Author: neil

  • Hornopiren, CL to Pumalin National Park, CL

    Hornopiren, CL to Pumalin National Park, CL

    The “bimodal” ferry from Hornopiren to Caleta Gonzalo is a much bigger deal than the ~40 minute ferry we took on our first day on the Carretera Austral. It’s an hours-long trip, with a road segment sandwiched between two water segments, runs once a day (at least for the version that takes bikes) and requires…

  • Contao, CL to Hornopiren, CL

    Contao, CL to Hornopiren, CL

    Somehow our room managed to cool down enough relatively quickly, allowing us to get a good night’s sleep (even though Rett and Lamby were far away in a whole separate bed!) We emerged into a cooler, cloudier day, which was good because we hit some hills with double-digit grades at the beginning, forcing Rett to…

  • Puerto Montt, CL to Contao, CL

    Puerto Montt, CL to Contao, CL

    It was hot. Already by the time we had loaded up and left our little holiday house, shorts and a t-shirt were all I needed. We had extended our original 14-day booking to 16 days, mostly because that’s when there was space on an upcoming ferry (though partly because a couple more days of stationary…

  • Ensenada, CL to Puerto Montt, CL

    Ensenada, CL to Puerto Montt, CL

    With our AirBNB’s driveway connecting to the highway, we just continued straight along the route we’d been on yesterday evening, back into the left-side bike lanes that inexplicably* continue for 25 more miles along the south shore of Lake Llanquihue to Puerto Varas (*my guess is that it again has something to do with the…

  • Peulla, CL to Ensenada, CL

    Peulla, CL to Ensenada, CL

    In Peru, we frequently said “if this was in the US, it would be a National Park!”, for places that didn’t even have names. Chile, by contrast, has been much more active in designating National Parks, but there still seems to be little-to-no tourist infrastructure built into them. So although it’s surrounded by Vicente Pérez…