The last task in Futaleufu was to visit the nearby Argentine border and get clarification from the Chilean border folks as to exactly which Chilean borders would open in the south, come December 1 and then January 1. This was critical information and would determine both our route south and the transportation method ( driving or ferry ). I’ll spare readers the intricacies of the Argentine/Chile border crossing options in southern Patagonia but suffice it to say that with none of those critical borders currently open we could be looking at an extraordinarily circuitous road route to visit both the Chilean and Argentine attractions that we had hoped to see in the Tierra Del Fuego area. Turns out it was a good news/bad news” story. The bad news was that none of the borders that we needed to cross would be open in December.

The good news, as seen below, was that finally, on January 1, a critical southern border was scheduled to open ! For us, assuming it all played out as planned ( and news of Omicron was just breaking leading to new international restrictions ) this would mean being able to complete the Carretera Austral and travel all the way down to Villa O’Higgins, returning back Puerto Yungay and then taking a Chilean ferry through the southern fjords down to the very bottom of Chile. The ferry through the Chilean fjords is a spectacular journey itself, saves us a lot of driving and would have us in Tierra Del Fuego for Christmas. All going well with the border opening as scheduled January 1 it would then be possible to cross to Argentina and work our way back north through Argentina after exploring southern Argentina’s many attractions. With fingers tightly crossed the ferry was booked from Puerto Yungay to Puerto Natales for December 11.

That all settled, back to planning the rest of the Carretera Austral !

While light rain fell almost constantly on the road to Puyuhuapi, it was a visual treat, albeit rough at times and marred with ( the ever familiar ) roadwork. Puyuhuapi is not particularly attractive but has some interesting German history and more famously is the jumping off point for one of the Carretera’s top sights – Ventisquero Colgante ( the hanging glacier ). Reached by an ( at times ) fairly challenging 3-4 hour hike, the glacier is amazing; had we arrived 10 minutes earlier we could have seen the deafening calving that we heard when we were still a few hundred metres away.

The road from Puyuhuapi to Coyhaique was one of the tougher sections of the Carretera, lots of gravel, lots of rain, lots of washboarded surfaces, lots of steep hills and hairpin bends – but all in a days drive on this road. As someone told us, never a dull moment…!

Disconcertingly, on arrival in Coyhaique, it became obvious that what we thought was just a faulty ( propane ) heater was in fact more serious when the ( gas ) cooktop also suddenly stopped working. How I would explain our propane issues, in Spanish, to someone who could work on an American system ( and find needed parts ! ) in the middle of the remote Carretera Austral was a nerve wracking thought. Fortunately our camp host “knew a guy” and if ever there was a time we “needed a guy” this was it. “Juan” turned up at our camp site at 8pm, stayed till 11pm working on the system and quickly identified a faulty regulator as the issue. Of course, the regulator itself was readily replaceable, and he had one on hand, but the connections ? Of course….all different ! A colleague of his had worked on several foreign ( to a Chilean gas guy anyway ) propane systems, had some cannibalized parts left over and by a stroke of miraculous good fortune these allowed him to tightly connect the new regulator ( property leak tested while we watched ! ) and get the system working perfectly. A huge relief, we could now stay warm AND cook again !

Delighted to have the propane issue now resolved the next few days were spent exploring Coyhaique, a small city of about 65,000. Easy to get around, we enjoyed beautiful sunny days there after a couple of drizzly ones, and all our shopping ( and repair ) needs were met. It also seems the camping facilities are just getting better as we go south – “El Camping” in Coyhaique was one of our faves so far. Secluded, private, close to town, strong wifi, best hot showers and cleanest bathrooms we have seen yet AND they helped solve both our our bedding and regulator problems ! As seems to be a pattern in Chile they also had the most adorable animals that stood watch over our camper.

Even got in a little emergency ‘construction’ work on the camper. With the aid of a piece of irregularly shaped plywood, our dinette folds into an emergency bed – we had kept the said plywood with us for the last 6 years until I carelessly left it at the campground in Pucon during a clean up two weeks back. We would need this for the 41 hour ferry ride to Puerto Natales ( there are no cabins on board and while we CAN sleep in the camper we will NOT be able to pop the roof up ).

Leaving Coyhaique on an overcast rainy day we expected a 3 hour trip to Puerto Rio Tranquillo, renowned for the Marmol ( marble ) Caves. Between the weather, countless construction delays and some slow traffic ahead of us, we managed to turn it into a 5 hour saga. I say saga because the road was substantially gravel, and rough gravel at that – loose rocks, ruts, corrugations, steep slopes and narrow cliff edges made it well, shall we say….interesting ! But, just another day on the Carretera Austral. The trip did present some interesting sights and even the weather improved by mid afternoon to reveal the grandeur of azure Lago General Carrera as we rolled into our campsite.

Puerto Rio Tranquilo is a small, rustic Patagonian village whose sole purpose seems to be a base to tour the nearby Marmol ( marble ) caves. A pit stop for almost all who tackle the Carretera, these multimillion year old marble caves are found on the shoreline of Lago General Carrera just outside ‘Tranquilo’. We’d seen pictures and they looked impressive so we were keen to get out on the water and check them out ourselves. They did not disappoint – I probably took more than a hundred pictures but narrowed the selection down to the following handful. Definitely worth a stop for anyone who comes this way !