Chuffin huge flies!
Trip Start
Dec 22, 2007
1
18
48
Trip End
May 01, 2008
Chaiten,
Chile
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wed 23 Jan
The bus ride up the Carretera Austral to Chaiten was really lovely. We mainly drove through Queulat National Park, then a couple of stops at Puyuhapi and La Junta.
The road again was gravel but was in pretty good condition - hardly any potholes. We were delayed about 50km outside of Puyuhapi as the road was closed between 10am-2pm as the were dynamiting near to the road. So after our delay (which the bus driver must have known about) the driver decided to go faster which made the ride extremely bumpy. I think I have vibrated off most of my fat on these gravel roads. The only bonus was meeting a nice Australian couple so we had a good chat to them while we were waiting. Hopefully we will catch up with them in Argentina somewhere.
After 10 hours we arrived in Chaiten and eventually found the hostel we had booked - Casa Hexagon (we had forgotten to write the address down). We had a stunning view of a volcano and we had the rio blanco right next to the house. We also had a fantastic kitchen so we cooked all our meals there, which was fun. We picked up a bottle of wine which was v nice. Weīve discovered Carmenere grape which even I can drink :)
Thur 24 Jan
Lazy, lazy day which was fantastic, apart from the huge flies that bite that seemed to descend on us as soon as we left the hostel. Spent most of the day in the hostel reading and sleeping.
Fri 25 Jan
We booked onto a tour to see Pumalin Parque (you donīt really need a guide but we had no transport to get us there and back). Luckily it was slightly cooler today so not as many flies. We did three walks in the park: to see Alerce trees which grew quite tall with no lower level branches; the last 10mins of the Sendero Tronador to see the waterfalls and Sendero Cascadas where we walked to see more waterfalls. The top waterfall was stunning, though it was a hot walk up there.
Our guide, Nico, brought his nephew to act as a second guide. While we were talking to him, he suddenly grabbed one of the huge flies, tore it in half and showed us that there was honey in it. Very weird - why are the biting humans if they create honey??
The last stop was at the beach at St Barbara where we saw three seals swimming in the sea.
Sat 26 Jan
Luckily 6 other people had booked the transfer to Caleta Gonzala (as the day before, our italian friend was the only person on it so they cancelled it and he had to hitchike). We drove down the same road as the day before. There were lots of plants that were similar to rhubarb growing by the side of the road which had huge leaves.
Whilst waiting to get on the ferry we saw otters in the sea and one of them climbed out and walked across the ramp, unfortunately the camera wasnīt very handy at the time. The ride was extremely smooth and quite pretty. However, it was not built to ferry passengers as the seats were very uncomfortable and you couldnīt really fall asleep on them. My plans were foiled for a much needed sleep on the 5 hour crossing.
We arrived at 3pm in Hornopiren which is quite a pretty little village with stunning scenery. We were again lucky with the weather and had views of the Hornopiren volcano.
