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Chile is one of the most developed countries in South America. I have been here before traveling to Easter Island Twice and down south by plane once to Coyhaique for a few days. I wanted to see the landscapes all the way from Santiago South as we weave in and out of Chile and Argentina over a few weeks to see the impressive and ever changing landscape. First Stop- Santiago
Santiago
After rejoining the truck I had been on after two months from Alaska (being in Easter Island, Bolivia, Paraguay and Antarctica Trip). I flew in here to get ready to head down south….
Santiago is a bustling city but for the most part very clean and a lot of up and coming neighborhoods. One of the neighborhoods I went to is not a place that many tourists go to and it is somewhat off the beaten path. I was told not go to there several times and was even warned four times around the neighborhood, however I found the people to be nice and genuine. The people went about their daily lives selling items on the streets while many old buildings had great street art on them….
Some other photos from around Santiago’s main area of Bella Vista and Providencia…
Pucon
Next stop after an overnight bus was the small town of Pucon, known for its beautiful scenery, thermal baths and volcano hiking. I went to some of the sites, but primarily just walked around to check out parts of the small town
As we drive south, we hit what would be the beginning of Patagonia in Chile and the Carretera Austral which is one of the most beautiful highways in the world with the scenery being some of the best. This area is very isolated and most of the towns are extremely small bringing back memories of Swiss looking farmlands that sprawl as far as the eye can see…..
As a drive through Port Montt which is the beginning of the Carretera Austral and Patagonia, I notice the ever changing scenery….
After staying the night in a small farm near Hornopiren, we boarded what was to become the first of two ferry rides for the day that took us through some remarkable scenery and scenery that seemed to get more beautiful..
After the Ferry a long beautiful ride was to be seen on the road to the small town of Futaleufu with some amazing backdrops along the way…
Futaleufu is widely considered as being one of the best white water rafting places in the worlds. The isolated roads we drove along took us on the outskirts of a small town with streets lined with old houses and a central square. I chose not to do the white water rafting and instead walked around the town to see the back streets and meet some of the people…..
Leaving Futaleufu on the same road we came in took us to some amazing scenery with some of the most pristine water you have ever seen. Going through some crystal clear water as well as rolling mountains took us to the small town on the edge of the fjords of Puyhuapi.
The main site in this area besides the fjords (with the dolphins swimming next to our camp was of course the Hanging Glacier of Queulat National Park. The glacier and the water around it was pristine with beautiful waterfalls and fast moving rivers…
After we left this beautiful area of the Hanging Glacier, the scenery we ran into was unbelievable on the road to Coyhaique. I previously visited this place in 2012 when I flew down after Easter Island to spend a few days here seeing the sites and horseback riding (Coyhaique area). We only spent the night there as we had to get on the next day to Rio Tranquilo.
Heading down to Rio Tranquilo saw some stunning snow covered mountains along with rolling pastures for the sheep and cows to graze, followed by lakes of fresh blue glacial water as we made our way to this tiny town…
The main activity to do in Rio Tranquilo is the boating or kayaking around the crystal blue waters to the Marble Caves. As I have done this on a previous trip, I decided to walk around this quaint and lovely town and photograph the area including the mountains that surround it…
After and eventful cooking Christmas the truck headed toward the Argentinian border through some more stunning scenery……
As we stepped into Argentina for about a week through New Years, to go to the Cave of Hands (very isolated), El Chalten and El Calafate with the famous Perito Moreno Glacier, we would have one more stop in Chile at the famous Torres del Paine National Park which is world renowned for hiking and scenery. Although the weather was very unstable while we were there as the blue skies would show itself only a few times, the scenery in this area was unbelievable…..as was the small town of Puerto Natales that had some amazing scenery in itself…
The birding in this area was also amazing (when there was sunlight) as the Cara Cara’s as well as Parakeets were all seen in the area…
As we exited Chile close to the Argentinian border to Ushuaia we had one more great glimpse of wildlife here as our little campsite was visited by two Patagonian Grey Foxes hunting for food…
Overall the time in Chile was excellent, I have always wanted to travel the Carretera Austral and do the Chilean Patagonian right and that is by overland. The scenery did not disappoint and the drive days were amazing. Couple that with my two times I have been to Easter Island (Rapa Nui), and mainland Chile a few times 12 years apart, I am satisfied with all I have seen and would love to do this again…..