The Carretera Austral and Ruta 40

From the wonders of the Fitz Roy Parque we started our next 26-hour driving stretch up to Bariloche following the Ruta 40 in Argentina first and then the Carretera Austral in Chile, stopping twice to sleep ‘rough’ by Lago General Carrera and in a pine forest in the Queulat National Parque. It wasn’t a real rough camp in either places though: at the lake we stopped by the lake shore at a patch that Rob knew - with toilet - while in Queulat we camped by a clear spot in the woods where toilets and a quincho were available (a quincho is a shelter hut where a fire can be made and it usually has tables and benches.) While the Ruta 40 was barren and desertic, the road around the Lago General Carrera was stunning. The lake lies horizontally between Argentina and Chile and it is known as Lago General Carrera in Chile (West side) and as Lago Buenos Aires (East side) in Argentina. This lake is absolutely beautiful, surrounded at the Chilean end by predominantly alpine forest and at the Argentine one by dry pampa. The road is narrow and winding and EXTREMELY dusty, with the truck filling with dust regularly, but all worth the views.

In the Queulat National Parque we had a semi-free morning to go and hike up to the mirador to view the Ventisquero Colgante, which is a hanging glacier over a green lagoon. Kim, our guide, told us that it could be done in 3 hours round trip, so we had from 8 till 11 to do it and then be back to jump onto the truck and continue on. When we got to the path the sign said 2.5 hours (presumably each way) so we tried to hike as fast as we could. After about 1 hour we crossed some of our fastest hikers in the group who had decided that it was too far away and wanted to be back at the truck for 11. Some of us decided to continue for another half hour (at least use up the time we definitely had, and who cares if we are 30 mins late…) .. well.. not even 10 minutes after we crossed with the others, we reached the viewpoint!!! Poor things. Unfortunately for us the glacier was covered by the mist so it was only half a success and fair for the others, I guess... Of course we were all back at 11 on the dot to continue the Austral odyssey onto Futalefu, which we have renamed FALAFUFU’ for ease of pronunciation for everyone on the truck.

By the way, I wanted to clarify who Rob actually is. Rob is our current driver, in fact the owner of the truck that came to our rescue from Ushuaia – driving 8000 km down from Lima to pick us up!!! Clearly a bit of a crazy guy and very knowledgeable and solid. Rob used to work for Exodus, then bought off the truck and started his own company. He is kind of suffering at the moment because his tours consist of himself and a chef and a maximum of 14 passengers, who clearly do not have to bother to cook and mess about with the truck. Because he his lending his truck to Exodus and we have to cook, he has ended up with 20 people handling his equipment and placing most of it in the wrong place at every meal… I think he has resigned himself to let it all happen and then take stock and repair once we are all gone, poor thing.

FALAFUFU’ is known for its white water rafting opportunities. Since only grade 4 and 5 are available, and at high cost (some £ 50 per trip) we have decided not to take part and take the day out instead, doing Internet and sitting by the river at the camping site. Our Exodus itinerary is quite fast-paced and this sort of opportunity to have a rest does not come often… Sometimes it gets crazy. The other day I put on only one sock and only noticed 5 hours later when Gregory informed me that he had found one of my socks outside the tent… so I looked at my feet and realized that one of the woolen socks was missing!!! How tired can one be??!! Most days it is 5:30 and 7:00 starts (start meaning everything including tents packed and ready to go), unless we are not traveling, in which case we have breakfast at 8 or later. But hey! It is an interesting experience and thankfully, after 7 weeks of it, it will end on the 12th in Santiago, where we will stay for at least 3 nights to recover before we start our independent travels north up to the Atacama Desert.

A few pics of the Carretera and the Lake General Carrera: