Em 2001, Zelfa e Gunnar fizeram uma viajem pelo Chile e que se chama "Carretera Austral". Acompanhe a continuação do relato 1.

In Puerto Chacabuco is where all export and imports for Chile arrive for this region. It's also an important port to take the meat from southern Chile to Puerto Montt that will be delivered to the north of the country, and vise versa with fruits and vegetables. This is also a busy passenger port in the summer time taking tourist to visit the glacier at Laguna San Rafael farther south.

Back through Puerto Aisen we continued north this time on the 'Carretera Austral'. We were very impressed because the road was newly paved and it was a joy to drive. The scenery was magnificent. Even though it was a bit drizzly we stopped several times to admire the strength of the river, its incredible long and fast water falls, the pine trees along the road and rivers and of course we couldn't forget the beautiful cows.

Of course the satisfaction of driving in such a perfect road would end soon after the little village of Manihuales about 63 Km since we had started. It was then that we saw signs of a Brazilian investment in Chile, 'Mendes Junior Construction Co.' was building this famous gravel road. From there on the road would be enlarged at several spots, new bridges already constructed, water pipes guiding the water falls, etc.

This is a major new development for the region. It started raining more, the road became a bit slippery, narrower and we went up the mountains very high and whiny until reaching Villa Amengual. It was still early on a Sunday morning and there was nothing happening in the Villa.The height of the trees in this region was magnificent. The sound of the birds and the sense of being so isolated from the rest of the world were a great feeling.

The smell of freshness in the forest was like a healing touch. On the road we saw a base camp for the construction company. It was pouring rain and Gunnar decided to stop and ask if any Brazilians were working there.

Two Chileans were outside working and we approached them to ask. When Gunnar got out of the car, saw that two tiers were going flat. The Chileans said that yes there were Brazilians working but there wasn't any there at the moment. Meanwhile, Gunnar asked them please if they had an air pump to put air in the tiers until we could reach the next town. They were very nice and did a big favor for us after we explained that we were Brazilians driving a rental car from Argentina. Since we were so thankful for their kindness, Gunnar gave them a few pesos to buy a beer...

We then continued on the 'Carretera Austral' by now a very narrow road when entering the National Park Queulat. It would be different if the sun was out, but still it was impressive to see the mist coming out of the mountains and all water falls. The whole road in the Park was up and down, narrow with sharp curves. We could see rivers and little red flower bushes on both sides of the road. We were now running against time because of the two tiers starting to go flat....

We stopped on the road to see a huge waterfall and Gunnar was always checking the tiers when he noticed that one of them that had gone flat... time to get the extra tire out of the trunk and work again... This was our 3rd flat tire in Chile! Now we were really running against the clock until we saw at the end of the park and half way at the end of the beautiful fjord was the town of Puerto Puyuhuapi. This was a very charming town at the end of no where... built by the Germans in 1935.

Cute little houses, a perfect post card picture! First thing was to look for someone to fix the tire. Asked one and another until we found out that the 'caballero' was in Coyhaique for the weekend over 240 Km of gravel road... and he was not returning until the following day! So, where's the gas station, we asked? Before the bridge, at the end of town, turn left. Well, it was not a proper station, but a hut with 2 pumps for gas and diesel. Again, it was closed. A local man also drove by and honked. Everything was locked. He then said that the 'caballero' lived next door and he'd ring his doorbell.

The 'caballero', a tall white fellow with a bit of a Deutsch accent on his Spanish was very kind to come and sell gas. Meanwhile we asked him if he could do us a big favor to pump more air into our tiers, and since Gunnar spoke German with him, and told him we were Brazilians, he gladly opened his other locked door and gave Gunnar the air pump. With more gas and more air we were ready to continue our adventure jumping from one hole to the next on the gravel road, because by now it had rained all day long. We crossed dozens of wooden bridges and later found out that was part of the cause for having so many flat tiers. The loose nails from the old bridges would easily get into the tiers and start loosing its air....

Again we were running against the clock because our spare tier hadn't been fixed. It felt like we were driving a 'Rally' and no time to loose.
After another 46 Km of gravel we arrived in La Junta. Stopped at the first 'vulcanizadora', honked and two kids came over, saying that their father did not work on Sundays. We soon found out that we could not continue on our adventure before fixing the tire. So, we found the only hotel in town, which was on the road and stopped for the evening. The lady at the hotel fixed a nice meal for us while we enjoyed the fireplace. We wanted to rest in order to start early again the following day.

continua...