WOW!!! What an adventure. My fellow volunteer and partner in crime, Dylan, decided to go further down into Patagonia. But instead of traveling by bus through Chile Chico and Route 40 in Argentina we went for a trek recommended by our volunteer coordinator, Paula. So off we went. First we got a truck ride to Cochrane, after waiting 45 minutes for people to find the keys to one of the trucks because the other truck was having alternator problems. We just sat around and waited patiently and things just seemed to work out. In Cochrane, we took an amazing bus ride down to a pueblo Villa O'Higgins. It was beautiful!! I sat next to an older man in his 70's and he explained all the spots we were driving by and then about an hour and a half into the ride, we stopped to drop him off at his house - in the middle of nowhere (or wilderness depending on what you want to call it). He had a beautiful ranch and a dog that was jumping up and down and barking, obviously excited to see his human friend.
We got to the town on Thursday afternoon and made plans to take a 2 1/2 hour boat ride on Saturday morning, down the Lago O'Higgins to another town, or at least that is what I first thought. Candelario Mancilla turned out to be a boat ramp and a boat house - nothing more and nothing less.
From the boat ramp, there was a road which led up to one of the Chilean immigration offices which we took and then continued on the road on foot up and over to Argentina.Now we had all of our gear - and for me that consists of a lot of gear, for women travelers need at least 4 or 5 books alone ( a journal, a dictionary, a guidebook, a book to read etc, etc). So here I am with a full backpack on my back and a full daypack in my front. The original plan was to get a horse and have them carry our gear while we hike the 24 km across the border to Argentina and to Laguna del Desierto. Well there were no horses so we ended up carrying and trekking with our gear instead. Whuweeeee. We hiked about 17 km or so and then decided to camp alongside a lake. But let me tell you it was all worth it when we caught the first glimpse of Mount FitzRoy (named after the captain of the Beagle, which for those who do not know, is the ship that carried Darwin through his adventures down south in Tierra del Fuego and then up to the Galapagos where he made many a discovery). It was breathtaking the first view of FiztRoy. I was coming out of the forest and there the tower stood - all majestic in an evil sort of way. It reminded me of a castle where an evil count would live like Count Dracula. I must have taken at least 20 fotos that day and will really spare you most of them. But here is the first one.
After the 24 km hike and a night stay at Laguna Larga, we arrived at the Argentina immigration post and the next boat launch. From here, we took a half an hour boat ride across Lago Desierto. Along the way, we met 2 frenchman - Charles from France and David, originally from France but now from Montreal, a mate Pete from Australia, and Ben from Germany, who was bike riding throughout his South American travels. He unfortunately had to push his bike and saddle bags through most of these trails, but was entirely good hearted about the whole adventure. After the boat ride, we had an easy shuttle ride into the town of El Chalten, Argentina.
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