After the Termas del Sol, we drove another two hours to the town of Hornopirén. To get to the rest of Highway 7, which is the famous Carretera Austral, you have to take a ferry from here; there is no way to get to Patagonia beyond due to the mountains and the inlets. So we made our way here and then stayed the 23rd-26th, to give us a nice treat for Christmas: a real kitchen to cook in, separate bedrooms, and a hot shower. Merry Christmas to us!
The drive in to Hornopirén was beautiful, if not a little dark and moody due to some rain. We drove alongside the Estero Reloncavi, which is a long, skinny inlet filled with brackish water that apparently makes it good for mussel farming. All of the buoys in the water below is a mussel farm. We were inspired by all the mussel farming and decided we wanted some sort of seafood for Christmas dinner.
Actually in the little town of Hornopiren, they were holding a Fair for Christmas, basically selling last minute Christmas presents. I found a sweet pair of slippers for $6 and a cute Carretera Austral painted mug for $5. Merry Christmas to me!
In the city square, they had little activities for the kids to do, including a painting station and jumpy houses. I think Santa was going to make an appearance later on, but we left, as he had already visited us in Santiago before we left.
Hornopiren seems like a blue collar town, where most people work for the seafood industry. Wasn't as cute as Frutillar, but we had a nice Christmas there.
Christmas dinner was mussels that we found frozen, $1.50 for a bag of 22. So we got 5 bags, totaling 110 mussels and proceeded to house them all. We wanted fresh ones but struck out multiple times trying to find them. I'm sure you can buy fresh mussels somewhere, but we didn't have the connections. The frozen ones tasted just the same, and you can't beat a white wine broth! Roasted squash, potatoes, and purple cauliflower completed our feast. So yummy.
Another plus to our little Airbnb was the neighborhood animals. Our puppy, who we named Rosie of course, hung out on our porch pretty much the entire time. Granted we were feeding her scraps, but she was so kind and gentle. If we didn't have border crossings and National Parks ahead of us (they don't allow pets to enter), I would have scooped her up and taken her home in a second. We also had a dozen different cats loitering about, but none were super friendly.
On the 26th, we got on the ferry at Hornopirén, bound for Caleta Gonzalo. This ferry trip is interesting because you actually have to disembark after 3.5 hours, drive across this peninsula on a road that only exists for this exact purpose, and then get on another smaller ferry on the other side for a final 20 min ride. The red lines on the map below show you exactly where we went. Why do this weird on again off again route? Because the waves in the Gulf of Ancud can be very rough. We experienced a few in one tiny little section in the strait just north of Poyo, and you could immediately feel a difference. So much rougher. Emerson started to feel sea sick there, so we went to the front of the boat to orientate ourselves, and I swear we saw the dorsal fin of an orca dive right below the boat, and then we heard a thunk on the ship's bottom as it bumped into us. Both boys were with me, so I have witnesses.
Getting on the first ferry!
Saying the boys were excited about this leg of our journey is an understatement.
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