Day 20
Lago Buenos Aires, Argentina to Coyhaique, Chile
After days of dry desert and pampas, we finally made it back to the mountainy, laky areas I love so much.
We woke up in front of Lago Buenos Aires (known as Lago General Carrera in Chile) and went almost straight to the border crossing. Both sides were very pleasant to cross, and we ended up having a long conversation with the guards on the Chilean side. In Puerto Ibáñez we picked up a young hitchhiker that had been traveling around in southern Chile taking photos for student ID cards in the small towns. We left her in Cerro Castillo and took a half an hour to check on the persistent noise from the rear left wheel. We still couldn't figure it out what the problem, so we kept on down the road.
In Coyhaique, we asked a friend for a recommendation for a mechanic. Although everyone said that all the mechanics in Coyhaique were untrustworthy, Dad dropped us off at the skatepark and he went to see the mechanic. We hung out playing and skating, and Mom worked on her 21 day reflection blog post.
We eventually got cold and decided to head into town to get warm with some coffee. Dad joined us and told us the mechanic had told him that it was a problem with the bearing. We were a bit confused by his diagnosis, but didn't feel cheated. We had made plans earlier to meet with friends, but one of them was feeling a bit under the weather so we revised our plans to meet in the morning.
Southern Chilean towns are part of the mate culture and have cool sculptures in town to reflect that. Here's Coyhaique's fancy mate sculpture:
We ate dinner at the restaurant we were at and headed back to the place we had previously arranged to park at. I took a (cold) shower and when I got back Wells was fast asleep so I stayed "downstairs" and talked with my parents until I accidentally fell asleep and woke up around 3 and moved back "upstairs."
Day 21
Coyhaique, Chile to Quellon, Chiloe de Chile via Puerto Cisnes
We woke up and prepared "the house" to have our friends Brian and Anna over. We crammed all 6 (and a half!) of us into Jules and talked about what we'd been doing for the last 3 weeks since we'd seen each other. They had to go to an appointment and we made plans to have lunch later.
At noon, we met up for some great pasta and had nice conversation and shared movies and music. Sadly, at 2pm we had to say goodbye because we were worried about time needed to the port, and that the car would have trouble along the way.
We made the reservations for the ferry from Puerto Cisnes, a little farther north of Coyhaique, to Chiloe that night (Wednesday) at 8:30pm--a much shorter boat ride (12-hours vs. 28-hours) than the next boat which wouldn't leave until Friday. Dad wanted to get on of those gaucho hats (Boinas) so we spent all day looking around for the perfect one.
At noon, we met up for some great pasta and had nice conversation and shared movies and music. Sadly, at 2pm we had to say goodbye because we were worried about time needed to the port, and that the car would have trouble along the way.
We made the reservations for the ferry from Puerto Cisnes, a little farther north of Coyhaique, to Chiloe that night (Wednesday) at 8:30pm--a much shorter boat ride (12-hours vs. 28-hours) than the next boat which wouldn't leave until Friday. Dad wanted to get on of those gaucho hats (Boinas) so we spent all day looking around for the perfect one.
(Photo courtesy of losgauchoschilenos.blogspot.com)
We slowly drove towards Puerto Cisnes, stopping every 30 minutes or so to let the car rest.
Mom stopped to pick some rose hips to give to her friend Monica at one of our stops.
We made it on time and were told that we could sleep in the van overnight instead of the seats upstairs.
We hung out in the lounge of the boat for a while watching trashy telenovelas and eating cup o noodles. Once we got bored, we went back to Jules. It was very loud with all the machinery so Mom and Dad slept in the tent and me and Wells slept downstairs and watched a couple of shows together.
Day 22
Quellon, Chiloe to Puerto Montt
We were hurried to get up in the morning because Mom said that she was going to die if she didn't go to the bathroom soon. We all marched upstairs and ate bread with butter and watched the sun rise over the fjords. We also watched the people sleeping all over the place in the boat. This guy got creative in the cafeteria.
Once in Chiloe we basically went straight towards the north end off the island, stopping only in Castro to pick up a gift of artisanal baby booties for my Aunt's collection.
We stopped in Ancud for lunch on the water, and kept on moving, we were determined to make it to Puerto Montt or more that night.
It was a short drive from Ancud to Chacao, Chiloe where you take the ferry to Puerto Montt, and luckily, we just made the boat, being the last ones on the ferry. It was a short ride to the mainland, and we decided that in Puerto Montt we'd look for a part for the car that we thought would help with the noise. We ended up being pointed to a CV joint specialist (homocineticas in Spanish) who looked at the car, determined that it was a problem with the CV joint, and told us to come back the next morning at 9.
We parked in a parking lot near the bus station and called it a night.
Day 23
Puerto Montt to Concepción
We woke up early and packed up quickly, needing to get to the mechanic before 9am. We were lucky and things went smoothly and our CV joint was fixed without anything getting in the way.
We left Puerto Montt by 1pm and headed north to Concepción, where we were to stay with our friends Mauricio and Monica and their daughter Anita while we finished up our things in Conce and visited with friends.
Sllipper Gang represent! Album available soon...hahaha
We drove all day and got to Conce by 9pm. It was so nice to arrive to lasagna! Thank you Monica!!! We all showered, ate, visited and fell asleep--the kids in real beds, and the parents in the van.
