Pt. 2: Camping Off the Beaten Track

The Carretera continued to be a challenging drive from Puerto Rio Tranquillo towards Cerro Castillo, but over time, the road got wider and smoother. Wanting to cover some distance, we flew across the gravel at the suggested speed of 60 kph - until we were overtaken by another car, who‘s passengers kept pointing downwards while they were passing us. It dawned on us that something wasn‘t right - we had another puncture at the rear left 😞

We couldn‘t believe it and were not looking forward to another tire change session. Luckily, another 4x4 had just pulled up. We chatted with the driver about our situation and before we knew it, he was on the ground and helping us with our car jack. This guy had clearly done this many times before! We had the replacement wheel fitted within 10 minutes (we had kept it on the rear seat for easy access) and he even had some gear to adjust our tire pressure to more appropriate levels for gravel roads. We asked him if he was a car mechanic, but instead he said he was a software engineer 👨‍💻

We hit the road again, now driving more carefully, only to realise that one km later the gravel stopped and the paved part of the Carreteral Austral began. Talk about unlucky… Our next stop was in Cherro Castillo, where we found another gomeria. The technician was less than impressed with the state of our tires and told us what we had suspected all along: that they were not fit for purpose for the Carretera Austral. Thank you, Wicked Campers. For the rest of the trip, we kept the replacement wheel on the car, not trusting the original one.

Initially we had hoped to go on yet another Laguna/Cerro hike there, as it is known as a very beautiful and not so touristy alternative to the more overrun hikes of the weeks before. But both still battling some form of cold, we had to let that one go.
Instead we splurged on the first restaurant meal in weeks, treating ourselves to some local cuisine and a starter of Cevice (a Peruvian raw fish delicacy 🐟). Njam!

From Cerro Castillo, we turned off the Carretera onto a small country road to head towards a campground close to Lago Lapparent. As it was already late in the day, the sun was starting to set and bathed the stunning landscape in beautiful light. When we arrived, we were greeted by a curious group of extra fluffy alpacas. The campground was situated right next to a small lake, with a nice view of the surrounding mountains, and we were the only guests that night 🏕. It was run by an older lady as an addition to her farm, who told us how much she enjoyed the solitude and the surroundings. The facilities were rustic - for a warm shower, we had to collect some firewood and heat a stove, which was then heating the water.

We decided to stay an extra night to have a day to rest, enjoy the landscape and have another meet-and-greet with the Alpacas 🦙. From there, we headed onwards to Pto. Ingenerio Ibáñez, passing the Rio Ibáñez Waterfall, and back onto the Carretera towards Coyhaique.

🛞 Flats count: 3
🦙 Alpaca fluffiness level: through the roof
🌵Amount of spiky shrubs on campsite: 1.000.000 +
🪵 Amount of firewood collected: Enough for 2 medium warm showers
🐟 Cevice eaten: 1Read more