Day 1 -Sunday 3/3

The adventure begins! Picked up our car, an MG crossover, and met Stephen in Puerto Varas. You can barely make out the dramatic outline of the Osorno volcano on the lake. Then it was off to the start of the legendary Carretera Austral, a.k.a Ruta 7, South America’s best road trip. We drove to Hornopiren via a local ferry—beautiful spot. We spent the night in a ramshackle wooden lodge from the 1940s. But the view from our room!

In front was a lovely tidal river which we walked along for an hour or so. Had not seen scenery like this since Norway. We were also blessed by spectacular weather which managed to last a few days in this rainy part of the world. Hornopiren felt like a frontier town. Wooden buildings on a grid.

The funny thing about Patagonia is that I was constantly being reminded of other places—Alaska, Iceland, Norway, New England, Pacific Northwest—but never South America.Read more