Dare to be you
Opsporing in Cochamó
Vorig jaar hoorde ik iemand vertellen over “Cochamó”, een paradijs, nog niet ontdekt door het grote publiek. Maar…moeilijk bereikbaar. Nu we toch in de omgeving waren, ging ik even piepen op internet. Ik kwam terecht bij wonderbaarlijke beelden en mogelijkheden tot paardrijden, de droom van Bart.
The trip to Coyhaique is a long and hard one, but in the late afternoon we’re finally there… Finding a bus to Puyuhuapi, another 4 hours further is no option today. Instead we join a group of Chilene people on their trip and head all to Puerto Aysen. A small cosy village we thought, but it proves to be quite a great city.
In our hostel we can arrange immediately transport to Puyuhuapi the next day. Jippie…
Ranking among the world’s ultimate road trips, the Carretera Austral runs 1240 mostly unpaved kilometres alongside ancient forests, glaciers, pioneer farmsteads, turquoise rivers and the crashing Pacific. Completed in 1996, it cost an initial investment of US$300 million, took more than 20 years to build and cost 11 workers their lives. Pinochet’s quest to cut a road through Aisén was not based on common sense or a pragmatic plan, it arguably had more to do with the symbolism of a highway that tied together the disparate regions of the country.
Patagonia boasts one of the world’s great water reserves, with deep glacial lakes, two of the planet’s largest non-polar ice fields and powerful, pristine rivers rushing from the Andes to the Pacific. It’s a dream if you’re a salmon, a nature lover or kayaker. Or a hydroelectric company.
There is that beautiful way to cross a border… A 22 km hike along the no man’s lands. Sure we’ll go that way!
So in El Chalten we take a bus to Lago del Desierto, where a small boat brings us to Punta Norte, the Argentine border at the other side of the lake. A perfect camping spot, so we set up our tent there, with great views over the lake.
On the Road 
You must be logged in to post a comment.