Ferry Quellon - Puerto Chacabuco

Quellón
21 February 2024 | 17°C

I have hiked several sections in the north so far and am now considering jumping further south to tackle some attractive sections before winter kicks in. While in Puerto Montt, I’m weighing a few options:

• Flying down to Ushuaia and traveling north from there.

• Cycling a bit further down along the Carretera Austral to Coyhaique, then continuing southbound on foot (and at some point, traveling down to Ushuaia by bus or hitchhiking).

After posting my ideas in the Greater Patagonian Trail Facebook group, a third option emerges: taking a ferry from Chiloé Island to Puerto Chacabuco through the fjords and then continuing from Coyhaique.

Though I really want to bike, this last alternative quickly becomes my option of choice.

It’s a five-hour bus ride from Puerto Montt to Quellón on Chiloé Island. I decide to take the 11am bus to have some time to explore the fisherman’s village.

Arriving in Quellón, I’m unsure if it was a good decision. It looks like the town’s best days are long gone. There’s a port with several fishing boats, but the shore is kind of dirty, and the cloudy skies give it an even sadder touch.

I start wandering around, looking for a place to pass the time until the ferry leaves at 11pm.

On the main street, I discover an optics store where I have my broken reading glasses repaired. Yay! An absolute mood booster. Google Maps then leads me to a promising coffee place on a side street. It’s nicely decorated, and the food is super fresh, including several veggie options. It’s so cozy!

I spend the rest of the day watching the sunset and waiting with other travelers until everyone heads over to the port for boarding at 10pm. It takes a good hour until all vehicles are neatly parked on the deck. Exciting! Looking forward to this trip!

Cisnes
22 February 2024 | 14°C

24 hours on a ferry? Doesn’t that get boring?

If someone hadn’t recommended it to me, I would have had doubts.

Not at all. Luckily, the ferry is only half full, so after leaving the port of Quellón at 11:30pm, I find a whole row of free seats and can fully stretch out my legs, almost like having a real bed. Good thing I brought my sleeping bag!

I wake up around 7am and, looking out of the window, I see several fountains. Whales?

Santo Domingo is just one of several stops along the way. Mostly small settlements with just a few houses. At Puerto Gala, while the ferry is unloading, some locals come on deck to sell food. I buy a portion of fresh “ceviche de salmón” (fresh salmon marinated in lemon juice). Fantastic! Fishing seems to be one of the main sources of income in this rather remote area. Boats instead of cars are the main medium of transport.

I spend a lot of time outside on deck, watching the landscape and talking to people.

Several waterfalls and a glacier pass by. There are also many little islands that have names on the map but are uninhabited. It’s reassuring to know that so much land without humans still exists on this planet.

The majority of cars and people get off at Puerto Cisnes, one of the bigger stops that seems to attract quite a bit of tourism.

As for accommodation, I have no idea where to stay in Puerto Chacabuco. The thought of having to look for a place to camp in a place I don’t know at all and arriving after midnight makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. In Puerto Cisnes, where I finally have phone signal, I call one of the numbers I see on a flyer on a notice board. A friendly lady answers. When I tell her I won’t arrive before 1am, she says, “No problem, I’ll wait for you.”

Puerto Chacabuco
23 February 2024

After a fascinating ride through the fjords, the ferry reaches Puerto Chacabuco at 1:15am. I had already taken a nap on the ferry and feel refreshed. Still, I want to get off as soon as possible since my friendly host, Isabel, is waiting for me. “No worries, I can wait for you,” she said when I called the number I found on a flyer on the ferry.

Cars and trucks disembark first, and though there are just a handful, it takes another 45 minutes until passengers like me finally get their luggage.

The air is fresher than up north, likely because it rained during the day. I reach Isabel’s place after a 15-minute walk, and five minutes after I close the door, it starts raining heavily.

I have a late start the next morning. As Isabel rents rooms and also has a cafeteria next door, breakfast is included. While I am having my coffee, a car arrives and drops of some travellers taking the ferry back at midday. The driver chats with Isabelle and turns out to be my ride to Puerto Aysen. Sweet!