I should have come to Patagonia at the end of 1994/beginning of 1995. The trip never came off. 25 years later and I’d finally made it here! And I was driving the infamous Carretera Austral.
I’d been dreaming about Patagonia for a long time. Ever since I learnt about it in geography, a cold desert in South America full of Welsh sheep farmers. I was a strange child!
The name Patagonia sounded so romantic. This barren landscape, akin to the Canadian Arctic which I loved so much. I was sure I’d fall in love with Patagonia too.
It was a long drive from Balmaceda Airport to Puerto Tranquilo, my first stop on the Carretera Austral. It was made even longer because I kept stopping to take photos.
So as I turned off the road from Balmaceda Airport on the Carretera Austral, this was it, now I really was in Patagonia.
Most people who visit Patagonia go to southern Patagonia, Torres del Paine in Chile, Perito Moreno in Argentina. That was to come for me later in the holiday, but ever since I read about the largely inaccessible northern Patagonia, reached by driving the remote gravel road, the Carretera Austral, I wanted to see that too. I wanted to drive the wild gravel of the Carretera Austral and see a region that sounded like it was practically at the edge of the earth.
The scenery was breathtaking. Beautiful Patagonia. The mountains, the glaciers, the rivers, the wild flowers. The one thing it didn’t have at the moment was this rugged, gravel road. I was driving on tarmac. And the one thing it did have, that everyone can do without, but I’ve discovered always comes with these cold places with a short growing season. In summer you have the giant insects! They hadn’t really been present anywhere else I’d been so far, so they were noticeable, but not too bad.
As I drove down the road, the purples and pinks of the wildflowers by the river was breathtaking. It was the first of many stops along the road for photos. The views of the mountains were amazing. Chile is just full of National Parks and I was driving through Cerro Castillo National Reserve with the amazing Castle Cordillera. I kept pulling over to take photos of the mountains and then sticking the gorilla grip on the pick up truck bonnet to get some photos with me in them. Some were better than others! It was an absolutely glorious day and the forecast was more of the same for the next day, so I had beautiful blue skies, the lush greenery and the mountains. Beautiful Patagonia. It was amazing.
Now I had hired a pick up truck. I’d been told I didn’t need a 4 wheel drive, so I just asked for a 2 wheel drive. As it turned out I got a 4 wheel drive anyway and almost new with only 2500km on the clock. As I continued to drive down this tarmac road, I wondered if I really needed this pick up truck that the guide books had advised, so that it would be sturdy on the rough gravel and would be easy to find parts if it broke down. Had the Carretera Austral been fully paved since my guide book had been printed? Was I not going to get any of this famous rough terrain the Carretera Austral was renowned for?
Be careful what you wish for. After 100km the sign said “Pavement End”. Then I was on gravel. For another 100km. All the way to Puerto Tranquilo. It wasn’t too bad at first. A lot of up and down and meandering. But the road was wide and well maintained. Then came 20km of roadworks. And actually even though it was a bit daunting driving on a gravel road through 20km of roadworks, because they were working on the road, again the condition wasn’t too bad, although the road was now significantly narrower. That’s always a worry for me. Most vehicles coming in the opposite direction do not slow down and they don’t pull over. I never think I have enough room. And I had 11 days of this. What was I thinking?
But after the roadworks, the road remained narrow and now was full of huge potholes. Seriously big potholes. I drove the Hummingbird Highway in Belize. That was full of potholes. This was almost as bad. The road crew needed to move further down the road.
It made me think, if I had come here in 1994, what would the Carretera Austral have been like then? Probably narrow and full of potholes for its entire length.
It seemed like I was never going to get to Puerto Tranquilo. The road went on forever. Any ideas I had about maybe going further south on the Carretera Austral had been extinguished. I was going to be driving on this gravel a lot over the next 11 days. I didn’t need to haul all the way down to Villa O’Higgins which is a long way from anywhere and, as far as I can tell, where there isn’t a lot to see, just to say I’d driven to the end of the Carretera Austral. I had nothing to prove. I hadn’t driven from the start in Puerto Montt anyway, I was just doing some bits in the middle, so it was completely unnecessary to drive all the way down there. Puerto Rio Tranquilo was far enough. I was going all the way up to Futaleufu which meant I’d have driven around 500km of the Carretera Austral. That was enough. I wasn’t on Top Gear. This wasn’t about driving. It was about seeing the best parts of Northern Patagonia.
Bad as the road had got and as much as I wanted to see Puerto Tranquilo, it is very special when you see Lago General Carrera. This freshwater, glacial lake has the glorious green colour of Southern Hemisphere glacial lakes, due to the presence of iridium, which isn’t seen in the Northern Hemisphere and actually comes from meteors. Similar to what I’d seen in New Zealand, but on a bigger scale. Lago General Carrera is huge!
I was anxious to get to my final destination now, so I didn’t stop for photos. I’d stop on my way out on Tuesday. The weather forecast wasn’t as good, but I didn’t care. I’d had enough of driving. There was just one final place I had to check out before I went to my accommodation. The place where I could get a boat to see the Marble Caves tomorrow.
According to my notes from my extensive research, the place was about 4km south of Puerto Tranquilo. I decided I’d go 7km and if I didn’t find it after that distance I’d abandon the idea. However, after 5km, lo and behold, on the left hand side was a road leading to Bahia Mansa for tours to the Marble Caves.
The track leading down to the boat dock where the tours left from was definitely the worst road I’d driven on today. I was in first gear all the way down, it was awful. I was wondering if I’d made a terrible mistake. But no, I got there, was told if I came back at 9am next day, they would do a tour for me. I could wait for other people or pay for a private tour. I decided if there were other people there in the morning I would join them, otherwise I would go on a private tour.
There were plenty of agencies in Puerto Rio Tranquilo that would take you out for the same price. But as this place was further out, a lot less people found it which meant the boats weren’t full, making it a lot less crowded. That was what I was after. A trip where I could actually see, rather than having to jostle for position to get decent photos.
I finally turned and drove back to Puerto Tranquilo which is a very small place and found my accommodation. I was staying in a two bedroom and two bathroom cabin. I couldn’t actually remember if I’d booked it because I wanted a cabin or booked it because that was what was available. But anyway, there was tons of space and it was comfortable. There was even space for me to park the pick up truck outside the cabin, although with the length of it, it took me 3 attempts to reverse it into the right spot! Time to settle in for the night in my huge cabin ready for my Marble Cave adventure the next day.
I travelled on the Carretera Austral in January 2020.
I stayed at Apart Hotel y Cabanas Valles Exploradores in Puerto Tranquilo. A 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom cabin cost approximately £88 per night. The hotel website is in Spanish but you can use Google translate to see it in English. The hotel is also on various hotel booking websites. I booked through booking.com.
I booked my pick up truck with Keddy by Europcar through an intermediary in the UK. It cost me approximately £52 per day for a 4WD 4 door pick up truck.
I flew to Balmaceda Airport from Puerto Montt with Latam which cost £54 return. Checked luggage and seat reservation are extra.
Read my tips about driving the Carretera Austral
Driving the Carretera Austral – My Tips
Read the three part series about my hike on the W Trek in Torres del Paine
The Lazy Writer’s W Trek – Days 1 & 2
The Lazy Writer’s W Trek – Days 3 & 4
The Lazy Writer’s W Trek – Day 5 & Glacier Grey
Read about my other adventures in Chile
Rafting and Canyoning in Futaleufu
Read about my experience driving the tourist routes on Prince Edward Island
North Cape Coastal Drive Part 1
North Cape Coastal Drive Part 2
Cavendish and the Rotating House of North Rustico