Chilling out in southern Chile

[JohnM]

I speak very good Spanish and hereby announce that I am available as a guide for any jaunts to Valle de Uco. Malbec is a star in my life

We have two nights booked near Tupungato in early March '17 after coming up from Puerto Montt via stops at Bariloche, San Martin, Chos Malal and Malargue on Ruta 40. From there it is going to be a run into SCL to pour me on to the LA787 up to MAD while RF heads to Easter Island a day or so later.

Your Espanol would be handy for getting into some of those gated wineries. Hmmm, maybe you should seek a leave pass.... I could write a reference to back up your grovelling to SWMBO - she already knows that I'm a very good influence on you .

 

[RooFlyer]

The flight from Puerto Montt, at the head of the long fjord on the map above, down the fjord was truly spectacular and there and then I decided that this part of the world deserved another look. After I got back, I got 'talking' to JohnM and discovered he had already booked a cruise: From Puerto Montt, if you go back to the map above, and follow the first leg of the flight south of Puerto Montt (the blue dot), down the narrow bit of blue water until you hit the light green, SW of the Balmaceda pin, which is where the San Raphael Glacier runs into the water (and return to PM).

Luckily I was on the left hand side of the flight (but yes, behind the wing! - what I suffer for my clients ) so looking toward the mainland side and even with an iPhone and through the airplane glass, the country was fantastic.







We eventually started cutting across to the SE; a number of large fires had been burning for some time, I was told. As we went further south, the tree line dropped as well.







Finally, in the RH pic, we approached Balmaceda airport and the country had turned to (windswept) grassland, to the east of the Andes.

 

[Major]

Some really great photos

 

[marki]

Do you need a guide?

Guide hanger on er

 

[JohnM]

The flight from Puerto Montt, at the head of the long fjord on the map above, down the fjord was truly spectacular and there and then I decided that this part of the world deserved another look. After I got back, I got 'talking' to JohnM and discovered he had already booked a cruise: From Puerto Montt, if you go back to the map above, and follow the first leg of the flight south of Puerto Montt (the blue dot), down the narrow bit of blue water until you hit the light green, SW of the Balmaceda pin, which is where the San Raphael Glacier runs into the water (and return to PM).

Luckily I was on the left hand side of the flight (but yes, behind the wing! - what I suffer for my clients ) so looking toward the mainland side and even with an iPhone and through the airplane glass, the country was fantastic.

For anyone contemplating flights to S Chilean ports from SCL, always sit on the L going S and R coming N for this spectacular part of the world. The flight path beelines along the W side of the Andes.

If you'd gone further S you would have had a good view of the famous Perito Moreno glacier (just W of El Calafate on your map). As one of the few remaining advancing glaciers, it has 'flowed' across the lake to bump into the opposite shore (where the viewing area is) and where it can form an ice bridge that spectacularly collapses every now and then. It looks very distinctive from the air. When on the ground at the glacier, the contrails of those flights are visible. There are some pics in post #3 in my Patagonia TR - link below.

 

[RooFlyer]

From here on the itinerary will be a bit vague, sorry as it wasn't my trip and details wouldn't be appropriate. We were based at Coyhaiqui, the provincial capital of about 60,000 people, which by the way is classified as being in Patagonia, although I always thought Patagonia started a fair bit more south than this. Temps were in the mid 20s, quite comfy and the days were sunny .

One day's trip took us on public roads but for the most part our trips were on 4WD tracks and my joints still haven't forgiven me. On this day we had to drive through one range of mountains, but we weren't in the 'high Andes' by any means.



But we could see the edges of them




As we rounded one hill, this impressive Castle came into view.




And then this huge lake. The nearer lobe was a fantastic turquoise (from glacial rock flour, just like in Canada), while the main body of the lake was a rich blue. You can see where the 2 bodies meet in the RH pic.




Vegetation was an interest of mine on this trip. Southern Chile has 'Gondwana' vegetation - remnant of the great south continent that it shares with Tasmania, amongst other places, harking back a few hundred million years when the continents were joined. Not so evident in these pics, but in later ones, folks familiar with Tasmanian vegetation will be able to tell that I felt right at home.

 

[RooFlyer]

Another day,we went off the beaten track a bit, and gained some altitude.

First, dashing along the Carretera Aurora (Southern Highway) before turning off to a track. here we are deep into forests of Nothofagus (or 'fa_us') - Gondwana forests. In Tasmania, its known as deciduous Beech; in Chile they have both deciduous and non deciduous species. It was a bit early for the autumn colours, although at the highest levels, the leaves were just starting to 'turn'.




After a while, the tracks turned more rustic ...




Then no tracks, and some walking and climbing was involved ...




But glorious vistas and forest colours

 

[Steady]

The colours in your photos really pop out - beautiful part of the world

 

[RooFlyer]

Another area, and as before, we started out in civilisation, then into the fa_us forests. A bit higher up, and different species, so the changing colours were more spectacular.






But then we got out of the comfort zone and went up, up and further up. Sort of like Macchu Pichu without the Belmond . Breath-taking, as it were.

 

[amaroo]

You go to the most interesting places RooFlyer. Looks very inviting!

 

[JohnM]

What altitude did you hit, RF​?

 

[drron]

Surely the 2 intrepid explorers will need to take along their own medico on the next adventure?
Unfortunately no Spanish except what I have learnt from the Governator.

 

[LadyC]

Some great photos there!

 

[JohnM]

Surely the 2 intrepid explorers will need to take along their own medico on the next adventure?
Unfortunately no Spanish except what I have learnt from the Governator.

¿Qué? No comprendo señor. :mrgreen:

 

[drron]

Oh si lo hace!

 

[RooFlyer]

What altitude did you hit, RF​?

Not sure ... might have been ~2,500m, tops. I was puffing [-]a bit[/-] a lot, but it wasn't because of the altitude!

 

[RooFlyer]

This next one is going to be rather self indulgent - or more self indulgent than usual, if you like. One thing as a geo, you are usually looking down at the ground; you see a lot of nifty little things.

Like cushion plants. Donatia spp. In Tasmania, they form masses of , well ... cushion-like plants hugging the ground in alpine areas. I was delighted to see very similar plants up past the snow line in Chile. Wikipedia tells me that its an example of convergent evolution, but I'm suspicious that it isn't another example of Gondwana vegetation.

Up here ... you can see that they are pretty scraggly ... just hanging on in the thin, stony soils in environments such as the last 2 pairs of pics above. Clumps between 5 and 20cm across.









The next lot aren't cushion plants, but were also just hanging on in similar circumstances.

 

[RooFlyer]

A few more views of the country which the main highway south (Cattreta Austral) passes through. A lot like the south Island of NZ - steep and rugged mountains with deep, forest covered valleys between. Fly fishing for trout is world standard! We saw some phone videos of monsters being landed.







Then back to Balmaceda airport and soon flying over the country we had been driving around in. More a straight line to Santiago this time.






Got some lakes and fjords in.

 

[RooFlyer]

A final instalment.

Approaching Puerto Montt, the pit-stop on the way to SCL:




A couple of fine looking volcanos near the town.




A short stop, then off again ...




Approaching SCL in the early evening.. it got very murky down there!




I'm sure you will see more of these places (and more) early next year ...