From Coyhaique to Puerto Montt
- Tobias & Tiffany Hallwood
- Feb 27, 2020
- 6 min read
Coyhaique
While we were in Coyhaique we received the unfortunate news that Tiffany’s grandma, True, passed away. Tiffany went to the States to spend time with her family and attend the funeral while Tobias stayed with the van.
After the mechanic spent two days looking at the van and swapping out different parts they still could not figure out what was wrong with it! Condor Campers were amazing! They put Tobias up in a hotel for the night because he couldn't stay in the van. They thought they might have some idea but they did not have the required parts in town. So it meant either wait around in Coyhaique for 3-4 days while the parts were sent from Santiago or give it a go and try to get to the next biggest city of Puerto Montt. From there we would hopefully have the spare parts or we would swap out the van.
As much as Tobias was enjoying staying in the hotel (he got to shower twice!) and sampling all of the local breweries he decided the best thing for the budget and his belly was to give it a go for Puerto Montt. After giving the van a test drive and the mechanic showing him some things to help if the van started to act up, Tobias hit the road! He continued his way north on the Carretera Austral road with no immediate goal in mind. All he knew was he needed to be in Puerto Montt to pick up Tiffany by February 25th. He decided he would drive until something caught his attention.
The nice paved road soon gave way again to dirt and as the van crawled up into the mountains, mist started to settle and soon turned into rain. All of a sudden it felt like driving through Jurassic Park! On one side, waterfalls cascaded down and the other, a large river followed the road. There were giant... giant ferns and leaves (no seriously, like the size of the front of the van!).
After emerging from Jurassic Park, Tobias decided he had two options. Head straight to Futaleufú to go whitewater rafting or take a detour Raul Marin Balmaceda on the coast. He decided he would leave to the gasoline gods, if he was able to top up he would take the detour, if not he had enough gas to get to Futaleufú. He got the last ration of gas for the day, which meant the detour was on!
Raul Marin Balmaceda is a small village located on the coast, and has only been connected to the mainland by road since 2009. Tobias spent his time wandering along the beach and spotting dolphins swimming in and out of the bay.
Futaleufú
Futaleufú is a town located in the mountains near the Argentinean border and is famous for whitewater rafting and kayaking on the Futaleufú river.
Tobias spent the first morning doing a whitewater kayaking lesson where he learned some of the basics of steering and rolling. The first half of the lesson consisted of him being flipped over under water and then doing a hip pop and turn his paddle to try and right himself back up (he did not have much luck with that and got very dizzy in the process!) The rest of the time was spent paddling down the river and tackling small rapids while trying not to tip over!
The next day was rafting! This was the reason Tobias came to Futaleufú! The Futa river is supposed to have some of the best rafting in South America with sections of class 4 and 5 rapids, one after another! It did not disappoint as the afternoon was spent getting drenched, as they went down river tackling waves, rapids and drops! It was by far the best rafting Tobias had ever done!
Tobias spent the next few days exploring Futaleufú with a couple, Sharon and Kyle, who he met rafting.
From Futaleufú, Sharon and Kyle ended up riding with Tobias to Chaitén and Pumalin National Park. Along the way they stopped and hiked to Yelcho glacier.
Chaitén
Chaitén is a small town just south of Pumalin National Park. On May 2, 2008, the town was destroyed when the Chaitén volcano erupted. The town was later rebuilt 10km north of its initial location. While in Chaitén, Tobias managed to connect with Berber and Samwell, a couple we met back in Ecuador!
Pumalin National Park
The Pumalín Park Project began in 1991, and is part of Douglas Tompkins (the founder of North Face) efforts to preserve the Patagonian wilderness. The park extends from the part of the Andes to the fjords of the Pacific Coast.
The group spent the next few days exploring the various trails and treasures of Pumalin National Park.
Day 1 was a hike up to the hanging glacier on Michinmahuida volcano. Unfortunately the clouds blocked the view of the volcano, but we still had a great view of the hanging glacier below it.
Day 2 was a vertical hike up to the steaming crater of Chaitén.
Day 3 was spent enjoying the sunshine and relaxing on a black sand beach by our campsite, where Tobias made a K9 friend!
While we were hanging out we were treated to sea lions playing just off shore!
Day 4 was spent exploring some of the smaller trails in the park. One took us through a small forest of Alerces trees, some of which are 3000 years old! The Alerces tree was almost wiped out due to over use in the building industry. The trees are now protected.
We also took a trail up to Michinmahuida volcano mirador. This path twisted and turned passed a series of waterfalls and took us up wooden step ladders and along a hanging bridge! On our way down we hopped off the trail and made our way to one of the waterfalls for a much earned swim!
The last trail took us up past another series of waterfalls!
With each day Aloo (the van) was acting stranger and stranger. Most mornings consisted of starting her up driving about 10 feet stalling. Then driving little further and trying to get through the gears, she would usually lose power in 3rd! Unless we were going down hill, we were lucky if Aloo made it up to 30mph (50 kmph)! So most of the time we drove with the hazards on and half laughing, half holding our breaths as we drove up hills. As much fun as this van adventure was Tobias did not want to chance driving the last 100 or so miles to Puerto Montt, so he decided to load the van on a ferry for the last leg.
That night while sitting in the rain in the line of cars waiting to get loaded onto the ferry, two female Chilean hitchhikers approached the van and said the passenger seats on the ferry were sold out. However, if they were able to ride in a vehicle they would be able to get on the ferry. Tobias agreed and they hopped in the back of the van. The two girls were on their way home from a punk rock concert. A little while later the ferry staff came around to check tickets and vehicle information, and after Tobias handed over his ticket he turned around to ask the girls and discover they were hiding under the blankets! As the ferry staff walked away oblivious to the stowaways, Tobias realized when the two punk rockers said if they were able to get a ride on the ferry it meant sneaking on!
At this point Tobias decided he had gone this far, so what the heck lets give smuggling people a go! For the next two hours, van slowly inched its way closer to the ferry the girls stayed hidden in the back. Finally, the van was loaded onto the ferry! Once on the ferry, everyone had to exit their vehicles and head to the seating area. Since the punk rockers didn't have tickets they were afraid of getting caught in the seating area so they decided to try and hide out amongst the cars. After a few unsuccessful minutes trying to convince them it was safer upstairs, Tobias gave up and headed up on his own. Within a few minutes of being upstairs, there was an announcement asking the driver of the Condor Campers van to come downstairs…. The punk rockers had been caught trying to hide behind some cars and were being kicked off the ferry. By this point, most of the passengers were crowded around the windows watching to see Tobias get scolded in Spanish for trying to smuggle people onto the ferry!
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