Summer Trip South: Argentina, Laguna Sophia, and Puerto Natales

The crossing from Chile into Argentina is abrupt. The land changes dramatically within the span of a few miles. Suddenly we found ourselves no longer in the mountainous, dramatic landscapes of Chile, but instead in the dry, windy, dusty pampa or grasslands of Argentina. It felt like driving through Wyoming. Ugly, but necessary to get to some more beautiful spots. So, needless to say, we quickened our pace and tried to race through this part as much as possible. We had about 520 miles to go down to Puerto Natales, which was our next and last Airbnb and our southernmost destination on the entire trip. We broke the drive up into a few days, as, again, we drive slow. 

The highlight of driving through the Argentinian pampa was the wildlife. We saw dozens of these ostrich like birds called rheas that were very cool to see. 

We saw more guanacos than we could count. 

And lots of condors which are magnificent as they are incredibly large. Their wingspan is 9 or 10 feet, and they love to glide around on thermals high overhead. I'm not a bird person, but these guys are amazing. 

Finally by the end of the second day, we started to see some mountains again, and we passed several large lakes that were aqua in color. 

On our second night we made it into the town of El Calafate, which is a town that sits outside of the Perito Moreno Glacier, a very popular tourist attraction. The town felt it too. Very Estes Park. Don't get me wrong; it was cute and had all of the souvenir shopping one could ask for and all the fancy dining that one can miss while in the more remote sections of the Carretera Austral. But it didn't feel very authentic, so it actually wasn't our favorite place. We basically had good burgers and beers at a local brewery, restocked, and headed out the next day. I don't have a single picture of it either. 

There we go. Now we're talking. 

On our third night, we wild camped off the side of the road at this little shrine surrounded by some trees and bushes that provided some wind protection. After setting up camp, a bike packer who we had passed on the road stopped to camp there as well, as there is not alot of options along Ruta 40. He was a super friendly guy named Benjamin, and we had dinner with him. The next day was our final stretch along the rest of Ruta 40 after which we would be crossing back into Chile and going down to Puerto Natales. As we left our little refugio, the wind was roaring, and poor Benjamin was making basically no progress. So we asked if he wanted a ride, and he gratefully accepted. He was headed to Puerto Natales as well, so we took him the rest of the way. 

We had actually arrived in the Puerto Natales area a few days early, but Benjamin recommended we camp at Laguna Sophia, which was about 30 minutes north of town. So we stocked up at the grocery store, and then headed out there for two nights. It turned out to be the perfect location for us. We could camp right on the beach, the water was the crystal clear blue, and there was a perfect hike for us to do that got us up above the surrounding cliffs with lots of condor sightings. 

Views from the hike.

The second day we were there, it was the sunniest and warmest day we've had the entire trip. So warm, in fact, that I actually got completely into the water, which hadn't happened once so far as these glacier fed lakes are silly cold. It was actually a really fun day because it seemed the entire town of Puerto Natales came to the beach to enjoy this one glorious day of summer. But they all left by bedtime. 

After our lovely couple of days at Laguna Sophia, we went back to Puerto Natales to spend three nights at our Airbnb. Our goal was simply to cook as many frozen meals as we could, as crossing back into Argentina it's much easier to take food that direction. The customs officers are much stricter on the Chilean side. And to do all of our laundry, we were running low. The town of Puerto Natales itself was nice. It's a decent size and felt like a nice mix of locals and tourists. And there is an airport. If people are coming down to Patagonia to only see Torres del Paine, they fly into Puerto Natales and then drive/bus in from there, which is exactly what we would be doing in 3 days time. 

Summer Trip South: Chile Chico and 1st Border Crossing

After Patagonia National Park, it was time to head back north a bit towards Lago General Carrera. The Carretera Austral does go farther south, past Caleta Tortel the town on stilts, and all the way to Villa O'Higgins where it dead ends. But, the road gets much rougher, and there is no way out of there other than by boat without serious backtracking. So, we decided to call it quits on the Carretera Austral in Cochrane; maybe we'll do the rest another trip. Instead, we would be taking Ruta 265 along the southern edge of Lago General Carrera to eventually cross the border into Argentina. From there, we'd be going much further south, all the way to Puerto Natales. First though, we stayed another night back along the Rio Baker on our way back north.  

The next day, we did a quick walk to check out the confluence of the Baker River and the Neff River. The Baker River is turquoise blue, while the Neff is a bit cloudy brown. When the two come together, they make this washing machine of mixing water that is impressive to see. So much water flowing through one area.  

We then continued our drive north. It's amazing how when you drive the Carretera Austral in the opposite direction, it feels like an entirely new drive. So many things you didn't see well the first time. 

We spent one night in the town of Puerto Guadal, which is the first town along Highway 265. Around the corner of the lake is Puerto Rio Tranquilo, the town where we stayed to do our Marble Cave boat tour. That town felt pretty touristy. This one, however, felt like where the locals live to then go work in Puerto Rio Tranquilo. Much quieter. Mas tranquilo. We got to park right alongside the lake, where there was a nice dock that Drew took advantage of. 

In the morning, a local lady showed up at the dock with 8 or 9 dogs, all hers, including a tiny salchicha puppy. Oh my heart!

Highway 265 has a section in the middle called the Paso Las Llaves, aka the Key Pass, which is super narrow and cut into rocky cliffs high above the lake. This section of road wasn't completed until 1991! So until then, all traffic from one side of the lake to the other was done on foot or by boat. Going slow it was totally fine. There were a couple of spots where, with our big vans, if we had met someone else, someone would be reversing on some tricky terrain. But luckily that never happened for us. The views along the lake were amazing. It was probably the most scenic drive on the whole trip. Driving the opposite direction from Argentina to Chile would be even better, as you'd get to stare at the Chilean Andes the entire time. If this area wasn't so remote (5 hours over a mountain pass to the nearest airport), we'd find a way to get a vacation home down here. Who knows, maybe we still will. The remoteness is part of what makes it so pristine, right?

We stopped in Chile Chico which is the town right before the Argentinian border to relax for two days. The first night, we camped peacefully right next to the lake, which was a great spot for the boys to play. The second night, we got woken up at 11:30pm by flashing police lights and a knock knock on the camper door saying we couldn't camp there. They actually weren't allowing anyone to camp anywhere within the city limits of Chile Chico, despite there being no signs saying it was outlawed. So a whole sleepy caravan of campers led by the police themselves made our way from 3 or 4 different spots in town up to this sad parking lot just outside the city limits. This was the first time this entire trip where this has happened, and nothing on iOverlander indicated a past history of this. Maybe the citizens of Chile Chico were finally sick of seeing campers everywhere? Who knows. Not the best night of sleep, but at least we didn't get a ticket. 

The border crossing the next day went smoothish. Our situation is certainly more complicated than most, as Drew's name is technically on both camper vans, and the second van is technically from Mexico and can only be within Chile for 90 days at a time. So lots of permits to renew every time we cross the border. Drew assumed since he was going to be there in person that he didn't need any special paperwork authorizing Grandpa to drive one of the vans. But, a Chilean border official stopped us immediately and recommended we get a notarized form giving Grandpa this permission. So we drove back to Chile Chico, luckily it was close, and found a notary, who was luckily available, and got the extra documents we needed within an hour. Second try was a success. We are going to be crossing the border 3 more times, so it was good we were able to get our ducks in a row here. Originally we were considering crossing the border at a much more remote location, and looking back, that would have been a terrible mistake, as we would have been denied and then needed to back track several hours to the closest big town. Thank goodness we didn't try that. Onwards! 

Summer Trip South: Patagonia National Park

Our next stop after Puerto Rio Tranquilo was Patagonia National Park. There are multiple entrances to this park, as it is quite large. So we started on the Tamango side by the town of Cochrane. 

We stayed at a lovely little campground right inside the park itself. The campground was tucked in between some rolling hills and the Cochrane river, which starts from the Cochrane Lake, a little ways further up the canyon. It was the perfect spot for us, so we stayed here 5 nights. 

The first full day we were there, it was pretty rainy, so we hunkered down. But day 2 was nice, so we hiked Los Carpinteros, which was about 10km long. Look at me using the metric system, jajaja. The hike was fun, following the river valley with alot of ups and downs. It basically takes you to an overlook where the river and lake meet. 

Drew and Emerson actually continued on past the lookout for another 4 km to camp overnight just the two of them. After Avery got his chance to camp with Dada in Futaleufu, now it was Emerson's turn. Their hike was legit for sure, but Emerson did great. The campsite was right alongside the lake. It rained all night long, but they were well protected under some large trees. It cleared around 10am the next morning, so they just waited to hike back out after that. Sounds like a fun time, overall.

On Saturday afternoon, we went out on some kayaks in the river for about an hour. It was lots of fun. We went into the wind on the way out, so on the way back, the boys basically steered us home. The wind was starting to pick up quite a bit by the end, and even though the paddle back was against the current, because we were with the wind, it was still easy. 

Grandpa got in some well deserved fishing time on the river. 

And I found another apropos bottle of Sav. Blanc called Patagonia "Nature Rules." When in Rome. 

On Sunday we journeyed over to the Valle Chacabuco entrance to the park, which is alot more popular. It has a proper Visitor Center and a Museum which is very well done. It highlights climate change impacts to the world at large, the need for national parks, and dives into the local flora and fauna found in the park. 

Of which there are many. The highlight of this park are the guanacos, which are ancestors of the llama. They are everywhere and are not shy of humans or cars. We saw hundreds of them. It's like going to Yellowstone and seeing the bison. 

The main predator of the guanaco is the puma. We didn't see a puma, but when we were on a little 6km hike, we heard one growling in a grove of trees we had just walked through. There was no mistaking it: definitely a puma. To protect the herd against said pumas, the dominant male guanacos will post themselves up on high rocky outcropping to stand watch while the herd grazes with their heads down. We saw this exact thing while on the hike. At first we thought it was just a few random guanacos being adventurous, but when we noticed the entire herd had 4 or 5 different sentries surrounding it, we realized it was on purpose, and a google search back at the car confirmed it. Thanks Starlink!