The wind blew really strong that night, and then from steady light rain, it started to pour buckets. It was still pouring when we got up the next morning, which meant that most likely no boats were going out to the marble caves today, which Ricardo confirmed at breakfast. So we decided to forgo the caves. Instead we stayed at the campsite a bit longer in the morning, chilling by the fireplace and enjoying the company of the other travelers. It was nice to take a moment to just pause and hang out, after being on a constant move for the last 5 days. We drove down the road a bit further past Nutria, taking in the wet and foggy nature, then headed back towards Puerto Rio Tranquilo. After getting some more food, we hit the road to continue our journey.
The plan was to drive to Parque Patagonia to camp, then do a hike in the morning before crossing the border to Argentina. The road to Parque Patagonia was every bit as scenic as the previous days. We made many stops on the way to admire the stunning views of Lago Bertrand and its teal blue water, and the confluence of Rio Baker, and took a small detour to check out the cool pasarela crossing over Rio Cochrane at the bottom of La Peninsula.
The car we rented (a Nissan Tilda), was the most affordable option available but definitely not the most ideal choice for the type of road we were on, and it took quite a beating on the dusty, pot-holed, corrugated Patagonia road. But in the end it took us from point A to point B without failing and we came to really like our slightly awkward and inadequate little ride….
The landscape started to change as we left the Carretera to turn off onto X-83 road, taking us into Valle Chacabuco. Changes in the vegetation became more apparent as well, lush greens and colorful flowers disappeared off the hillsides, now instead speckled by tall wild grass and short round bushes in shades of yellows and browns. In this incredibly vast, more arid landscape, we no longer had to stop for cows on the road, but instead we made the acquaintance of guanacos. With herds grazing all around. they seemed rather indifferent to cars driving up to them.
There was only one campsite in Valle Chacabuco, on the road before the Paso Roballos border crossing (supposedly there is another one that was built more recently, but we didn’t know where it was located). We reached it at around 7pm. The price for the night (10,000 CLP per person) almost had us turn around and look for another option, but there was nothing within less than an hour of driving, and wild camping in the park is strictly forbidden, so we decided to stay. The campground came with bathrooms and showers, which were advertised as hot but were most definitely not. Still, the setting was pretty scenic, and the campsites once again very well laid out. We found a spot furthest to the entrance with a large 3-wall hut sheltering a large table and shelves. We had no wind or rain that night and woke up the next day to guanacos grazing around in the field.
