My Cart
Your Shopping Cart is Empty
Chaitén, Chile — South America Overland Guide
|
posted by Chris Vasquez
Drive from Hornopirén: approximately under 2 hrs driving + ferry crossings. Use the scheduled Carretera Austral ferries south and let the boat time replace highway fatigue; driving remains short even though the travel day is longer. This stage is designed around the expedition rule that we never ask the driver—or our 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series—to grind through more than six hours of actual driving in a day. The reward at Chaitén is Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park, Chaitén Volcano and fjord coastline. The route itself is part of the story: we are watching South America change through the windshield rather than flying over the difficult pieces.
Adventure & stay: Hike a Pumalín trail, visit volcano viewpoints and sleep with rainforest on the doorstep. Our preferred stay is Yelcho en la Patagonia or a high-quality local lodge. A nature lodge outside town is the right kind of luxury here: quiet, warm and surrounded by water and forest. The idea is never luxury for luxury’s sake; it is recovery that lets us get back outside the next morning. A real bed, a hot shower, a spa or a good meal can be just as important to a long overland expedition as another night under canvas.
Land Cruiser check & daily equipment: After ferry ramps and gravel, inspect tires, wheel bearings, underbody and brakes; refill fuel whenever reliable supply appears. For this leg we want rain gear, waterproof boots, dry bags, satellite messenger, fuel reserve where permitted and a compact saw only where legal/appropriate. The 100 Series is being used exactly as Toyota intended—quiet and comfortable on pavement, full-time four-wheel drive ready when the road turns to gravel, and mechanically conservative enough that preventative checks remain more important than dramatic modifications. We leave Chaitén only when both the crew and the truck are ready.
0 comments