Our ferry
Chile 2023
Day 9: October 10
Ornopiren - Chaitén
Chile 2023
Itinerary
Today we have two ferries ahead of us.
The first is at 10 in the morning, and we arrived early, already at 8:30 we were by the pier.
There were already several cars there, and we joined the queue.
Boarding the ferry only started after 9:30.
While we were waiting to board, we bought real Chilean honey at the café near the pier — very tasty and aromatic, as we later found out! (a kilo of honey costs $8)
Our car. Waiting to board the ferry.
Finally, we’re off!
On the first ferry, we sailed for as long as 3.5 hours. It was sunny, but there was a strong wind, so we spent almost the whole time sitting in the lounge at a table.
After the first ferry, there were 12 km of gravel road. Then came the second ferry, and we sailed for about 30 minutes.
Finally, we arrived. We’re heading to the town of Chaitén.
The first half of the road is gravel.
Gravel section of the road
On the way, we made an absolutely spontaneous stop at a very beautiful place, Sendero Los Alerces, with unique Fitzroya trees.
These trees now grow only here, in southern Chile, in Patagonia.
The trees are unique for their size and age. The oldest tree is more than 3,600 years old!
When I learned about this, I simply could not believe it. How can you even imagine 3,600 years?
The trees are enormous, so tall and so wide in diameter.
The park is very beautiful, with wooden paths. A bridge over the little river.
Sendero Los Alerces Park
A very tall tree
It would probably take three of me to fully hug a tree like this, and it’s still far from the biggest!
Funny “fluffy” trees
After the park, we keep moving on. The road has become paved. After the gravel road, this is bliss :)
We are staying 24 km farther south from Chaitén.
Chaitén is a small village. There is a gas station here, two grocery stores, and several hotels.
In Chaitén, we filled up with gas and bought fresh bread.
The road to Chaitén
Chaitén
We arrived at our little house already in the evening.
While the sun had not yet set, we sat outside, drank tea, and ate sandwiches with bread, butter, and honey.
Life was a success!
Our little house. Mountains are visible all around.
Serzhyk is drinking mate, and I’m having tea. The sandwiches are very tasty. So simple and so delicious.
We’re having dinner by the little stove. Serzhyk rearranged things and brought two chairs here. It’s warm by the stove.
The house turned out to be very cold.
Without a stove, the temperature at night was 4 degrees.
We slept in hats, in all the warm clothes we had (I wore thermal underwear top/bottom + a fleece sweater + 2 pairs of socks) and under a pile of warm blankets.
Our route for today