Patagonia, Chile
Patagonia, Chile
On 20 December, I took the Dog.O.Mobil in the direction of Mont Aymond. After I refueled the van I left Rio Gallegos towards the Border
The surprise came after 20 kilometers on the RN3. An error message appeared on the Sprinter's display. An ESP malfunction. I thought, what the hell is this? I stopped, turned off the Sprinter and looked at the car. With the wind outside, driving was unpleasant, but it had to be done. Tyre pressure was normal and I couldn't see anything. Sprinter started again, error message didn't come back.
From then on, there was a sense of fear. Should I drive back to Rio Gallegos? Like the last few days, I had to steer left or right to go straight ahead. I had to be very careful that a gust of wind didn't blow me off the road. Every time a truck drove past, I tensed up.
But I got to the Mont Aymond border crossing, the Argentinian border, without any further problems. I queued up at the back and was amazed when the driver of the camper van got out in front of me and waved his papers around. Unlike in the past, we had to walk the 400 meters to the border station in a strong headwind and temperatures of around 12 degrees. The queue was so long that I had to wait outside with everyone else. 15 minutes later I was inside. The procedure was the same as before. First Migraciones, then a new queue for Aduanes and always a stamp for the docket.
Then I walked the 400 meters back to the Dog.O.Mobil and drove 3 km further to the Chilean border station. This time it was only 300 meters to the building and I was immediately sheltered from the wind in the entrance hall. The WiFi worked here and I was able to fill out the Digital Affidavit for Entry to Chile as I slowly made my way towards Migraciones. I didn't have to queue for the TIP and the official completed it in 5 minutes. There were only 3 people in front of me in the customs queue for import and the official spoke French, English and German. I showed him the number for the digital affidavit, he typed it in, gave me back my passport and my mobile phone and I went on to the van check.
The customs officer was only interested in vegetables, fruit and honey. I showed him the original packaged cheese and sausage in the fridge and the frozen minced meat, but that was OK with him.
After 1.5 hours I was through and could continue driving in Chile as before in Argentina. Tarmac road, no towns, strong winds and yawning emptiness. It was about 200 kilometers to Punta Arenas on the Ruta 255, with the few highlights being the Estrecho de Magallanes, the Strait of Magallanes, the Strait of Magellan and the abandoned Estancia San Gregorio with the wreck of the barge Ambassador on the shore.
It's a harsh and cold area and I didn't really feel like walking around in the cold. The journey to Punta Arenas was monotonous and without any further surprises.
Punta Arenas is the capital of the Región Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena. With around 125,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city in southern Patagonia. Even in spring, the suburbs didn't impress me. I went shopping in the Zona Franca at a Unimarc. Right choice!
Here I saw the difference to Argentina. The Unimarc was huge, had a huge selection and what I bought was cheaper than in Argentina. They also had real baguettes, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
The number of shops in the Zona Franca was huge. Shops like in Europe I would say
I continued along the coast (R9) into the city. On a Friday afternoon, my attempt to park the Sprinter here failed. I had everything I needed and Monday was another day. There were a few vans on the riverside road, but firstly there was no space available and secondly I didn't want to spend the night close to the main road.
So I traveled south on the R9, which doesn't mean it was warm here. I found the first usable place after 50 kilometers at Bahía Carrera. Great view of the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego in the distance.
The R9 ends about 20 kilometers further south. Visiting a few sights and the Faro San Isidro were on my weekend programme.
At the end of the R9 there was something like a car park. You park here if you wanted to go to the lighthouse or Monte Tarn. You could easily do that in half a day! I drove after my hike a little bit further north and found a decent spot at the sea.
Over the weekend I researched where to exchange money in Punta Arenas, where to get SIMs and where I would be spending Christmas on the 250 kilometers to Puerto Natales. A trip to Isla Magdalena and the Magellan penguins in this weather (2 hours there, 1 hour on site, 2 hours back) or a day trip to see the humpback whales were not so exciting in the swell.
The places in and north of Punta Arenas didn't appeal to me and I'd already been south.
Punta Arenas was the first city in Patagonia, also known as the southernmost city in the world, that excited me. Everything was open after 10am. I found a parking space near the Parque de los Dinosaurios, because the Dog.O.Mobil was too long for the city centre. But I definitely didn't want to spend the night here.
I was able to change 100 USD (20 x 5 dollar notes) in 15 minutes without any discussion. At the junction of Pdte. Julio A. Roca and C. Lautaro Navarro I found quite a few Cambios.
Had an Entel tourist SIM with 60 GB for 4'000 CLP (approx. 4 EURO) within 10 minutes. I had chosen Entel this time because their network was supposed to be better. A few days later I learnt from Claudia and Stefan that you have to register your mobile phone in Chile if you want to use a local SIM.
Then I walked through the city centre with the passengers of the cruise ship that was in port. There was a kind of Cantombe at Plaza Armas Punta Arenas. In addition to many banks, I also found a church there (now I know it was the Catedral de Punta Arenas) and something like a palace. All this next to government buildings, museums, hotels, hostels, cafés and restaurants.
I tried picantones in one restaurant. In my case, it was spicy chicken in a potato coating, a kind of nugget, with a fiery salsa. There was also a plate with a whole grilled chicken, but that was too much of a good thing for me as a snack.
I had seen the promenade from the R9. The wind, which had picked up in the meantime, blew me to the next Unimarc. As I had got lost again, I got to know the other side of Punta Arenas. While the houses around the centre were a colorful mix and sometimes rather simple, the barrios further west of the city were truly American. This is where the upper and middle classes live, I would say.
With food for the next few days in the fridge, a full tank of petrol and fresh water, I continued on towards Puerto Natales. If the R9 wasn't the best on the way to Punta Arenas, it didn't get any better on the way north. It's flat, you only really see birds and sheep. As in Argentina, most of the descents are closed, including my first parking spot near Chorrillo Basilio. I then turned off onto the Y460 to an inlet that is connected to the Pacific, north of Vaqueria.
Christmas was very quiet here. Without the hustle and bustle, I stood alone at the inland lake and walked along the shore, not that there was anything to discover there apart from a few ducks and geese. The weather forecast for the weekend was good, so I booked a ticket for Torres del Paine National Park.
After Christmas, I traveled on to Puerto Natales. I continued as before on the R9. A few rock formations and hills every now and then, but not much else. Puerto Natales (approx. 50,000) was much smaller than Punta Arenas (approx. 125,000), but the tourists (mainly backpacker and hikers) were noticeable.
There was everything you needed in the city center and almost all the shops were open. I looked for a spot by the sea and after a short break I went exploring. There weren't any really striking buildings that caught the eye, but my tour took almost 3 hours and was 7 kilometers long. I drank a nice coffee, took cool photos and admired the old ships in the harbor.
The sunrise the next day bathed the harbor in an interesting light. But there's not really much more to say. On the tour to the TdP, I slowly made my way to higher altitudes. Lakes and mountains alternated along the Y290. Although these are only around 1,500 m.a.s.l., such as the Cerro Tenerife, it was a welcome change after weeks in the Estepa. Lago del Toro was also the first real lake since I had left the Andes. 205 km2 is not bad.
The Y290 is not the best road, but the alternation of tarmac, potholes and gravel means it never gets boring. I spent the rest of the day in front of the park entrance at Rio Serrano and realized that I didn't have that many options for spending the night in the park. Without booking there was
- Lago Pehoe campsite
- Rio Serrano campsite
- Guarderia Grey car park
- Refugio Pudeto car park
All the other options were further east, outside the park.
The next morning I was at the check point at 7.20 am in perfect weather, showed my ticket on my mobile phone and off I went. After 45 minutes I was at Lago Grey, had a look at the hotel and found out that the hotel boat wouldn't be leaving until 10.00 am.
I parked at the Guarderia Lago Grey. There were 3 cars at around 8.45am. As the boat from the Mirador Lago Grey wouldn't be leaving until 10:00 am, I decided to take a walk to the Mirador Lago Grey. The milky water of Lago Grey and the 3 smaller icebergs sobered me up. I didn't see the point in paying around CLP 120,000 for a 3-hour boat trip. When I got back to the car park at around 11:30 am, it was already pretty full. American and Asian passengers were being carted in by small and large buses, and hire cars populated the road and a little later the gravel path to the boat.
After a vending machine coffee with powdered milk, I made my way to Salto Grande. The landscape is characterized by the Cerros. Whether you see just the Paine Grande, the Cuernos del Paine or simply everything together. They are the real park experience.
There are not many other highlights unless you go on a multi-day hike. The waterfalls (Salto Chico or Salto Grande), the many viewpoints (Mirador Cuernos was the most impressive in my opinion) and then of course the lakes (Lago Pehoe with the campsite, Lago Sarmiento, Laguna Amarga, Laguna Azul and so on).
I liked the view from the Puente Weber. The water of Lago Pehoe catches your eye because it was so really blue and clear
By the end of the second day, I had photographed the mountains many times and from every conceivable angle, had gone for a walk three times and had a hot shower at the campsite on Lago Pehoe
As I stood outside the TdP that evening on the shore of Lago Sarmiento and looked back, or better said across the lake, I wondered whether the €45 entrance fee had been worth it. In hindsight, I wasn't sure, because the many other visitors, in an unspeakable number of vehicles, had really spoilt the experience. I know I was one of them, but it was the second time after the 7 Lagos that I got lost in a crowd of tourists. TdP had left me with an inner restlessness, and this was the first time on this tour.
At Lago del Toro, I ended 2024 at a brilliant pitch. I started to calm down and found my inner peace again.
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Post Info
Date | Dec 2024, Xmas and New Years eve |
Status | Done / Visited |
Last updated | 01 January 2025 |
Page read | 108 |