After our hop-over to the Argentine Lake District, we are back in Chile... which feels like coming home :) While the Argentine border officer gives us a hard time and pretty much turns Pepe inside out (even checking the engine!), we are welcomed back to Chile with a friendly smile.
Needless to say that we cannot cross the Futaleufu (shortly Futa or Fu), one of the top three whitewater rivers in the world, without getting on a raft ourselves. Even the sun is present (an exceptional treat in Patagonia!) which makes for a truly exhilarating experience! We want more! :)
Though we soon leave the sun behind us when we enter Chile's legendary Ruta 7, the Carretera Austral, or "Southern Highway", be it that Chile's most challenging road is everything but a highway. As our guidebook aptly puts it: the question is not "Will I hit any potholes?" but rather "Which potholes should I hit to cause the least damage to my car?" This is pioneer Patagonia... ready to be tackled by Pepe!
What awaits us is nothing short of an adventure. In the pouring rain, Pepe fights himself through seemingly endless stretches of terrible gravel road, while rattling like a thunder. Only some rare paved sections (silence!) and sudden sun-rays provide a brief relief from our continuous battle! Slowly but surely, but surely slowly, we make our way from settlement to settlement (often counting not more than a couple of ramshackle houses), fueling up at every occasion. The beauty and serenity of the ever-changing landscapes we drive through form a stark contrast with the deafening war that is raging inside.
While Pepe refuses to give up, his engine humming happily, one of his wheel bearings - suffering from the continuous shocks - suddenly calls it a day (with a squeaky sound). From that moment onward, we only have one mission: make it to Puerto Yungay, the pseudo-end of the Carretera Austral, from where a car ferry departs to the deep south (only once a week!) on the 31st of December. A destination that is still 250 very loooooooong kilometers away...
It takes several friendly emergency helpers along the road, a creative nightly mechanic shift (from midnight to 3:30 AM), a couple of quick follow-up review sessions in tiny villages, and plenty of prayers, but hey, Puerto Yungay... we made it! :)
“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal. ”
