Rio Negro

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

28/01-02/02Read more