McDivitt Tompkins (former CEO Patagonia) bought and conserved more than 2 million acres of wilderness in Chile and Argentina with the focus of park creation, wildlife recovery, ecological agriculture, and activism, with the goal of saving biodiversity.

    Driving into the park, we saw lots of herds of guanacos everywhere before arriving at the neatly presented visitor centre. This park has a very American feel with well built and maintained infrastructure which we enjoyed compared to other CONAF parks. We decided to stay for two nights in the west winds campsite to complete the 20km sendero lagunas altas trial. Here we met a nice Canadian family from salt spring island off Vancouver who were delighted to hear Joe had visited previously and knew of Joe's friend- small world! We enjoyed hearing the dad David's stories of meeting the Tompkins and visiting their lodge when it was still a private park.

    After westwinds, we headed on to Alto Valle campsite at the other end of the park for one night. Here we completed a small walk up to Mirador Douglas Tompkins where we got rewarded with a beautiful but windy look out onto lake Cochrane.

    On 23rd February, we headed back through the park to the carretera austral, stopping into the park museum on route where we learnt about the importance of National Parks, conservation of ecosystems and the history, flora and fauna in the area.

    Recommendations:
    Really enjoyed the park museum
    Nice signposted walking trails
    Best view at Mirador Douglas Tompkins
    Book: A Wild Idea: The True Story of Douglas Tompkins―The Greatest Conservationist You've Never Heard Of
    Do the multiday trek to lago jeinimeni (we didn't have time)

    20/02-23/02    Read more

  • South America
    Day 55

    End of the Carretera Austral

    February 23, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After leaving Patagonia National Park, we continued along our last leg of the Carretera Austral where we came across a hidden gem 'Refugio Rio Nadis' a beautiful campsite on a working farm nestled in the mountains just a 10km detour off road across a long suspension bridge. As we arrived, all the local farmers were out in the yard celebrating with an asado and lots of beer after a day of coming together to brand the farm's cattle. We watched on as they played taba, a game where a talus bone of a cow weighted with copper is thrown to the air. Upon falling, they make bets and guess if it will fall upward (suerte) or backward (culo). The famers wife Lily from Germany brought us down to their rustic refugio which had a lovely fogón wood stove, a bucket shower and beautiful tree house.

    We would of loved to stay longer here and hike some of the nearby trails, horse ride or do some volunteering on the farm but with the deadline of the ferry we only had one night. Here we met a couple from Santiago who had recently been to Ireland and loved it as well as french siblings Alex and Céline. The following day, before leaving we bought some fresh veg from Lily's garden. We then drove on to Caleta Tortel with the french in tow. Alex who has spent the past five years living in tortel, filled us in on all the interesting history of the town on route.

    Caleta Tortel is a tiny town, isolated at the bottom of the Gulf of Sorrows (Golfo de Peñas), nestled between ice fields from north to south, at the mouth of the beautiful Rio Baker. The town was founded in 1955 to exploit the wood of the Guayteca cypress, abundant in the area.

    It's access road was only developed in 2001, before this inhabitants had to take a boat ride five hours down the Baker River to an outpost along the Carretera Austral where they then would have to hitchhike or horse ride another 80km until the nearest town of Cochrane. To enter the town, cars have to park at the small entrance at the top of the hill. There are no conventional streets, instead there are 8km of wooden walkways built with Ciprés de las Guaitecas. The wooden walkways and stilt houses give the town its distinctive look and unique culture.  The town also only got internet connection in 2019 and a new generator January 2023 which ended the daily scheduled powercuts.

    The climate is rainy and cold all year even in summer with an average annual temperature of 8°C. This was very true for our one night visit which we spent mainly looking for warmth in cafes and a quirky family run restaurant with no menu where we listened to some sing songs from others waiting for the ferry and accordian playing by the owner.

    Recommendations:
    Refugio Rio Nadis- worth the detour
    Caleta Tortel- nice to explore the stilted walkways
    Island of the dead- boat tour from caleta tortel (we didn't have time)

    23/02-25/02    Read more

  • South America
    Day 57

    Ferry through the Patagonian Fjords

    February 25, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    From Caleta Tortel, we drove our last stretch of the carretera austral to Puerto Yungay, a tiny port with a waiting room and small kiosco. Here you can make a shorter 45 minute ferry trip to connect you to the end of the 1247km carretera austral road where the last town Villa O Higgins is situated or a 41 hour ferry to Puerto Natales which runs only once per week. The Puerto Natales ferry 'Crux Australis' is a relatively new route only starting in 2016 with subsidies from the government in order to connect the Aysén and Magallanes regions, fulfilling a wish of the inhabitants of both regions to be able to connect through Chilean territory and without the need to detour through Argentina.

    While we waited to board the 'Crux Australis', we cooked up some leftover lentil curry with some orange stemmed vegetables from Lily's garden and shared an empanada from the kiosco. This is an important detail as the first night aboard we both got a bout of horrific food poisoning. On the boat we had tried so hard to get tickets for, I felt so sick I was praying to be anywhere else but on it. Luckily our camper was conveniently parked close to the deck toilet ... Whether it was the empanada or the weird orange stemmed vegetable we will never know!

    Never the less the next day we started to feel a little better and enjoyed having no internet connection to read and watch some films. We also met Dan from England, one of the only other tourists on the boat. The ferry route passes through a labyrinth of fjords on the west side of the Patagonian Ice Fields although the mist, rain and wind only allowed us glimpses. We did get a good view of Villa Puerto Edén from the upper deck when the ferry stopped to drop off supplies, a tiny village on wellington island, considered one of Chile's most isolated inhabited places. We read some people previously on board were lucky enough to see orcas or humpback whales during their crossing but the only animal we saw was a lone seal. Most of the journey we spent thinking of our next meal with portions on board quite small and served up like prison food. Overall, the ferry took 50 hours due to some strong winds and choppy waters on the second night. Never the less we enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to fully complete our trip through chile.

    Recommendations:
    Bring snacks
    Book long in advance
    Fry your breakfast sandwich in the camper

    25/02- 27/02    Read more

  • South America
    Day 59

    Puerto Natales

    February 27, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    We spent a total of 5 nights here including pre planning and preparing for the O trek, pints with Dan from the ferry, another lengthy notary visit to sort paperwork to allow us to sell Shibi outside of Chile and post Torres Del Paine recovery and socializing with all our new O trek friends.

    Highlights included the opportunity to see Christine my cousin from Germany, a coincidence being in the same tiny town at the same time, spotting some flamingoes from our wild camping spot and seeing a group of condors on route to Torres Del Paine!

    Recommendations:
    Lili patagonicos hostel- good breakfast included
    Bagueles Brewhouse
    Base Camp for Pizza
    Hamburgueseria La Forastera
    Nomad coffeeshop
    Holaste! Coffeeshop
    Frutos Secos for dried mango and trail mix    Read more

  • South America
    Day 62

    Laguna Amarga

    March 2, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    This bright green Laguna is worth its own post. Sitting alongside the road just outside Torres del Paine national park, this amazing lake got its colour from high pH waters. The white stones that crown its shores are calcium carbonate stromatolites. We used the lake's wind shelter to cook dinner before entering the park and accidentally left our camping table behind...!

    Recommendations:
    Worth a photo stop!    Read more

  • South America
    1
    Day 63

    Torres del Paine

    March 3, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    'The O trek'

    Starting off on a very wet first day, morale was low when we arrived to Seron campsite. After setting up camp, we bungled into a small Refugio for some warmth and tea. Surrounded by everyone's wet gear left out to dry, we sat with Augustin from Belgium, Chad and the Texans, McKenzie and Jeffrey from Seattle and Jordan from Colorado playing cards. This group along with the Ozzie siblings Ingrid and Rohan who we met on the trail the next day happened to be our hiking company for the next week.

    Day two provided some relief from the weather and some nice views on route to Dickson, one of our favourite campsites although we lost a few Oreos to some mice friends during the night.

    Our third night at Perros campsite was our wettest and coldest although our camping gear held up to keep us dry and warm. A early morning start provided some nice sunrise views as we ascended up to John Gardner pass (the highest point of the O trek) before the wind, sleet and icy conditions met us at the top. Descending down we were treated to spectacular views of glacier grey. The sun arrived in the afternoon as we hiked alongside the glacier and we had an impromptu photoshoot with Gal from Israel.

    As we reached grey campsite on the W side of the circuit, the trail and campsites became busier but campsite facilties were also better with bigger cooking areas and more choice of bars and restaurants.

    We enjoyed the iceberg lake Mirador close to grey camp before heading off to Paine grande where we experienced some of patagonia's famous winds and got lucky with a morning rainbow over camp.

    Day 6 we headed up to Mirador Britanico and after waiting the snow shower out in the forest with a few games of knives, forks, spoons, we got super lucky with some panaromic views of mountain range and valley Frances.

    On our last night of our trek at central, discussion throughout camp was widespread about 3am alarms and set off times for a sunrise view at base de Las Torres. We set off at 3.45am and arrived just over 2.5 hours later and were treated to picture perfect views of the famous towers. After the wet start, it was a great high to end it on along with meeting the best group of people.

    Campsites: Seron - Dickson - Perros - Grey - Paine grande - Frances - Central

    Recommendations:
    Do the O
    Book campsites in advance before your trip
    Best hot showers at Frances
    Bring dehydrated meals from home    Read more

  • South America
    Day 72

    El calafete

    March 12, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Our first border crossing in the van was luckily uneventful and the Argentinian customs were happy with all our vehicle documents.
    We drove from Cerro Castillo via Paso Rio Don guillermo to enter Patagonian Argentina and start heading north on the famous Ruta Nacional 40 where the scenery quickly changed to vast and barren sandy steppe before arriving for three nights at El Calafete, a cute touristy town.

    The majority of our first day was spent queuing with other tourists at Western Union to obtain Argentinian pesos at the blue dollar rate as well as looking around the tourist shops and restocking the van with fruit, vegetables and dairy that we weren't able to bring across the border.

    The next day, we were joined by our O trek friend Augustin from Belgium to visit Glaciar Perito Moreno at nearby Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. This is the most impressive Glaciar we have seen yet measuring 35km long, 5km wide and 60m high. Despite climate change, it is one of the only stable glaciers and is continuing to grow. We were lucky enough to see some ice calving while we were here.

    Recommendations:
    Visit Glaciar Perito Moreno
    Isabel Cocina al Disco for steak plough and wine cellar
    Chocolates Patagonia for artisan alfajores
    Bring extra USD or euro to exchange in cambios to prevent lengthy western union queues here

    Camping:
    Cabanas Camping Calafete- nice central location
    YPF free camping and excellent wifi

    12/03-14/03    Read more

  • South America
    Day 75

    El Chalten

    March 15, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    This has been one of our favourite stops so far! Driving from El calafete we had the company of our Belgian friend Augustin again. First port of call was the parque national los glaciares visitor centre to meet the ranger. Luck was on our side that we had the perfect weather window to start our 66km huemul circuit the very next day! We set off on the 4 day, 3 night circuit with our o trek Aussie friends Ingrid and Rohan. The hike involved crossing two rivers by self guided zipline, transversing a glacier to access a snowy mountain pass and incredible views of the southern Patagonian ice fields. It has been our hardest trek yet with tough navigation and a harsh steep descend that involved some rock climbing. Coming into camp on paddy's day, Joe spotted an Irish flag and we gained two new friends Seamus and Triona from Kerry who joined us back in El chalten for happy hour to catch up on the results of the Ireland's six nations grand slam win along with the Ozzie's and Alex the Brazilian alpinist. While we all had planned a rest day to follow, the weather was too perfect to pass up on the opportunity to see the Fitz Roy sunrise at Laguna des los tres. We followed the huemul circuit by another 3 night, 4 day hike around Fitz Roy and Cerro Torres. In total we completed 110km in 8 days. A special highlight was spotting two wild pumas in the forest.
    We finished off our time in El chalten with a free concert to celebrate the fiesta nacional del trekking. We now head north with some local recommendations from argentinian Estefi.

    El Chalten Recs:
    Outdoor drinks in the sun and tapas style food at La vineria.
    Empanadas at la Nieve Cafe
    Happy hour at Fresco bar
    Pastries at Lo De Haydee Panaderia

    Paid campsites: Camping el Relincho in town
    Piedra del Fraile north El chalten trail

    Free: campervan parking beside bus station and across from visitor centre
    All campsites on huemul circuit
    Poincenot and L'agostini near Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
    *Some mice friends: Hang up food and bags at park trail campsites

    15/03- 25/03    Read more

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