Carretera Australe, Patagonia, Chile

Week 27 – This week we reached the Carretera Austral in Chile, landscapes are so different!

We left the dry regions surrounding the Ruta 40 in Argentina and found a serpentine mountain road, waving between lakes and lagoons, surrounded by lush forests!

We first went down south to the surprising village of Caleta Tortel which has no roads or cars. Wooden walkways run between neighborhoods, joining houses, hotels, restaurants and small businesses along the steep coast. Tortel is located at the southern end of the Campo de Hielo Norte (Patagonian North Ice Cap), very close to the mouth of 2 rivers generated by the melting of glaciers which makes the waters of the bay white, colored by sediments. The area being very wet, we were surrounded by lush vegetation and cypress forests. Amazing break out of time!

We are now back on our route to the north and the Carretera Austral offers us really beautiful landscapes of turquoise lakes and snowy peaks!

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