Southern Argentina Camping Sites
Western Patagonia
Bajo Caracoles (S47 26.675 W70 55.578, 611m)
Very small settlement in middle of nowhere with petrol station and police station with not much else. It was very windy and we managed to find shelter behind a small screen of trees but there isn’t much shelter around. Toilets in Petrol station. Free.
Camping El Relincho, El Chalten (S49 19.561 W72 53.406, 409m)
Very busy campsite which must have had over 100 people staying. Hot Showers and toilets. Cooking/recreation building with gas stoves. Water available. Power. AR$100 per night.
Parque Nacional Glacier Ranger Station, El Chalten (S49 20.210 W72 52.815, 360m)
Pit toilet across the road and toilets in ranger station during opening hours. There were a number of campers parked here overnight. Free.
Camping Nirigao, El Calafate (S50 20.026 W72 15.527, 213m)
Nice campsite. WIFI. Indoor recreation room. Grills. Electricity. Water. Hot Showers and toilets. 10 minute walk from town. (In heavy rains we have heard that it can flood). AR$100 per night.
Roadside Pullout, Lago Argentina (S50 19.279 W72 34.838, 199m)
Pullout by the side of Lago Argentina. Very quiet overnight. No Facilities. Free.
Religious Shrine, RN3 Guer Aike (S51 37.727 W69 37.215, 31m)
There are grills and picnic tables sheltered by brick walls from the wind. We cooked here however the walls weren’t high enough to shelter the truck so we parked in the shelter of a large white building overnight which held a couple of shrines. The wind still managed to rock us though! Free.
Tierra Del Fuego
Camping Hain, Tolhuin (S54 31.546 W67 13.964, 33m)
Nice campground right on the lake with loads of old junk made into art. Windbreaks available for tent campers. Nice beach. Power and water. Shower and toilets need a little TLC. Very friendly owner, Roberto. AR$40 per person.
Camping Andino, Ushuaia (S54 48.757 W68 21.016, 107m)
Hot Showers and toilets, Some sites have grills. WIFI. Bar and central rec building. Electricity at sites. AR$90 per night.
Rio Pipo Campsite, Tierra del Fuego National Park (S54 49.199 W68 28.183, 96m)
Nice campground. We camped right next to the river with great views. Portacabin toilets. Make sure to cook using the grills provided, the Ranger made is move our BBQ half way through cooking! Free.
East Coast Argentina
YPF, Rio Gallegos (S51 37.361 W69 15.667, 17m)
WIFI. Toilets. Large sheltered parking area around the back. Free.
Municipal Camping, Puerto San Julian (S49 18.354 W67 43.233, 2m)
Nice campsite next to the sea with high hedges for wind breaks. Grills, electricity. Hot showers (heated shower room!) and toilets. Expensive at AR$150 for 2 people plus motorhome.
Rada Tilly, Commodoro Rivadavia (S45 55.055 W67 33.086, 3m)
Hot showers and toilets (8am-8.30pm). WIFI. Grills. Shelter from wind. Cost AR$96 (2 people + Motorhome).
Municipal Camping, Camarones (S44 48.150 W65 42.290, 5m)
Hot Showers, toilets, water, small shop with frozen meat and fish on site. Covered cooking area with grills. Water. Electricity. Not many of the sites are that flat but there are flat areas. AR$25 per person and AR$25 per vehicle.
Volunteer Bomberos Camping, Gaiman (S43 17.445 W65 29.259, 11m)
Small campground next to firestation and river. 5 minutes walk from centre of town. Picnic tables and electricity. Hot showers and toilets in need of TLC. AR$50 per night.
Beach Car Park, Puerto Piramides (S42 34.585 W64 16.609, 1m)
Car Park just above beach. Designated as a motorhome camping area. No Facilities. There are free municipal toilets (open 8.30am – 6.30pm) across from the Tourist information office, a 10 minute walk from the camping, on the other side of the beach. Free.
Argentinian Lake District
ACA Motel Car Park, Los Altares (S43 53.038 W68 24.678, 248m)
Large dirt parking lot at back of petrol station. Toilets and small shop in petrol station. Free.
Camping Nahuel-Pan, Esquel (S42 54.533 W71 17.307, 597m)
Nice small campground on grass. Hot water, showers, toilets, power, picnic tables and grills. WIFI. AR$40 per person + AR$40 for vehicle.
Las Rocas, Alerce National Park (S42 53.111 W71 36.138, 512m)
Small camping area on the lakeshore with trees for protection from the wind. No Facilities. Free.
Puerto Canero , Alerce National Park (S42 36.419 W71 38.713, 519m)
Down a narrow track which opens up at the bottom. Small camping area on the lakeshore with some shelter from the wind. Toilets block closed when we were there but toilets were available at the ranger station 5 minutes walk away. Free.
Camping de la Cerveceria, El Bolson (S41 56.608 W71 32.169, 308m)
Excellent campground in the grounds of a restaurant/brewery. About 20minutes walk from town. Hot showers. Toilets. WIFI. Picnic tables and grills. Pay slightly more for camping and get a “free” beer per person per night. AR$105 per night (includes additional AR$15 for electricity).
Camping Petunia, Bariloche (S41 05.760 W71 26. 799, 838m)
Very nice large organised campsite on lake with short path down to the beach. WIFI. Hot Showers and toilets. Water and electricity. Picnic tables and Grills. 20 minute bus ride into town. AR$105 per night.
Lago Villarino, Nahuel-Huapi National Park (S40 26.761 W71 32.650, 916m)
Camping by lake/river between two lakes. Very pretty with some shelter from wind though this was easier for smaller vehicles. No Facilities. Free.
ACA Camping, San Martin de Los Andes (S40 09.170 W71 19.937, 621m)
Large campsite with good Wifi (actually decent speed), hot showers, toilets , grills and picnic tables. Try to set up camp on the side by the river away from the busy road as it is much quieter. Short walk into town. AR$90 per night.
Piedra Mala Camping, Lago Huechulafquen (S39 43.400 W71 31.533, 895m)
Beautiful Campsite on the lakeshore with views of Lanin Volcano. Hot showers and toiletsPicnic tables and grills. Nice walk from here to Cascada El Saltillo (4km there and back), take the walking trail rather than the road. Apparently AR$35 per person although we paid nothing as we tried to pay but couldn’t find anyone !
Southern Lake District
On our way South we had driven through Chile and skipped the Argentinian Lake District. The weather at the time was terrible around the lakes so this was probably no bad thing but now it meant that we had to drive clear across the country to get to Esquel which is the gateway to the Southern end of the Argentinian Lake District.
Esquel is a lovely town that is much less touristy that the towns further North in the Lake District. From Esquel we visited the small Welsh town of Trevelin for another Welsh Tea.
Trevelin is a much nicer town than Gaiman but unfortunately the Welsh afternoon tea that we had at Nain Maggie was very disappointing. The decor of the tea room was very bland as well.
We also visited Nant Y Fall which is a series of three waterfalls only a few km’s away from Trevelin.
However in this area the highlight is National Park Alerces which is one of the few remaining sanctuaries for the massive and ancient Alerce trees. Unfortunately in order to visit the ancient stand of Alerces you have to pay (on top of the park entrance fee) an extortionate sum for a boat tour which consequently we didn’t do. There is however a hike to a younger Alerces tree at only 300 years old which we went to see but to be honest a young Alerces tree isn’t that exciting and nothing like the Giant Redwoods of California.
The park is very pretty though and has free campsites right on the lakeshore so we still enjoyed our time here despite some disappointing weather.
From Alerces national park we made our way North to the small, slightly hippy town of El Bolson. We had some business here as we needed to pay for the insurance that we had previously arranged with an expat German called Klaus who runs insurance for a whole fleet of overlanders.
El Bolson has a market around the main square which the Lonely Planet really talks up – it’s really not that exciting though with lots of carved wooden clocks, jewellery, a few Mate gourds and some jams and preserves. The cool thing about El Bolson is that the local brewery runs a campground so it didn’t take us too long to decide where to stay! Along with your camping fee come tokens for beer, finally a campsite that gets us !
Southern Chile Camping Spots
Chiloe
Playa Gaviotas, Ancud (S41 51.889 W73 45.707, 7m)
Nice campground with beach access, although a little run down. Individual sites with big hedges for wind protection. Each site has a covered picnic table and covered tent area (with sand floor). Electricity in each of the sites. There are rundown sinks with water at each end of the camping area. There is a to the beach, 3-4 minutes walk away. There is a large Fogon with tables, table football, covered grilling area and large fireplace. It rains a lot in Ancud ! CH$8,000 per night.
Terpel, Castro, Chiloe (S42 27.021 W73 46.457, 54m)
Petrol Station in Chiloe. Parking area. Toilets and WIFI. Free
Licadad Camping , Castro, Chiloe (S42 30.800 W73 47.600, 47m)
Narrow lane down but large area at bottom. Toilets and cold showers. CH$8,000 per night.
Mirador, South of Castro, Chiloe (S42 28.910 W73 46.151, 75m)
Large area for mirador. Nice view but not a peaceful place to stay due to late night activity – cars coming and going late into the night. No facilities. Free.
Carretera Austral
Under South Side of Suspension Bridge, Carretera Austral North (S43 10.568 W72 26.396, 66m)
Small Beach just under the bridge. For tent campers there is a good grass area and can even put your tent under the bridge for shelter. Good Fishing. Good views. No Facilities. Free.
Caro del Indio, Road to Futalefu (S43 22.314 W72 04.584, 134m)
Pay campsite. There are small fogons at this place with running water. Wood fired showers. Rustic toilets. Pretty difficult to find a flat spot although we did manage. Access to the river for fishing although to a fairly small stretch. CH$3000 per person.
By Bridge, La Junta (S43 57.737 W72 23.770, 54m)
There is small picnic area on the Southern side of this bridge down at water level. No facilities. Free. Be careful as one end is a very low suspension cable for the bridge and even a tall car might struggle to get underneath. We parked at the top.
Quelat Campground, Ventisquero Colgante (S44 28.239 W72 32.889, 77m)
This has to be one of the nicest campgrounds we’ve seen in Chile. Each site has shelter with picnic table, grill and water tap. There are temperamental hot showers and clean toilets. The campground has two sections and the section nearest the bathrooms is better. CH$3,000 per person.
Pullout by Sea, Puerto Cisnes (S44 44.712 W72 41.708, 3m)
This is a couple of hundred meters along from a recreation area which is free. This was very busy as it was a holiday but would usually be a better choice. The spot we chose was a pull-out off the road right on the sea. Great views. No Facilities. Free.
Lago Las Torres Camping (S44 47.918, W72 12.141, 274m)
In fine weather this is a beautiful campsite on a beautiful lake. There are a number of small cabanas for camping/cooking here. Picnic tables and grills. Fairly grim toilets and showers across the highway. We didn’t have hot water although there is supposed to be. The owners run fishing trips on the lake. CH$6,000.
Roadside Pullout, El Salto on Rio Pollux (S45 41.093 W72 03.396, 366m)
Small Pullout by the side of the road. We didn’t want to stay in Coyhaique so we drove a few Km’s past and found this. There is virtually no traffic overnight. It is right next to a pretty waterfall and a small 20 minute hike will get you to the bottom of it. No Facilities. Free.
Laguna Chaguay, Cerro Castillo (S45 59.182 W71 52.857, 1007m)
5 campsites. All are large with shelters, firepits, bins, water and picnic tables. Central toilet block with hot showers (wood fired). Water pressure was low when we were there. This campsite has the trailhead for a nice walk into the hills. We paid CH$2,000 per person. Others paid CH$5,000 for a site.
Lakeside Parking, Puerto Rio Tranquillo (S46 37.428 W72 40.373, 192m)
Parking area in front of the lake. We asked the police if this was ok to park here overnight and they told us yes. No Facilities. Free. Very windy.
Camping Pudu, Puerto Rio Tranquillo (S46 38.040 W72 39.888, 217m)
Lovely campsite with great views of the lake. Probably the best toilet and shower block of any campsite we’ve been to on this trip. Amazing hot showers with good pressure. Wind breaks. Firepits. Picinic Tables. Sauna (CH$12000 for 4). Campsite CH$5000 per person.
Glacier Exploradores (S46 29.882 W73 09.281, 148m)
Car Park for the Glacier. Toilets outside the ticket office for the glacier. Free.
Rio Nef Overlook, South of Bertrand (S47 07.860 W72 43.744, 181m)
Large area high on cliff above river. Well off the road and great views. A little slopey but not too hard to get flat. No facilities. Free.
Caleta Tortel (S47 47.747 W73 31.865, 53m)
Parking area for town. Toilets available (CH$100 but were left unlocked overnight). The parking area was full overnight so would recommend not arriving too late. Free.
Camping by Bridge over Rio Negro (S47 58.848 W73 10.235, 2m)
Gravel area by bridge over Rio Negro. Would make good overnight camping. No Facilities. Free.
On Rio Mayer, Villa O’Higgins (S48 25.181 W72 32.991, 271m)
On wide flat river bank – views of snowcapped mountains. No facilities. Free.
Puerto Yungay Ferry (S47 56.129 W73 19.433, 24m)
Small Parking area on North side of ferry. Toilets at café. Free. For 20km after ferry going North there is really nowhere to camp.
On South side there are a number of places to camp near the ferry perhaps the best is Rio Negro Bridge (S47 58.848 W73 10.235) which is about 5km from ferry terminal. You could also spend the night at Southern ferry (S47 58.077 W73 13.426) although there is less room – we saw cyclists making camp inside the waiting room where there is a toilet.
Beachside, Chile Chico (S46 32.334 W71 42.931, 217m)
At beach on lake. Quite busy during the day with locals enjoying the lake and swimming. Very quiet overnight and patrolled by police. No Facilities. Free.
Chilean Tierra Del Fuego
Plaza, Cerro Sombrero (S52 46.582 W69 17.474, 41m)
Sheltered from fierce wind behind old cinema museum. Very quiet overnight. No Facilities. Free.
Lago Blanco (S54 03.990 W68 57.365, 121m)
Designated free camping area in light woodland on shores of lake. There are pit toilets here but they are scary. Suits smaller vehicles or tent camping more than a bigger truck. There is plenty of space for a bigger truck but it is difficult to get shelter from the wind. Free.
Bahia Azul (S52 29.678 W69 31.271, 2m)
At the TdF side of the ferry. Very quiet overnight and allowed us to get first ferry in the morning. There are toilets and a shower in the visitor centre. We parked behind a long high wall to get shelter from the wind. Free.
Far South Chile
Parque Chabanco, Punta Arenas (S52 59.227 W70 48.822, 2m)
Free Camping areas with fire pits and some corrugated iron shelters. By sea. Some trees for wind shelter. We parked right on sea front but below the area with trees.
Rio Serrano Camping, Torres del Paine (S51 13.682 W72 58.426, 13m)
Nice campsite with good views. Grills, shelters with benches, lights and a table. Power. Water available from outside taps at bathroom block. Clean showers and toilets. Pay Campsite. CH$10,000 for two with free wood included in price.
Hotel Las Torres, Torres del Paine (S50 58.388 W72 52.423, 122m)
Very nice hotel with a parking area out front (on grass) where you can camp (if self-contained) and leave your vehicle while off hiking. There are very nice toilets in the hotel . There is also a day use area next to the car park with picnic tables and a small shop. Free.
Los Cuernos, Torres del Paine (S51 01.432 W72 59.172, 87m) – Tent and Refugio only
Private campsite on the W which you must walk to. Cooking hut (small with only 2 tables). Tent platforms. Bar & Refugio. Toilets and showers (only 2 for at least 100 people). Potable water. This felt very expensive and very crowded and the facilities were insufficient for the number of people using the campground (though this maybe because the next campsite, Camping Italia, was closed at the time we visited). There is a bar here and meals can be purchased. CH$8,000 per person.
Paine Grande Mountain Lodge, Torres del Paine (S51 04.311 W73 05.681, 42m) – Tent and Refugio Only
National Park Campsite on the W which you must walk to. Large grass area for tents – best shelter against wind right up against hillside. Quincho for cooking with gas stove. Potable Water. Toilets & Showers. Big bar/restaurant which serves a buffet dinner for CH$10,500. Small shop. Price CH$4,500 per person.
Valdes Peninsula
The Valdes Peninsula has the reputation as being one of the best places to see marine mammals in the world. It is also an amazing whale watching destination – in the second half of the year – but there were no whales around when we visited.
Valdes Peninsula Coast
We arrived at the gate house to the peninsula to be told that, due to bad weather, all the roads were closed apart from the main paved road to Puerto Piramides, the only town in the reserve. This was a slight setback to our plans but we decided to spend the night in the town and see what the next day would bring.
Unfortunately the next day the weather was not significantly improved and after inquiring at the tourist office we were told the roads would be closed for the whole day. The town was incredibly quiet the poor weather seemingly keeping everyone in doors. This didn’t bother a pair of comorants who spent the day walking from one end of the beach to the other.
Late afternoon, once the rain had subsided, we did manage to find one short road to a sea lion colony that had been re-opened which gave us something to do but mostly we spent the day relaxing and reading with crossed fingers that the roads would reopen the next day.
The following day we woke up to bright sunshine and the great news that the roads were open. We immediately set out down the wet and sandy roads to visit the key wildlife viewing spots on the peninsula.
The road was drying out well and we made good time despite the odd slide or two in the wet sand. We had got the best wildlife viewing times for each of the sites from the very helpful lady at the tourist information office in Puerto Piramides, so our first destination was to the elephant seal colony at Caleta Valdes.
Just before we got there we stopped off at a small Magellanic Penguin colony. This was pretty small and most of the penguins, which were fenced off, were some way away down a steep slope.
Elephant Seals
The elephant seal colony could only be seen from an overlook on the cliffs above and there were only a small number of the seals in evidence so it was pretty disappointing for us.
After checking this out we drove towards the far North tip of the island at Punta Norte which is world famous for the high tide Orca attacks on the sea lions living there.
On arriving we were delighted to see a little armadillo running around the car park. However this was to be the highlight of our visit. There were a lot of sea lions here but the viewing areas were just too far away to get a decent look at them.
We spent around an hour and a half with our fingers crossed that some Orca would turn up but we didn’t have any luck.
We set off back to Puerto Piramides feeling disappointed with the Valdes Peninsula. There is wildlife but it is fenced off and distant from you with none of the feeling that you get in less busy and more remote locations, feeling glad that we’d had such a good experience at Bahia Los Cabos. Whale season might be a different story of course.
Gaiman
The 1800’s saw a fairly large migration of Welsh farmers to Patagonia and they mostly settled on the Eastern side of the country. This must have been a shock as the landscape here is pretty barren and looks very hard to farm.
Front Door of Ty Nain Teahouse
At first glance the town of Gaiman didn’t look up to much but we dropped of the truck at the campground run by the volunteer firemen and went to explore the town. Unlike many of the other Welsh settlements in the vicinity you get a real sense that the Welsh culture is still very much alive in Gaiman.
Ty Nain Tea house
On our short exploration of the town we found several Welsh tea houses, including one very traditional tea house full of old memorabilia, much to Sarah’s delight. This was called Ty Nain (Grandma’s House) and we had to ring the doorbell to be admitted. The old woman who greeted us was excited to discover that Sarah is Welsh and immediately started speaking in very rapid Welsh. This was a bit much for Sarah’s school learnt welsh which is now very rusty but she did manage to remember a few pleasantries.
Welsh Tea in Gaiman
We sat down for a full welsh tea which involved some weak tea served in what felt like an antique teapot and a massive plate of homemade cakes and bread and butter. I wouldn’t know but have it on good authority that the cakes were authentically Welsh as in Sarah’s words, “it’s as if she had the same recipe book as my Nan”.
A Massive plate of Welsh Cakes
Having gone to great lengths to time our visit to Gaiman with St. David’s Day (at Sarah’s insistence), we discovered disappointingly that this is not a celebration for the Argentinian Welsh, at least not in Gaiman!
Gaiman Cemetary
On our way out of town we stopped off at the local cemetary. This was fascinating with some of the most welsh names you could imagine on the graves stretching back into the 1800’s. There were even 2 William Williams’.
Welsh Gravestone
Up the East Coast (Argentina)
Once back in Chile we had some serious miles to do to get up The East Coast to the Valdez Peninsula which was our next major destination. Argentina is a lot like Canada in that you can’t get your head around how big it is until you drive the distances.
The drive from Rio Gallegos, which is the city just North of Tierra del Fuego on the East coast of Argentina, to The Valdez Peninsula is 1,570km. This doesn’t even get you out of Patagonia !
Our first proper stop on the way up the coast was at Puerto San Julian where the sun came out and we spent a relaxing day BBQing up some empanadas, brownies and steak. We also explored the town – a process that took about 20 minutes but were intrigued by the replica pirate ship and the jet that fought in the Falklands war.
Back on the road again we spent a night in Commodoro Rivadavia before arriving at the tiny seaside village of Camarones.
Beach at Commodoro Rivadavia
This is the gateway to the Natural Reserve Cabo dos Bahias. This out the way protected area is home to lots of wildlife not least a large Magellanic Penguin colony. Its not quite as big as Punta Tombo to the North but has the serious advantage of being seldom visited – and for us at least free.
We spent a really enjoyable couple of hours walking the boardwalk through the penguin colony with the curious penguins following our every move. The magellanic penguins are different from the penguins we saw in Antarctica because they dig burrows. In amongst the penguins we saw Guanaco (a smaller type of Llama) and Rhea (small flightless birds) but the highlight for us was our first proper look at an armadillo that was wandering around sniffing at the penguin holes.
The penguin chicks were quite developed and at the crecheing stage where both adults leave the chicks, in groups, while they go off to feed and catch food for the chicks.
The reserve is surprisingly easy to get to with a paved road to Camarones and then a good dirt road all the way into the reserve. I think there might be an entrance fee but there was no one around to collect it so we got in for nothing. After leaving the reserve we got back on the road and headed to the Welsh town of Gaiman.
Border Crossing: Chile to Argentina at Cerro Castillo
This was to be our last crossing of the Chile and Argentina border for which we were grateful given the 4 pages of stamps now in our passports from these 2 countries.
Cerro Castillo is the nearest border crossing into Argentina to Torres del Paine and links up with Ruta 40 on the Argentine side.
Cerro Castillo is a slightly strange border as there is really no warning that this is a border. You arrive at a small hamlet with a couple of restaurants and a cross roads. If you head one way on the cross roads the road turns to gravel and you hit a barrier across the road.
There is a building next to the barrier and this is the location of both Migracion and Aduana. One window for each and 1 minute later we were on our way. After moving the barrier to one side ourselves of course.
The Argentinian border control is around 1km down the gravel road from here and we managed to pull up just as a bus was arriving from the other direction.
The inside of the tiny border post was incredibly crowded. There is one window for Migracion and another for Aduana. We thought it was quite funny that the Aduana window looked onto a large room with a table tennis table in it – guess these guys need to keep entertained somehow !
Once the guys from the bus had gone the place emptied right out. It was just a case of bad timing and the actual process was very easy and quick. Once past the borders there are a few km of gravel until you hit a good paved surface.
Torres del Paine
Torres del Paine has the reputation as being one of the best places to hike in the world. It also has the reputation as having some of the most changeable and wild weather in the world.
When we arrived in the Park, from the quieter Western side, the famous mountains were covered in clouds which were raining – hard. We decided to hang out and see what happened as we didn’t want to head out on a multi-day trek in terrible conditions.
We spent the day relaxing at campsite Rio Serrano just outside the park with a great view of the mountain range and waited for a break in the weather.
We found out the weather was going to change for the better in another day, so we set out to explore the park by Truck while things weren’t so good. Not so good meaning no rain but 100km/hr winds which made walking around interesting.
We were determined to do some hiking so we drove to the trailhead for the “W” hike and spent a very bumpy night in the Beast getting battered by the wind. It felt a bit like a giant dog was shaking us in its mouth !
We woke in the morning to calm and blue skies so we wasted no time in setting out for the first leg of the W. We were cheating slightly as we hiked up to the Mirador de los Torres as a day hike then slept in the truck before heading out for the rest of the W the following day after a comfortable nights sleep and a good evening meal. This would mean that we didn’t have to carry big packs on the first and probably most difficult day of the trek.
It’s an 18k roundtrip hike, climbing 1000m. The path climbs up from the main valley up and over a range of hills into another valley before eventually climbing up a relatively loose, steep hillside to the Cirque where the towers are situated. We had to race slightly against the clock as the weather started to come in. We reached the top just before the views started to be impaired by incoming cloud. By the time we left the top the cloud was coming in hard and fast. Those who met on the way back down were not going to get a good view at all.
When we got back to the camper we were pretty tired – 10 days on a ship in the Antarctic eating ridiculous amounts of food is no preparation for a big hike. The next morning however, with a good nights rest we were raring to go for the next leg of our hike – to Refugio Los Cuernos a mere 11 km away – but this time carrying our big packs. We were so raring to go that we lay in bed until 11am and didn’t set off until 1pm but set off we did. This part of the hike was fairly easy with a couple of inclines but nothing too taxing but in terms of scenery this was probably the least interesting day.
On arriving at Los Cuernos we found a pitch for the tent and paid the outrageous fee of US30 for the camping – the most expensive camping we’ve done all trip and the Beast wasn’t even involved. This is a privately owned campsite and unfortunately we had no choice but to use it as Camp Italiano was closed and there was no sign of Camp Frances despite its mention in our guidebook. It wasn’t even that nice with tents on top of each other (although they were well sheltered from the wind) and only two toilets for over 100 people and 2 picnic tables in the kitchen area.
The next morning we woke (though I’m not sure we slept that much) after a cold night to decent sunshine and no wind so we got on the road for the 5.5km walk to Camp Italiano where we were able to drop our packs (but not set up camp) and hike up a steep sided lateral moraine into Valle de Francis.
The views from the top were good but we couldn’t hang around too long as we still needed to hike another 7.6kms from the bottom to the next camp at Refugio Mountain Paine Grande.
This was a nicer place to camp as there is a big open area where a tent can be pitched anywhere – in strong wind it might not be so pleasant but we were lucky as there was only a light breeze.
Good toilets and facilities as well as a little shop, bar and restaurant where we indulged in a couple of beers while sitting in the sunshine airing our by now fairly battered feet.
At this stage we were almost done with the W but had one leg left. Up alongside Lago Grey. The weather was beginning to turn and we were starting to suffer, so we decided to do this as a day hike, leaving our pack/ tent etc. at Paine Grande rather than camp at Refugio Grey and returning the following day.
It was then a simple matter of getting a boat back to the dock at lago Pehoe, a bus to Laguna Armaga and a second bus to Hotel Las Torres before we were reunited with the Beast.
After a very sound nights sleep we woke to pouring rain and low cloud and knew it was time to leave the park and head North.
Border Crossing: Argentina to Chile at Rio Bellavista
This takes the prize as not only the quickest border crossing that we’ve done but also the most fun.
The Argentine side of the border is a reasonably big complex of buildings with a fairly dilapidated look about them. There is a boom across the road where you stop.
The actual border building looks more like someone’s house. When we arrived there was no one around but by the time we were out of the truck the Migracion guy had appeared and he wandered off to get the Aduana guy. The little dog was a nasty little thing and went absolutely mental at me.
Once they were both there we handed over our passports and TIP. They stamped them and we were done in around 2 minutes. I wouldn’t get here too early in the morning though or you might be getting people out of bed !
One of the guys lifted the barrier for us and we were done.
Between the two borders there is a river which needs to be crossed. There is a fairly shallow fording place which in good weather can probably be done on a motorbike.
A couple of hundred metres after the river there is a small collection of buildings making up the Chilean side of the border. When we arrived there was no sign of life and the main building was locked.
However we knocked on the door of a building a bit further up and this roused the border staff. There were three guys – Migracion, Aduana and SAG. They opened up the locked building – not using a key but using a scrap of metal to jimmy the lock !
Again the border was really quick and easy . We were through in only a couple of minutes. The guys here were really friendly and gave us a bunch of tourist material for the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego. They also told us that only 100 people a year use this border !
The SAG (food) check was the easiest we have had. We owned up to some potatoes and an onion. However when he came in he found some garlic we’d forgotten about and surprisingly let us keep it. He didn’t really look in any of the cupboards, only the fridge.
Total time for the border both sides was about 15 minutes making it the quickest border we have done on the whole trip. Although the road to and from the border is dirt it was in excellent condition the whole way.
Tierra Del Fuego
It took us a couple of nights to come down from our trip to Antarctica and get ready to be back on the road. Adjusting to a camper half the size of the room we’d had on Sea Spirit was only half of it.
Soon enough however we had our energy back and were ready to head off. Before leaving the “End of the World” in Ushuaia we needed to go South a few Km’s to the end of Ruta 3 and the Southernmost point that we would drive to.
Ruta 3 becomes dirt after Ushuaia, but good dirt, and soon after this it passes through Tierra del Fuego National Park. This park is small and pretty expensive to get into but it holds the end of the road and this is somewhere we wanted to visit.
The major upside of the park though is free camping at a number of basic campsites (with toilets and grills) which offsets the cost somewhat.
The park itself is pretty but not stunning with some coastline, rivers and forest. We only spent one night here as we wanted to get on with our trek North but it would be very easy to spend a few days hanging out here doing some walks and soaking up the sun (only of course if the weather is good!).
After leaving TdF NP we began our drive North but at Rio Grande instead of continuing North on the paved road we took the gravel road West to the very quiet Rio Bellavista border. This was our quietest border of the whole trip and crossing at 3pm we were the first customers of the day as we roused the officer to unlock the office and change the date on his stamp !
The gravel road to the border was in great shape and the border itself was quick and even involved a shallow river crossing.
On the Chilean side of the border the road wasn’t quite as good but still better than most of ripio that we have driven. We soon came across the ruins of a gold dredge – like the ones we had seen in Alaska but much smaller.
In Bahia Inutil (so called because it is useless for protecting ships from bad weather) we stopped off at what is the only mainland King Penguin colony in the world. This small (and quite expensive) colony has around 60 birds and scientists don’t understand what they are doing here as it is a long way from their usual home.
However they have been coming back for a number of years now and the colony is slowly expanding.
We had intended to catch the ferry from Porvenir to Punta Arenas however on arriving at the ticket office we found that the next ferry wasn’t until 7pm the following night which would put us ashore at dusk. Not wanting to drive at night we decided to drive up the coast to the other ferry in the North and take the long way around to Punta Arenas.
FromAtoB 