In this northern part of Patagonia called Region de Los Lagos I stayed a total of four weeks (Day 22 – Day 49). Cycling distance: 1203km; vertical incline: 16’589m
Day 22 (06.12.2023) Volcano Osorno 01
After yesterday’s long and intensive bike ride, I slept a bit longer today. Around 11 am Leo and I began our bike ride to Volcano Osorno. This time with practically no luggage. A small, windy and very steep road leads up to a small ski resort which is located on the base of the Volcano at about 1,100 m. On top were some other cyclists, some with E-bikes others with road bikes. After our arrival we were very hungry and went straight to the restaurant for some burgers. Afterwards we hiked a little loop of about 2.5 k which was located on the ridge of the vulcano. It brought us to the “cratero riojo” which was as the name stands for of radish colors. During the hike it was extremely interesting to see all different types and colors of Vulcano stones. A bit further up were some snow patches, left overs from the winter. However I didn’t walk up there since for the next day I already booked a mountain guide to climb the top of the Vulcano. On the ride down I made several stops ro take pictures of all different flowers, trees and a nice looking fox hidden in the bushes.
Day 23 (07.12.2023) Volcano Osorno 02
I got up around 5.15am to get ready for my hike to Vulcano Osorno. I left the lodge one hour later in the car of my guide Ignacio, a young Chilean mounting hiking guide, originally from Santiago, but living for 14 years in the area. I was a bit afraid, whether it would become a nice day because it was extremely foggy down in Ensenada. But already on the drive up to the small resort on the bottom of Osorno, we passed the fog and mirrored a wonderful sunrise. First, we had to register our trip at the checkpoint. They also had a list to control our equipment. Registration is mandatory prior to the hike to the Volcano, even though many tourists skip this part. Around 7.15am we began our hike. The first 800 vertical meters were on a mix of volcano rocks and frozen snow. I did this part in my trail running shoes. For the remaining 700 meters to the top, we changed to full mountaineering gear to mountain boots with crampons and secured ourselves with helmets, harness, and a rope (Vid 01). An ice pick replaced the walking sticks. What followed now, was an extremely nice and spectacular climb over snow, ice, and the glacier of the Osorno Vulcano. The weather was perfect, no wind at all, but extremely hot. Ignacio mentioned that it was by far the hottest day in that season. Occasionally, I had to take pictures because the view was astonishing. For Ignacio a nice break to catch some breath, since he wasnât used to hike-up that fast đ. For me it was the first time wearing all this mountain equipment and hence more spectacular. Nevertheless, I wanted to go to the top as fast as possible. Almost on top, however, I passed a scary minute. While not taking attention to close my pocket, my phone, including credit card and ID fell on the ice and sliding down around 10meters. Luckily it got stuck in a small snow-pile, just before entering an extremely steep icy area, which ended up in field of glacier crevices. If my phone wouldnât have gotten stuck there, it would have been lost for sure. After four and a half hours we reached the top and had an extreme nice round view over the beautiful area (Vid. 02). On the backside we could see âLago de todos Santosâ and some other Volcanos from the Argentinian side. The fog over the lake Llanquihue finally disappeared as well. According to Ignacio it normally takes around 7 hours to go up to the top. So, we could pass a bit more time on top and go down on a moderate speed. It was good we were not too late because on the way down the snow turned into slush and the steps more and more difficult. Back at the hostel I relaxed for the rest of the day and went for a quick swim in the lake Llanquihue, which was quite fresh. After all an amazing day!
Day 24 (08.12.2023) Ensenada – Puelo
The ride from Ensenada to Puelo started on paved road through nice forests. The clouds were hanging deep, and it was not the question if it would rain, but when. I passed Leo, who left a couple minutes earlier. Later he passed me again, looked like he was suddenly full of Energy. Soon I reached the laguna âEsterio Reloncaviâ, which was full of large nets used for fish marine culture, mainly for Salmon farming. In the city of CochamĂł I stopped at a nice restaurant and tried this Salmon which was extremely tasty. The nice waitress explained me that Puelo would be a nice little city to go to but that the street there is a very dusty gravel road. She then helped me out with some Covid masks, that were indeed useful. The last 30 kilometers to Puelo were extremely dusty and the cars that passed transformed the air around me in a huge cloud. I was glad about the masks and after all, cars suddenly slowed down, when they saw me wearing the mask. I think most drivers are not aware of the dust they produce with their cars until you give them a signal by raising the mask from the chin to the nose. When I reached Puelo it started to rain, and I decided to stay there for the night. Leo already passed the town and camped at some river. I preferred a Bed ânâ Breakfast âHospedajeâ due to the announcement of heavy rain during the night. Close before midnight my connection got cut. Foreign people have to register their Chilean Sim-Card within 30 days. I didnât know that until Leo told me a few days ago. The first attempt didnât work, it got rejected, and the second try was then probably too late, since they probably didnât work over the weekend even though it was written they would inform within 24 hours. Well, it resulted in an almost complete connection-free weekend. Wi-Fi was not frequent in the area, and I just got once a hotspot from a woman that worked in the grocery store. At least I was able to tell my beloved ones that I would be off-line for the next couple days, and they wouldnât need to worry. The connection to Leo I totally lost. Since we anyway had different routes ahead of us, we probably maximally would have spent a few more days anyway. So, I decided to spend a few days in the Puelo area.
Day 25 (09.12.2023) Puelo – Lago Tagua Tagua
I spent a rather quiet night. A couple dogs were barking and a rooster that woke me up in the morning were the only noises. I had breakfast in a nearby house, served by an older lady that was the owner of the âHospedajeâ. Total cost of the dinner, the previous night, the room, and the breakfast were 25â000 which was a very good deal. Then I went to a nearby restaurant because they told me in the village that they sell fishing equipment there. In the same building of the restaurant was a very small fishing store with Rapala products. The men behind the counter seemed very competent and so I asked him about fishing trips. He replied that he is a fishing guide too and so I spontaneously booked a salmon fishing trip for the next couple hours (find more details on the video). It was a very nice experience, and I learned a lot about Salmon fishing even thought none of us were lucky enough to catch one. Later, I bought a fishing rod from him and some basic Salmon/Trout equipment and rode my bike up the river to a campsite below the Lake Tagua Tagua, where I spent the next two days camping and fishing. I didnât catch anything the whole day, but it was a beautiful day with no internet. In the evening, a father with his two older sons from Temuco invited me for a glass of wine. They were camping just below in a very modern Mercedes-Van and were sportsmen and fishermen as well. We talked for quite a time and later the older son helped me out by calling Movistar. But he also couldnât fix my connection problem, since the woman on the line wasnât that competent.
Day 26 (10.12.2023) Lago Tagua Tagua
This day I spent entirely at Lago Tagua Tagua with no internet at all. A very nice experience! In the morning I did a nice outdoor work-out by using the big rocks on the side of the river and a branch to do some pull-ups (Vid. 01). Later I did some fishing using different Wobblers but still didn’t catch anything (Vid. 02). Since I run out of water I tried for the first time my water filter, which worked excellent (Vid. 03). In the afternoon I rode my bike up to the lake, locked it and continued walking/hiking on the south-side of the lake. After I passed a little rocky beach there was a fence that reached all the way down to water. Since there wasnât any not-passing sign I took off the shoes and walked in the water around it and continued going along the lake. There wasnât any trail or anything, just large rocks and trees and so I could move only slowly. Then I came to a small rock-field and could observe many different lizards that were sunbathing. To my surprise I could go very close to take pictures and videos. Since Iâm not a reptilian expert I will have to ask my biology buddies, the herbivores, to help to identify them. Later I returned to where my bike was parked, and I did some fishing from the peer. Some Chilean guys caught a lot of small fish, using hook and worm. They helped me out with some material and worms, so I was also able the catch my dinner đ. Later I barbecued them on the fireplace next to my tent. Of course, not as tasty as would have been Salmon or Trout, but still not too bad.
Day 27 (11.12.2023) Lago Tagua Tagua – Puerto Montt
The day started extremely cloudy, and it looked as it would start raining soon. So, I hurried packing my tent and gear and left towards Puelo. In Puelo I made a quick stop, bought some things in the grocery store, and continued towards the end of the laguna where I took the ferry to reach âLa Arenaâ. So far, I was lucky with not too much of rain. It was even good that the gravel wasnât too dry and didnât produce too much dust. The ferry I caught in the last moment (Vid. 01). The next one would probably have left more than an hour later. On the ferry I ate two empanadas and drank some hot coffee out of my thermos. After 45 minutes we reached La Arena and by now it was just pouring rain down. Good that I reached the famous Carreterra Austral that was a very nice, paved street. So, I rode the highway up north to Puerto Montt and made one more stop at a restaurant to get Wi-Fi and to be able to book a âHospedajeâ in Puerto Montt. I found a nice newly furnished one which wasnât too expensive. Around 9.15 pm I reached it and was happy for the hot shower since I was quite soaked from the rain.
Day 28 (12.12.2023) Puerto Montt – Puerto Varas – Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt turned out to be a much nicer city than expected. But the first surprise was in the morning, then finally I had connection again. Seems that after four days my Sim card got accepted and I had internet again. To be sure everything would work for the next two months I went to the Movistar Store where I loaded some extra money on my prepaid card. Now it should be fine until the end of March. Then I went to the hair cutter and got a very nice cut for only 8000 Pesos. Later I visited the City Mall and to my surprise it looked as modern as any mall from the US. It was huge and full of people. Literally you could buy everything thereâŠjust not what I needed. Anyway, I still had a cappuccino, what cost 4950 PesosâŠhmmm, the prices seem to be also in the US-style. I urgently needed some rain covers for my shoes, but this seemed to be not available. After checking three different cycling stores a man from one of the stores told me to go to a motorcycle store, where I finally found what I needed. Later I went to a fishing store to buy more fishing equipment. The young man there didnât understand anything about fishing and so it took around 90 minutes until I got everything I needed. Later he told me that it was only his second day working there. In the late afternoon I rode to the famous town Puerto Varas, where lots of German and Swiss emigrants live. Itâs extremely touristic and I had a feeling to be in Chileans St. Moritz. I visited a very nice restaurant that was built partly above the lake and ate a tasty seafood, Pizza. The place was very nice but extremely crowded by lots of tourists. Later I found out that this bar/restaurant was the place to be in Puerto Varas. On the way back I was hurrying a lot because it was already getting dark.
Day 29 (13.12.2023) Puerto Montt – Chacao, Isla Grande de ChiloĂ©)
Leaving Puerto Montt at lunch time was extremely hectic and the road construction made it even worse. While cars that got stuck in the traffic jam hardly moved, I still could ride with moderate speed. At least for the time where there was still asphalt. However more than 50% of the roads were gravel. The highlight was to see a huge colony of black-headed Seagull.
Day 30 (14.12.2023) Chacao – QuicavĂ
Rain, no rain, rain, no rainâŠetc. is the rough description of today’s weather. But finally, for only the second day of my travel, I finally had some tail wind. I appreciated the extra push a lot since there were a lot of steep inclines today. One of today highlights were to drink a cup of hot coffee out of my thermos and eating a fresh piece of cheese with crackers on a small table in front of a minimarket. They put this table including one chair just for me outside, even though I didn’t buy a lot of food. However it didn’t take too much time until a cute little dog was begging for food, with whom I finally shared the cheese. The next stop was then at the end of the city Quemchi in a restaurant named “AquĂ no es el fin del mundo”. I ordered Merluza a lĂ plancha with potatoes from the island. ChiloĂ© is quite famous for their potatoes and so I wanted to try them. They additionally brought me a salad and a cup with seafood soup. The meal was very tasty and including a non alcoholic beer I ended up paying only 9000 Pesos. At the end the owner came and talked to me for a while and recommended me to go to QuicavĂ, which supposed to be a very mystic place and was home of the “brujeros”, the witchers. Full of energy I continued my journey and ended up in that little town QuicavĂ. Right by the entrance I saw a sign about the demonic cave of the witchers with the indication to go up route one for 2 kilomters. After I brought my bags to a nearby cabaña I followed that route one to the beginning of the path of the cave. I was a little scared because it was completely dark already and there was only one small house. Suddenly someone stared at me from the inside of the house and after my gentle greetings I found out that he was the guy managing the cave and so I organized a tour with him for the next morning.
Day 31 (15.12.2023) QuicavĂ – Castro
I just passed a night during which I wasn’t sure if the wind wouldn’t rip-off the roof from the small cabaña or not. At least there were terrible noises from the heavy rain and wind all night long. At 10.15am, already 30min late, I rode to the entrance of the cave of the Witcher to meet my guide that lived in the small house right next to the cave (Vid. 01). What followed was just an incredible, interesting tour to the cave with the guide telling me all about this mystic place, the spirit and witchcraft. He actually grew up in the place, being the oldest of nine brothers with a grandmother that also experienced lot’s of witchcraft. There are 16 districts all over Southern America and even the States from which QuicavĂ was the leading place. All ceremonies were held here and also the King Witcher lived here. In some ceremonies they exhumed people and cut off the skin of their chest and used it to fly around or transform to other places. They could also transform humans in animals like dogs or fish or other creatures. Of course this all seems unreal to me and being unrealistic. However, the stories that the whole town and other regions were leaded by the Order and their own laws for many decades was rather shocking. For example the Order decided whether a human should be cured or left with his sickness acording his previous behavior. But on the contrary also how the people from the Order were tortured by the Chilean Government ro tell the name about the King Witcher who was then murdered in the 19th century by the big square stone down by the beach that I visited later on my own. Not surprising, that no one in town likes to talk about the Order of the Witchers and it reminds until today a big tabu. The way to the cave was full of creapy creatures within wonderful plants of which some have medical purposes and contain antioxidants. All in all, a very interesting, mystical morning. I left QuicavĂ around 2pm, fully packed in my rain outfit, since the prognosis was terrible for the whole day. So I followed the “Highway of the Churches”, saw a couple more nice and colorful churches and decided to take a deviation to TenaĂșn. Reason was to visit a very famous church there. More infos on Video 02. Then I continued my ride until Dalcahue. This was just horrifying because the primarily back wind turned into side wind with enormous gusts. A couple times the gusts just pushed me to the middle of the road. Good, there wasn’t too much traffic. Pushing against the wind wasn’t any better, because after the gusts you almost fell in the ditch on the right side, due to the sudden decrease of side pressure. Finally in Dalcahue I ate an Empanada, some sweet fried bakery and visited the town church with it’s nice X-Mas decoration. Around 7pm I left for the last 20k to Castro. Luckily the side wind turned into back wind again but the rain got much stronger. Quite soaked, even through my rain clothes I arrived in Castro. After a bit of research I found a very nice Palafito Hostel to spend the next two nights.
Day 32 (16.12.2023) Castro
Today I spent in the nice but rather touristic city Castro which is famous for their shore houses that are built on poles (called Palafito). The reason I explain in the video 01. The weather here was moody again as it is very typical for the whole Island of ChiloĂ©. In the morning still heavy rains which gave me some time to work on the website. In the afternoon the rain stopped and so I went to the local gym, which is also in a Palafito house (Vid. 02). Sometimes it feels good to work out in a gym and see how other people do their trainings. The gym was quite nice but was quite old school with lot’s of machines and not so many free weights to work-out functional. But the only thing that was actually really bothering was the extremely loud disco like music. After I finished thrv2 hour session it was…of course…raining again. For dinner I went to a very nice CevicherĂa to get a good load of healthy proteins đ
Day 33 (17.12.2023) Castro – Tepuhueico Park – Castro
In the morning I received a message from my guide Felipe that he couldnât go on the reserved private tour to the Tantauco park today. Reason was the voting about the new constitution of Chile, that took place in which he suddenly was engaged. So, we rescheduled the tour for two days later, on Tuesday. The weather was finally nice and so I decided to go to Tepuhueico park on a day tour, which was not that far (45 kilometers) to reach by bike. Since I had only a small hiking bag the cycling was much easier, and I could go faster as well. The last 10 kilometers were on a gravel road and after all it took me around two and a half hours to get there. The nice young lady at the park entrance charged me the 5000 Pesos entry fee and explained me the trails I could do for the remaining 3 hours, since I wanted to leave the park around 6.30pm (closes at 7pm). Part of the trails I could do on bike, for some others I had to continue hiking. The park contains mainly of rain forest with lots of different trees and plants, mainly epiphytes (plants growing on trees, without parasitizing them). The first trail was a one-kilometer hike down to a place called âCatedral de Arrayanesâ (Vid. 01). The trees there were growing in an angle, due to the phototropism (plants tend to grow towards the light source, to conduct photosynthesis). The second trail was to reach the waterfall of the âRio Bravoâ. I could do it partly by my gravel-bike even though the conditions required more a fully mountain-bike. The second part was hiking only. But somehow, I managed to get lost and ended up on a larger trail that went down to the lake, where there were also two âcabañasâ. While looking at my GPS I suddenly heard something ahead of me. While looking up I saw a Pudu crossing the way. Unfortunately, by the time I reached my video camera it was already hidden in the bushes. Whatsoever, it was the highlight of the day and made my visit worthwhile. The Pudu is the smallest member of the deer family, extremely rare and endangered of getting extinct. Hopefully I will see another one on my Patagonia trip. A bit later than expected I finally reached the waterfall (Vid. 02) which was quite spectacular and appeared in rather dark colors. After all I left the park only around 8pm and arrived back at the hostel around 10.40pm. The last hour was dark, and the temperature dropped to 8°. Luckily, I had lights to put on the bike, but my fingers were freezing since I didnât bring gloves with me. Good the road was in rather good condition with not so many holes in the pavement of which I hit only a small one towards the end of the ride. The lady of the hostel was kind and waited for my return. I wasnât sure if my chip-card would really work and so I announced my late returning.
Day 34 (18.12.2023) Around Castro
After the nice but rather stressful yesterday I decided to stay in the Castro area. In the morning I worked quite a bit on this webpage because I didn’t donentries in the last coupe days. In the afternoon bicycle care was on the program. First I changed both tires to some Continenantal wire-tires that I’ve been carrying around since the beginning of the trip. I bought them alreay in Utah, US, because I didn’t think the original-ones from Specialized would hold that long, since I had my first flat tire within the first kilometer when I first tried my new gravel-bike. Besides the tires I also changed the front and rear breaking pads. Afterwards I adjusted the gear-shifter “rear derailleur” and finally put some lube on the chain that I previously cleaned. Then I checked everything and went to the gym where I was already two days ago. The woman from the hostal, that waited for me on the previous night told me to go to the HIT-class which started at 6.30pm. I was interested how it would be and joined it. It was very good and the Instructor was very clear and powerful. For my taste it was a bit too much leg exercise because about 2/3 of the stations involved jumps or running. So, I did some more arms and core workout after the HIT-session. After the gym, on the way back to the hostel I stopped at some Minimarket to buy food for the next days guided tour to the Tantauco Park.
Day 35 (19.12.2023) Tantauco Park – Ferry to ChaitĂ©n
In the evening I would take a ferry back to the mainland and so I did the check-out in the morning. I was able to leave my luggage in the reception which was very practical. At 11am, Felipe from ” Chiloe 360″, a one-man tour-operator-business fom the Island ChiloĂ© picked me up in his Suzuki 4×4 and we were driving abut one hour to the gate of the Tantauco Park. After registration and paying the 4000 Pesos entry fee, we started the hike. First we had to step in a shoe-bath to desinfect our footwear from the potential Chytrid-Fungi which is responsible for a the mass extintion of many amphibians in the rain-forests. Then we hiked through two different forests for around 4 kilometers. We went very slow and he explained me all his knowledge about the local fauna and flora which was very interesting and informative. The first forest was dominated mainly by Tepu-Trees which are growing in a very funny way. The main trunk grows horizontal to the bottom while then the branches reach straight up. The Tepu-wood is very redish and cxcbmainly responsible for the dark-red colored rivers and lakes. Furthermore the Tepu-wood provides very good shelter for many different animal species. In the second forest, the Teba was the dominant tree. A tree that grows very straight and is therefore used a lot for building houses, churches etc. Too bad we didn’t see a lot of animals. However we saw footprints from a Pudu in the mud of the path. Besides the biodiversity of the Tantauco Park, Felipe told me also my things about the Island of ChiloĂ© or the country Chile which was of course very interesting to me. We arrived back at the Palafito Hostal around 7pm. So the whole private guided tour lasted approximately 8 hours and cost me 130ÂŽ000 Pesos, which was very good invested money. After puting all the luggage to my bike I went to the restaurant “Tierra del Sur” and ordered the plate “tierra y mar”, which was a huge portion. Felipe recommended this to me. It was a so called “Tabla-size-meal” and would serve 3-4 persons. But the waitress didn’t tell me this until she brought me all the food. Good I was able to take some of the left overs to the Ferry. The Ferry left Castro around 11pm and was quite empty so every passenger had basically a whole row of seats available. This was very practical to rest for a couple hours. I used this time mainly to write a X-Mas letter to my work in Switzerland.
Day 36 (20.12.2023) Ferry to ChaitĂ©n – Pumalin Natl. Park
The Ferry arrived to ChaitĂ©n around 6am and it was alredy dawn. A bit tired and exhausted from the Ferry, I slept in the end only a bit more than an hour, I rode my bike to the small city-center, where I needed to get cash from an ATM. Then I continued and was for the first time on the famous Carretera Austral (Highway 7) in south direction. I enjoyed the nice view from the different Volcanos on the side and found a bit later a nice coffee-place with an old wreck of an airplane next to it. The coffee-place was named after it “El avion”. After a good cappucino and two pieces of pie I continued. Just abour a kilometer later I saw the gate to the Pumalin-Natl. Park. My initial goals was actually to ride a bit further but then I decided to stay in this Park for the night. The young woman at the gate explained me all rules and showed me the map of the card. The camping and park entrance were free until seasonal start in January. So I entered the park and rode my bike to a very nice campground called “Camping Grande”. I continued with the aim to go to the second campground. This was however not possible. The gravel road was so extremely steep that even with pushing I gave up. I alredy did more than 150 vertical meters until a French couple crossed and told me that it would continue for another 200m. So I decided to go back to the first camp groun set up my tent put on my trail-shoes. I didn’t want to lay down or I would have fallen immediately asleep. The 20km hike to the bottom of the glacier “Amarillo” I could do only partly (for abour 3 km) and then had to turn around due to the wet-conditions. The path turned literally into a ditch. So I continued to do two other hikes “El Mirador” and the “Ranita de Darwin”. At the end of the day I had done around 20km of trails in the forest. Extremely tired I fell asleep right after entering the tent.
Day 37 (21.12.2023) Pumalin Natl. Park – Lago Yelcho
There was still fog hanging in the trees when I got up in the morning. Also it was very moist and so I had to wait a bit for the tent to dry. In the mean time I read about the History of Pumalin National Park and about some of the plant and animal species that live in the park. A huge Volcano eruption in 2008 and followed by a layer thick ash affected the area dramatically. For example the Darwinian Frog was totally missing for a couple years until it was rediscovered a couple years ago. I would guess that either not all frog species died or some migrated from nearby. Without any population genetics it’s hard to tell how they came back.
Around 1pm I left the campground and went on the gravel road towards the gate of the park. On the way I crossed the “Senderos de la Ranita de Darwin”, a 4.5km long trail trough some wet lands where you can find the Darwin Frog. So I put my bike on the side of the road and tried to find the frog by the nearby river. I wasn’t lucky. On the the way out I did another four stops, wherever there was some frog-like habitat. Unfortunately I couldn’t find it and so a bit disappointed I left the park finally around 2pm to take the Carretera Austral South.
What followed was one of the most beautiful rides so far. On both sides of the highway was an amazing mountain range with some Volcanoes and glaciers. The top still covered in white. Once in a while I crossed a bridge going over a deep blue river or alongside for a while. Additionally I had lot’s of tailwind and almost no traffic. It felt like in a movie theater because the whole ride was so smooth and without almost any energy demands. But only for about half of the way and then I had an incline of almost 500 vertical meters. This was the highest incline on my trip so far. But the good things about inclines are the descents afterwards and so was this one that brought me all the way to Santa Lucia, the first village since ChaitĂ©n. After a nice Churrasco (Hamburger with lot’s of beef meat, tomato and avocado)and some grocery shopping I left Carretera Austral and turned into the dirt road towards Futaleufu. U could continue the decline for a while and after about 15k I came to Lake Yelcho where I went on a nice campground with hot showers. So far it was the first campground in Chile with warm water that I found. Around 21.45, it was already quite dark, I went for a quick fishing by the lake that was right next to the tent. Unbelievable but with the third throw only I caught the biggest trout in my life. Totally unexpected. So I made a nice fire in the barbecue pit to grill the fish. Of course, this took quite some time and by the time the trout was finally ready it was already 1.00am. But the waiting payd out and the trout tasted just delicious đ
Day 38 (22.12.2023) Lago Yelcho – FutaleufĂș
This morning was very moody weather which means 5min showers, 5min no rain but gusts. As I’ve been told, in Patagonia you never know which weather it will be. Outdoor tours are normally only confirmed on the same day or max, the night before. For this reason I never make concrete plans ahead because especially when you’re traveling by bike you’re extremely dependent on the weather next to your physical daily condition and your bike, which could also always break down on these rough gravel roads. So, the goal for today was to ride to FutaleufĂș where I’m planning to spend X-Mas time. FutaleufĂș is very famous for outdoor sports, especially in connection to white water sports such as Rafting and Kayaking. The famousRiver FutaleufĂș (shortly FĂș) belongs to one of the top 3 rivers worldwide for Kayaking and is also host of many international events. One of my purpose there is to take a Kayaking course for the next couple days. The way to FutaleufĂș was roughly 65 kilometers with around 1000 vertical meters. I expected only gravel roads but to my surprise they are in the process of paving the first part of the road and so I enjoyed around 10k of fresh paved smooth road which helped me to safe around 30min in time. After all the ride to FutaleufĂș was much easier as expected and I had to push my bike only once for about 200m because it was too steep and my tires lost traction. Moreover the weather got better every minute and I even profited from tail winds. Around 8.30pm I arrived in Futa, checked out the town and got some good information about campgrounds and Kayaking schools. So I went to the campground Los Cohiues, where I found a nice site, protected from trees and right next to the river. I think I will stay there the next couple nights. The campground is nicely equipped with warm showers during specific times (8-12 am/pm), electricity and fire places. The cost of 10’000/night is reasonable.
Day 39 (23.12.2023) FutaleufĂș 01
Today I took my first Kayaking lesson, on a side river of the Rio FutaleufĂș. After I tried Neoprene, shoes and all the essential gear Eduardo, a Chilean guy who is the owner of the small Rafting company (or better to call him Patagonian as he proudly explained me later) drove us, my instructor Mikele and me, and the Kayaks about four kilometers upstream. Before we started to go on the water we had some theory on land including a bit of rescue technique. Then we started on a very easy section of the river. I liked it from the beginning even though it wasn’t easy to navigate the Kayak. Kayaking is so very different from any other sports I’ve been doing and so I had not really an advantage. Still I think I haven’t done too bad, at least I tried my best. We kept on going from one two the other side and passed a couple rapids. After about 45min Mikele started to show me the Esquimo Roll. Now, it was over with easy riding and the though part started. Mikele was very patient with me and we kept on practicing until he left me for approximately 45sec head down in the cold water. I got a bit panic because I wasn’t sure if he was still around and so I pushed myself out of the kayak and came to the surface. Mikele was always very close, was loughing a bit and said: “That was the Baptism”. Then we laughed both and I swam to the shore to empty the kayak from the water. Then we continued a bit relaxter until the Owner picked us up. All in all an amazing session. Especially the view was just breathtaking. Tomorrow I will take the next out of fife planned sessions:-) In the later afternoon I made “Fishing Biathlon” which means that I was riding my bicycle to different fishing spots on the river EspolĂłn. After 2 hours without any luck I went to the small lagoon which is right by the north-eastern exit of FutaleufĂș where you can catch Perches. Just before starting to fish three guys on touring bikes showed up, a younger couple from Zurich, Switzerland and an older guy from Belgium. I started talking to the Swiss couple while the Belgian started to fish and caught within5 min a smaller Perch of about 20cm.. Then a Chilean woman passed by on a bike with a dog and explained that it would be illegal to fish in there. The Belgian guy who is, according to the two Swiss since 15 years on a bicycle through South America, then started arguing whether it is legal or not. So I felt very unsure about whether legal or not. I decided not to continue fishing and left to a spot on the FutaleufĂș river about 9km out of town, close to the Argentinian border. The Swiss couple told me about this spot, which even had a sign “Zona de Pesca”. It was a very nice spot with lots of trouts jumping for flies. However I didn’t catch anything but had at least obe bite to my Wobbler. A Chilean guy that was there earlier was luckier and caught one. So, no trout dinner for this day.
Day 40 (24.12.2023) FutaleufĂș 02
Today we met at 11am at the kayak center. In addition to me, there were two more people, a couple from Denmark. After we packed all our things, Eduardo drove us to the river, to the same place of the previous day, where an other instructor was already waiting for us. There are maximum two students per instructor and so today there were two instructors for us three students. since I already had a day more experience, I was able to get into the water earlier and tried out a few things from the previous day. After the theory block on the land the others entered the water as well and we started the water session. It turned out that the man of the couple, Jakob, wasn’t very talented and kept falling into the water all the time. So we didn’t move along as quickly as the previous day because after every fall, he had to go back to the beach to get the kayak back on. His partner Henriette had much better balance because she already had experience kayaking on the lake. Finally we went the same distance as the day before but needed an hour longer. In terms of kilometers I did around three more because I kept paddling up the stream and practicing things while waiting for the slow moving couple. The instructors spent most the time with the new students which was good, so I had some time to practice without being always supervisied. And from time to time they came to me and gave me useful tipps. It was a very interesting and educational day. When we went ashore, Eduard was already waiting for us with some snacks and tea. The kayak school www.origenes.com is very professional competent and you feel yourself as part of the kayak family. I think I made the right choice with this school and can highly recommend it. After the kayak session, I went back to the camping had late lunch and rested a bit. Then I had a nice video call with my parents who already got back from the Christmas dinner with our relatives in NeuchĂątel. The internet connection was very stable and we could talk for about one hour. Since Switzerland is four hours ahead of Chilean time they had already night. Here, in FutaleufĂș, on the Southern Hemisphere the sunset is around 9.45pm. So I had plenty of time to fishing again. Today I just crossed the nearby bridge and went to the other side of the camping because it looked like a nice fishing spot. After about half an hour I caught the first fish, a nice rainbow trout. It wasn’t as big as the last one in the lake Yelcho, but still around 35 cm. A little later I caught another trout, this time a small brown trout of about 25 cm. In my opinion it was a bit too small and I also felt sorry for the little trout and released it back to the water. So, around 11pm I enjoyed the Christmas Eve with a nice trout dinner. It tasted very good, this time with fresh lemon wrapped in aluminum directly on the fire. Just the cous cous was a bit dry. Shortly before Christmas I went uto the “Plaza de Armas”, which is the central square in FutaleufĂș because I expected a Christmas Ceremony. However, there were just a few families with their childrens playing and taking pictures of the nice illuminated Christmas Decorations (a tree looking pyramide and a cute stable with Jesus, Maria and Joseph, the Three Kings and some animals. I waited until a bit after 12 o’clock then went back to the tent and slept.
Day 41 (25.12.2023) FutaleufĂș 03
Similar to the previous days, we met around 11am at the Kayak station. I was surprised to see Jakob and Henriette again because after yesterday I thought they were too depressed to continue. So they gave it another try and we started todays Kayak session in the same setting as yesterday. Jakob was on another Kayak, which should be more stable. And indeed he performed a little better today. Hard to tell if it was the different Kayak or the improvement. Still he fell a couple times but didn’t jump right away out of the Kayak. So a guide could simply help him flip over again withouth loosing the top-cover that protects the Kayak from being flooded. Otherwise you always need to go to the shore to empty your Kayak which takes lot’s of time. Today I also fell a couple times. I tried to push myself a bit more to the limit and tried a couple new things. Good that there were always guides around that helped me to flip over, so I didn’t need to do the self-rescue by leaving the Kayak, the procedure when the Kayak gets flooded, as described above. The main improvement for me was the “Escimo-roll” that I achived a couple times. Unfortunately I was only able to do it when I flipped to the water on purpose. The times when I fell on accidently I was still too confused and forgot to focus on the essential things like (hip-movement, right position of paddle, loose neck). But I’m quite positive that it’s just a matter of time until I will be able to perform it in any situation. We stopped at the same place as the previous days, where Jakob, Henriette and the other instructor left the river. Mikele asked me if I would like to continue to the lower section of the river, which contains rapids of the class II-III, which are wilder and thougher to perform. He did not need to ask twice, surely I agreed :-). What followed now was one huge rollercoaster and for the first time I felt what it really means to Kayak in the White-Water. You feel yourselve like in a video game, being totally focused on every move with the difference that’s everything is real and not virtuel. You feel the pure power of nature, of the river while the water is splashing on your face and you within you’re Kayak gets smashed like a ping-pong ball from one to the other side. Mikele always told me which line I should take but it wasn’t always easy to do so. We still tried some exercises and at one point, behind a rock my Kayak washed out and I got smashed on the surface, where the water was very shallow, lost my paddle and hit the solid ground with my head and the arms. Now I know why a helmet is an essential protection while Kayaking. Then I drifted upside-down for quite a while until Mikele helped me to flip over. Happy again that I can count on him that much which gives me the security to try these crazy maneuvres. Our session today lasted around 2h40min and my garmin watch showed exactly 10kilometers. For the first time I felt totally exhausted but with a big smile on my face :-). The place we dropped out of the river today required that we had to carry our Kayaks for about 5minutes up to the street, where already Erica from the Origenes Kayak School was wating for us. Back at the station I was served a tasty snack with juice, what a nice Christmas Day it has been so far. After the Kayak-session I took it quite easy. Worked a bit on my page and sent a couple X-Mas greetings around. In the evening I went again fishing to the same spot as the previous day but this time without any luck.
Day 42 (26.12.2023) FutaleufĂș 04
Being already the fourth night on the same campground is new to me. It’s nice to know that you can sleep a bit longer since you don’t need to pack all your things and leave by the the check-out time. On average it takes me around one hour to pack the tent, sleeping bag and all my essentials in a way that they go into the bicycle pockets. The first couple days of my patagoniabybike-tour it took much longer and once I had almost three hours because I just wasn’t satisfied about how things were packed. People reading this might laugh because normally I’m not the person of perfect order. But when it comes to packing my gear, everything has to be on the right place. Besides the limitation of the volume, there are mainly two important points you have to focus on while packing your gear into the bicycle-bags. First, the weight should be balanced between the left/right front pocket as well as for the two pockets on the back. Second, you should pack in a way that things are not moving around inside the pockets, because this could easily damage your pockets from the inside, especially when there are sharp edges. And if possible it’s also a benefit to put familiar things in one bag, for example all the kitchen/cooking gear in one, the tent, mat and sleeping bag in another. I call this packing by themes. Last but not least you should check that you don’t include any bucks or other animals as well as sand dirt etc. which is not that easy when you’re camping. However the routine helped me to definitely increase the speed of packing even though it’s what I like the least about my travels. That’s why it feels quite relaxing if sometimes you can spend a couple nights on the same place. You also get familiar with the surrounding and so I can tell that after only three days I’m almost feeling at home. Before going to the Kayak Center I did laundry. I have to take advantage of the nice hand-laundry with hot water that they provide. You never know when you can it the next time. Today it was only Mikele and me, as on the first day. Probably my expectations to myself were too big and I failed almost in all maneuvers I tried. Already at the beginning when I was heading for some trees hanging over the river. I forgot that Mikele told me in the very beginning to always stay away from the trees. So far it never had be a problem. Just a couple scratches on the face but today it was different. The branches were extremely thick and so it flipped me around. Upside down I saw then about a dozen arm-thick branches reaching up to two meters in the water. Once you get stuck in there, while being pushed by the river, you will face a really big problem. Afterwards Mikele told me that already many Kayakers died because of such situations. Ok, lesson learned. Now I will definitely stay away from the trees. Then I made a bunch of failures in the last section with the result that I had to do three times a self rescue and leaving the Kayak. It was a very difficult section with three rivers floating together, producing a lot of unstable turbulence. After the third try I had no power anymore and so I just jumped into the waves and swam to the other side. It wasn’t easy because it also pulled me wherever the water went and not always after my expectations. Mikele then came with his Kayak and dragged me out of the bit though situation. So we accomplished on more giant water slide together until arriving on the other side, totally exhausted. Happy that tomorrow I have one more day, because today was not the moment to finish. In the later afternoon I checked out a house with some land right on Rio Espolon which they are selling. When I arrived to the house there was an older couple from Hasliberg, Switzerland that rented it through Airbnb and told me a bit about the house. Not very good insulation. In the evening I went again fishing but again without any luck.
Day 43 (27.12.2023) FutaleufĂș 05 – Trevelin, Argentina
Today was my last course day and after yesterday’s scary-diving-underneath-trees-session, I thought it cannot get worse but I was totally wrong. It actually started very well, besides me being late because I under-calculated the time I would need to pack my things. Under normal conditions it wouldn’t have been a problem because we always left a bit later than scheduled. Today, however there were two new students and so Eduardo from “OrĂgenes Patagonia Travel Adventure” picked me up with his truck including bike and all bags from the campground. So, when I arrived to the center, the two new students already almost finished the intro theory. After all, me being 20min late wasn’t that much of a problem:-). Jake, the British guy was already more experienced than William from Sweden. So, Jake, Mikele and I went quicker down the river than William together with Camilo, the other instructor because we wanted to do also the lower section, which is more difficult. In the first section of the river I did very well and felt extremely safe. Even though I couldn’t perform any further Esquimo rolls because my shoulder hurt a bit, I felt that maneuvers were going the easiest today. Then on the lower section the first incident happened where a big rock is reaching out of the water in the middle of the river. I was preparing to take the left line but then Mikele screamed: ” Guys, let’s go for the right”. Then I started paddling to the right but it was too late and I was right flushed to the rock. So far so good I thought but then my Kayak got stuck under a huge piece of wood which was hanging on the side of the rock. The current, which is strongest right by the water-division pushed me then on the rock while the water splashing on my chest and face. The paddel got stuck underneath the kayak. I didn’t know what to do because it was a totally new situation and pretty scary. I was very lucky my head was still out of the water so I could breathe. With the right hand I was still holding to the paddle while with the left pushing against the rock to keep my head out of the water but getting more and more tired. I knew I could count on Mikele and it would just be a matter of time until he would show up. After roughly 5min he made his way upstream through all the rapids, jumped over the rocks and came to help. He loosed-up the locked-in kayak and then I got washed, still being in the kayak, through the water slide on the side of the rock to a water-mill, where I got flipped over. As fast as possible I left the kayak because I knew from the previous days that now just rapids follow. More or less safely I made it around 200m further down to the shore where I could reenter the kayak. A bit soar because a rock hit my right tight while drifting down the river. So, the three uf us kept on kayaking further down until another difficult section where the river makes a strong curb to the left including the strongest rapids of this ruver section. Mikele explained us how to manage this section. I knew that part already and never had problems. Mikele went first, then Jake and me on third position. But then Jake went too much to the right and lost speed while paddeling to the left line, where I was already coming. Additionally it turned him around and he was entering backwards the big waves. Then exactly on the biggest wave we crashed and got both flipped over. GreatâŠnow two Kayaks floating independently and two students struggling plus the paddels somewhere. Poor Mikele I thought. So I managed to reach my Kayak which was upside down and full of water. Then Mikele screamed to let it go and swim for the paddleâŠall still in moderate rapids. Safely on the side Mikele screamed again while struggling around to get Jake’s kayak to jump back in the stream and drift down to the basin. I followed his instructions but it wasn’t a good idea. It was a section full of rapids, lot’s of rocks sticking out and no way to swim controlled. Then a big rock smashed brutally to my left tight and it hurt extremely. Finally in the basin I saved myself out of the water. Even though adrenaline reduces pain, my left tight hurt badly. As much that I couldn’t feel the right tight anymore that I hit just a bit earlier. After Mikele brought kayaks and paddles to the other side of the basin, he threw a rope to Jake and me and pulled us on the other side, through the basin full of turbulence. What an adventure on that very last day and Mikele then joked that I’m a cat with nine lifes. After the little snack on the OrĂgenes Center, Eduardo offered me a t-shirt with the companies logo. Then I packed my bike, had a Churrasco for lunch and left towards the Argentinian border. My tights still hurt a lot, especially the left one but still I managed to ride my bike. One purpose of the 5-day kayaking was also to rest my legs a bit but somehow I managed the opposite :-S. Good I had mostly tailwind, so the riding wasn’t too hard. After roughly 10K I reached the Argentinian border where I got a stamp for leaving Chile into my passport. On the Argentinian side everything seems to work online without any stamps. The road turned immediately into gravel by entering Argentina until about 5k before Trevelin, the first town I entered. The ride was very nice and in Trevelin I found a very neat cabaña where I would stay the next two nights. Cost was only 20 US Dollars per night.
Day 44 (28.12.2023) Trevelin – Los Alerces Natl. Park – Trevelin
Being in a new country means basically some work to do. I needed money and a Simcard. Itâs not the most necessary to survive but nowadays it helps a lot to have internet while traveling and money you will need at some point no matter what. Some people might think itâs old fashioned to pay in cash (me too), but here in Argentina the situation is a bit different. Not that you couldnât pay with your credit card, but you just simply donât want to if youâre from a foreign country. The reason is the immense inflation they are facing since a while. Iâve been told that itâs 30% per month now. This means that if you would pay with your credit card, your bank would always use an older and lower exchange rate to charge you afterwards. So. itâs the best to use the exchange rate given by âDollar Blueâ which was around 985 Pesos per US-Dollar. The official exchange rate however is only about 800 Pesos per US-Dollar. In town they didnât want to give me a good rate. Best offer was a 920 Pesos per Dollar. However, the lady that rented the apartment to me told me that I could exchange with her cleaning lady who is saving up money. For her it would be of course much better to have Dollar. So, I could change to the rate of 985/1. Hard to believe that the largest bill is worth 2000 Pesos. This bill however is extremely rare, and the most common ones are the 1000 Pesos Bill. In giving 7 x 20 Dollar bills I received over a 130 one thousand Pesos bill and a couple smaller ones. Iâm wondering how people buy a car here. You must come with a trailer full of money. Afterwards I went to a Smartphone-Dealer to get a Simcard. The guy offered one from Movistar and Claro. They both cost the same (150 Pesos) but have no deposit on them. He recommended me Claro but explained that itâs really complicated to activate for Foreigners. Great, so I faced another problem. Back in the apartment I tried it with WiFi. But the claro-site had some errors, and I couldnât even get the form to fill in. So, I went to the âMaxi-Kiosqueâ which is like a âMinimarketâ in Chile, because the lady from the apartment told me that she could help me out. Indeed, but I bought then one from Movistar for 900 Pesos which includes 30GB in 30days. To activate the card, I needed to send Movistar via WhatsApp a picture from Passport including a selfie with Passport and a picture from the simcard. After approximately 45minutes everything worked, and I was happy to still have the afternoon to go to the National Park âLos Alercesâ which was declared as an UNESCO World Heritage in 2017. The route there was a nice, paved road. Lots of headwind slowed me down. At the park entrance a man took my fishing equipment to disinfect it against an invasive alga. When I asked him whether itâs because of the National Park he replied to no. The reason would be that the alga would entangle in the turbines of the Electric Powe Plant. Therefore, it was more like an economical and not ecological reason. I was the only person entering by bike, everyone else came by car. First, I made a micro hike to a small waterfall then later to a viewpoint. Then I was going up to the dam. Now I had to push the bike. Reason this time was not the incline but the extreme gusty wind that blew me almost from the bike. Finally on top of the dam I had an amazing view over the lake to the nice mountain peaks that were still covered in snow. Below the wonderful âAlercesâ standing. But the wind was so terrible that I had to pass as soon as possible to the other side of the dam where the wind was a bit less. Later I went down to the lake to fish but didnât catch anything. I was fishing from the pier and once the Park guard came back with the boat, he explained me that Iâm not allowed to stand on the pier. By that time, I wasnât fishing anymore, just filling my PET bottles with filtered water from the lake. Since I was on the way to go, I didnât care too much. On the way back I profited from strong tail wind. Back in Trevelin I observed a very nice sunset over the âRio Percyâ.
Day 45 (29.12.2023) Trevelin – Corcovado
Around 11.30am I left the apartment and rode south. After about 5k I turned into a gravel road (highway 17) that would bring the Corcovado which supposes to be a nice Outdoor Sports Town. First, I faced a strong incline. Since it was already hot, I took my sunglasses off and put them in the pocket of my black shorts. Otherwise, they would have gotten covered by sweat. This was a big mistake. The same way I lost the box of my earpods riding to Puerto Varas I lost now my sunglasses. Somehow, they got pushed out by the movement of my legs. But this time I thought it wouldnât be a problem because I found out about my loss within approximately 10min. I turned immediately around because I was scared that one of the few cars might run over them. So, I went all the way down but to my surprise they were nowhere. On the way back-up I even checked on the side, hoping that someone might put them there in order they donât break. But no luck. Even though only a few cars passed, and they all must have seen me as well, someone took them. Maybe thereâs an unwritten law that what you find on the street is yours. Hmm, it made me a bit sad because so far I had only met wonderful, honest people on my Patagaonia-Trip. What bothered me most is that these sunglasses were good and adapted to the sunlight (photochromic). They also kept the wind, dust, and flies perfectly out of my eyes. Impossible to find something alike down here. Glad I still had my Ray Benâs. After half of the distance the gravel road was paved which helped me to advance faster. This was especially helpful because there was some headwind coming up. Then I finally passed the last incline and was now riding down towards the town Corcovado (Vid. 01). Riding into Corcovado I saw lotâs off Ads on the street for Rafting and Fishing (Vid. 02). Later I found a Rafting center âCorcovado Explonaturaâ where I also would stay a couple nights in their apartments. Even though itâs high season they have hardly any tourists in town. The crises make people stay home, Rodrigo from the Rafting center explained me. In the evening I went to nice restaurant Rodrigo recommended and met a father with son that took care of their Cabañas. They were very kind and so I sat on the same table with them. Around 11.30pm I went back to the apartment.
Day 46 (30.12.2023) Corcovado 01
When I stepped outside the apartment in the morning, I noticed that some rafting guides were collecting materials for an excursion. Then a young woman, the girlfriend from Rodrigo asked me, if I would like to join the rafting tour because there is still one place available. Since I had no plans and always wanted to try rafting, I agreed. So, I tried on a wetsuit, helmet and life vest and joined the group. The other people were mainly young women from the area that work in the hospital together. We filled then two rafting boats. One with eight, the other one with seven people. Additionally on each boat was a rafting guide that explained us before entering the essential things which were the correct sitting position, what to do when falling into the water and the paddling front and backwards. Basically, itâs not much that you need to know doing a rafting session, neither you need a lot of skills. After floating on an easy part of the river we entered then a rougher section. I was in the very front on the left side of the raft and so I got splashed a lot. It was probably the most exciting position but also the most exposed and after a while I was very cold. Since we didnât move too much while sitting in the boat it was hard to keep warm and I began preferring the easier section with less splashing water. After roughly two hours we managed to go 10kilometers down the river where the rafting was finished. I was quite happy because at that time I was cold and already afraid of getting sick. Good I could quickly change to my warmer, dry clothes before going back. In the later afternoon I went with Rodrigo a bit fishing for Salmon, but we didnât catch anything. We left relatively quickly to go visit Petra, a Swiss woman of about my age that bought some land here and is now living for 5 years in Patagonia. The land is about 8 kilometers outside of Corcovado but easily accessible by car. Once at the property of Petra I was really impressed how she manages the place together with her husband, a farmer from Ushuaia. Besides 150 hectares of farmland they have lots of animals such as cows, sheep, horses, and chicken. A couple dogs protect the property, mainly from Pumas as she said. They manage everything alone just with one more worker. When I asked her if she studied Agriculture back in Switzerland because of her broad knowledge she was smiling and replied: âNo, economyâ. We had a good conversation before Rodrigo, and I left their farm and went back to Corcovado. Rodrigo showed me on the drive back that thereâs still lots of land available. 1 hectare (100 x 100m) only costs around 3 to 5 million Argentinian Pesos. Wow, that is extremely cheap I thought. In the evening I went again to the restaurant Parilla Flamenco and met with Pepe and Eros.
Day 47 (31.12.2023) Corcovado 02
The lasts day of the year also means my othersâ birthday. The Video call I had with my parents went smooth and we got disconnected only once. Iâm happy that my mom and dad are doing well and that my dad invited my mom to the Lake of Biel to have a Chateau-Briand dinner to celebrate her birthday and New Years Eve. After the chat with my parents, I worked a bit on the page until Jere picket me up around 1.30pm for a Kayak Session. He was recommended by Rodrigo which is not offering Kayaking through his company. Personally, I like Kayaking much more than River Rafting because youâre alone responsible for your maneuvers and you feel the improvement directly. I think its also more action and certainly will try it in Europe as well. First, we drove to Jereâs Rafting center where I got the neoprene etc. before we drove to his house to get his girlfriend, who will pick us up once we finished our session. The plan was to do the same 10kilometers on the Kayak that I did on the previous day rafting. So, I knew that there will be a couple though rapids and a lot of white-water and was mentally prepared for a quite rough session. On the other hand, it also gave me the safety, knowing that thereâs nothing extremely difficult. Jere told me that itâs about as hard as the lower section of the Rio Espolon and contains up to Level III rapids. However, this Rio Corcovado contains much more water, so the waves would be a bit bigger. But it also means that youâre less likely to hit your head on the ground when being flipped over. Once by the river, Jere explained me the Kayak, which was a bit more worn out than the one I had from OrĂgenes. Generally, the gear, including neoprone and helmet were a bit worn out but still of good quality. At the place where we entered the water, I tried a couple rolls but couldn’t do one (Vid. 01). It seemed a bit more difficult with this material. Generally, my feelings were not too good about the upcoming session, since I finished in FutaleufĂș with not too great memories. In fact, I was even a bit scared and not too sure if I really should do this session. But now it was kind of too late to pimp-out and so I told myself that everything will be alright. I must say that Jere is a great instructor and before every rapid we made a stop in an âEdiâ, and he explained me the exact line we should follow. This gave me a lot of safety and rapid after rapid I felt more secure and started to enjoy the session a lot. I performed well and even in the strong and large waves I kept good equilibrium. Some sections were a bit sketchy because a lot of branches from the tress âSausaâ were hanging into the river. In the end I didnât fall a single time and was very happy that I did this session with Jere (Vid. 02). Now I feel much better and can finish 2023 on a very good Kayaking-Memory. In the afternoon I relaxed a bit and sorted out pictures on my cell phone. New Years Eve I planned to spend in the Restaurant Parilla Flamenco. Around 11pm I went to the restaurant, but it was closed. Strange, because everyone told me that people would gather there to dance. I texted Rodrigo and he straight away invited me to his girlfriend house where they celebrated. Quickly I walked home to grab the bottle of Muscat Wine that was still in the fridge and Rodrigo then picked me up. The family of Rodrigos girlfriend greeted me warmly and offered me all kind of food. We talked a lot and had tons of fun. They belong to the Evangelion church, which represents a minority in Chile. When they found out that I was also baptized by the Evangelion church they seemed quite excited about it. They are very active with organizing church camps for the youth and Fredy, I guess he is a close friend of the family seems to be the main organizer. Later I found out that he used to be a Priest. He also told me that heâs the half brother of Jere, my Kayak instructor from earlier today. At midnight we hugged each other and wished all of us a happy new year. Around 2am I left together with Rodrigo and his girlfriend, and they brought me home. Next day I would see the folks again because they invited me for a 1st of January Barbeque by the River. Later Eros texted me that the Parilla Flamenco opened around 2am for dancing but I was too tired and went to bed.
Day 48 (01.01.2024) Corcovado 03 – Rio Malito, Chile
Around 11.30 Rodrigo and his girlfriend picked me up and we loaded bike and bags into the truck and rode to the Rio Hielo. On the way there Rodrigos girlfriend served us with fresh, hot Mate, which was very tasty. After about 20 minutes we reached the place where the family of Rodrigos girlfriend were preparing a nice barbecue with a whole lamb on fire. While preparing Rodrigo showed me a plant named Calafate, similar to the famous Patagonian town on the Argentinian side. The plant had spines and was full of small dark-purple berries that you can eat. The small stowns however you have to spit out and you end up having a purple tongue. So I tried some of the tasty berries. Then we had lunch which was really great and tasty. Next to the huge amount of lamb there were different salads bread and hummus and of course a small glass of Argentinian red wine (Vid. 01). Right after lunch Rodrigo and his girlfriend left because they had to be back for the Rafting clients. They had a session booked that started at 2.30 pm. Rodrigo mentioned that Fredy would bring me up the road. Afterwards Fredy and I went for a small walk on which he showed me all the relevant trees growing in the area. Dominant are the Cypress that looks a bit similar than a pine tree, Ăire with lots of small leaves from which some are curvedon the edge, Chacay which is basically just made out of spines, Retama, which dries out very quick and can be used to start a fire and Radal which is very famous to make tables and meubles out of it. The previous day, Rodrigo offered me a small cutting board made out of a Radal tree. Further we could also find Laura which looks a bit similar to Radal, Arde where some of the leaves had small green dots probably caused byva sickness and Maki which leaves look a bit like from a maple tree. The other side of the Rio Hielo, which originates by the glacier Los Plomos and has therefore cold and milky colored water, was covered with lots of trees as well. The darkest ones, according to Fredy were Chacay then some s bit brighter ones were Maki and the brightest ones, that we could not find on our side were Maiten. Fredy explained me that normally when you see Maiten, there must be water nearby. However the most dominant species, that were growing all over were Rosa Moqueta and Sausa which are both invasive from Europe and cause a lot of problems for the endemic flora. Sausa grows all over the side of the river because as soon as their tips of their roots touch water, they start growing immediately. The largest tree in the area that we saw was a Coihue which seemed to be the only one in the area. Coihue have massive trunks and can get really old. There were also lower plants around. Next to Trevol Rojo and Blanco, which similar to Europe also serves as food for the animals there were some Cardo that were in blossom, Neneo which was covering a rock by the river and Nalka. The Nalka leaves here, from which you can eat the stem with some salt added were not as huge as the ones I remember from Tepuhueico park, where they were larger than my bicycle. Then Fredy showed me a small round plant ball which he called Abrojo. He mentioned that this is the symbol of the Town Esquel, which is about 30k north of Trevelin l, also in the Province of Chubut. Around two o’clock pm we loaded my bike and bags into Fredys car and together with the father of Rodrigos girlfriend, they drove me up to the highway 44, that would bring me to Correleufu which borders Chile. So we drove around 5 kilometers. I was happy for the lift because it was going mainly uphill on a not so good gravel road. On the way we saw one Alamo which comes also from Europe and a monoculture of Pino, as well a European species. Pino kills everything underneath because it makes the soil acid Fredy explained. This I already knew from our Forests. One more flower she showed me out of the window. It was Mutica which is pink-purple with many leaves. They brought me to the bridge that crossed Rio Corcovado, the place where Rafting and Kayak session finished. There I packed my bike told them goodbye and left towards Chile. I’m very happy for these great and extremely kind people I met in Corcovado. The way to the border was all gravel mainly uphill and so it took me around 3 hours until I was again on Chilean soil. The border control was easy and quick. Now I received a declaration for my bicycle that I brought into Chile. Last time when I came by airplane this somehow was forgotten. The road after the border changed immediately to asphalt, however just forva little bit. Later it changed every 50m ftom gravel to pavement which was very strange. After the first larger town Palena, where everything was closed because 1st of January, the road was just gravel. After a total of 50k I found a very nice small river to camp out wild (Vid. 02). After a refreshing swim and setting my tent I fished a bit and caught an intermediate sized brown trout. Since I was very low on food I was very happy about my luck, otherwise I would have gone hungry to bed. However I paid a large price because the Mosquitos were extremely aggressive and baited me around a dozen times.
Day 49 (02.01.2024) Rio Malito – Oeste River
Around 1pm I left the nice wild campsite with the purpose to reach at least Santa Lucia, where I already was once before heading for FutaleufĂș. After 50 kilometer and killing two dozens of large mosquitos that tried to sting me always going uphill I finally arrived at the Hamburger place in Santa Lucia. Besides 10k on pavement everything else were Gravel roads. Extremely slow I moved on and was happy to get 2 Completos (Hotdog) from Soledad, the girl that worked in the small fast food place. Together they were 6000 Pesos. Last time I payd 9000
for one churrasco. While she prepared them I went to the minimarket next door and bought some food for the nrxt days. Then I decided to go a bit further and drove until Oeste river where I arrived around 9pm. I found a nice wild camp site by the river very close from the Region-border “Los Lagos / AysĂ©n”. After I put my bike on the ground a couple dozen mosquitos attacked me, even worse than yesterday when I was fishing. So I ran as fast as possible to the water down ti have a quick bath. The water was quite cold but felt good on the mosquito bites. Fresh from the river I was setting my tent. Even though now wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, mosquitos still attacked me. Once the tent was finished I jumped inside to be relieved from the attackers. Now I could see the mosquitos on the outside of the net and was happy I wouldn’t need to go outside anymore (Vid. 01).