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Adventure Patagonia... until the "fin del mundo"! APA2202

Sunday, December 4, 2022 | Domenico Schiano Moriello | North and South America

Welcome to Osorno, Chile!

Hello from Osorno, Chile! It took me 30 hours of travelling to be here, but it was definitely worth it, the first Patagonia tour after the pandemic is about to begin! So glad to be back here! So, stay tuned, three intense weeks are awaiting us!

First dinner together

Osorno to Pucon

Patagonia gave us a very "warm" welcome, rain has been pouring down for days and today it wasn't any different! So, rain gear on, ride with extra care and let's go! After we reached Pucon, our destination for today, the rain finally stopped and we could enjoy a nice walk and dinner in Town. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks much better, let's keep fingers crossed!

Lunch stop in Panguipulli, we are in the region of lakes and volcanoes!
In Villarrica... imagine a huge volcano in the background of this picture... pity it was covered by clouds!
Denise and George
Alex and David
the pier of Pucon
we chose a place for dinner
Alex and Paul trying a typical chilean dish, the "pastel de chocle", made from sweetcorn. The filling contains beef, chicken and boiled eggs... definitely a light dinner!

Pucon to San Martin de los Andes (Argentina)

What a beautiful blue sky today!!! We left Pucon and headed towards the border, we had to enter Argentina today! Riding through the Villarrica National Park was simply beautiful.... a forest of Araucaria trees (the national tree of Chile) and the snow capped top of mount Lanim in the background, a huge dormant volcano! After we entered Argentina, the landscale quickly changed, not many trees and instead a sea of grass.... what a strong contrast! We reached Junin de Los Andes, the first town after the border, and had a great lunch there before finally heading to San Martin.

wonderful blue sky in the morning
ready to go!
coffee break
Araucaria tree
Beautiful picture spot with Mount Lanin in the background
Preparing for border control
Once in Argentina, the road became unpaved and we could enjoy the first kilometres in a gravel paradise!
George and Denise
Brooke and Sandra
Alex
Paul
Denise and Sandra at lake Lolog, just before reaching San Martin
We are now on the famous "Ruta Quarenta", the longest route in Argentina and one of the longest in the world.

San Martin de los Andes to El Bolson

What a beautiful day! We left San Martin on a sunny morning and rode southwards all day long on the Ruta 40! The first stretch, between San Martin and Villa la Angostura, is also known as the "Route of the Seven Lakes", and we definitely took our time to complete it, with many photo stops! Once arrived in Villa La Angostura, we stopped there for a late coffee and/or early lunch and then continued to Bariloche, the most important town of this region, and also famous to be Argentina's chocolate capital! So it was definitely worth a tasty stop before finally heading to El Bolson. Tonight we are sleeping in a typical Hosteria!

First photostop, here Paul.
A very friendly hawk... he was probably expecting some food from us!
Weird and fascinating... I definitely have to learn some geology!
Brooke, Sandra, Denise and George
Another photo stop
Lunch time! Here David, Denise, Paul and Jeff
The world is so small!!!! Diego and Juan from Argentina were with me in July on another Edelweiss tour in Europe and today we met by accident in Villa La Angostura... so nice!!!
Chocolate and chocolate... we are in Bariloche
Now we know where the colours of the Argentina flag come from!
Our beautiful accomodation for tonight!

El Bolson to Futalefu (Chile)

Didn't we just enter Argentina a couple of days ago? Well it's already time to go back to Chile! We spent most of the day in Argentina, riding southwards direction Cholila where we saw Butch Cassidy's farm and then entered the magnificent "Los Alerces" National Park, a Unesco World Heritage site. Just before leaving the park, we had lunch in a nice camping and finally headed towards Chile. Tonight we are sleeping in Futalefu, in the middle of the Andes and just a few miles after the border.

Arrived at Butch Cassidy's farm
Sandra
Denise went to check the rooms
A nice coffee break befor hitting the road again
Entering Los Alerces National Park
The "Alerces" (Patagonia Cypress) that give the name to the whole park
Lots of gravel... and fun in the park!
Lunch time!
Entering Chile
Gauchos in Futalefu

Futalefu to Puyuhuapi

Leaving Futalefu, during the morning we rode mostly downhill on unpaved roads until we reached the RN7, the famous Carretera Austral. The weather in the morning didn't help us so much, and riding on gravel in the rain was today's challenge! Once we reached the pavement on the RN7 (the famous Carretera Austral), we stopped for a "typical" cafe in in Villa Santa Lucia and then finally headed to Puyuhuapi after a nice lunch in La Junta,

Brooke and Sandra crossing the Futalefu river
Villa Santa Lucia was hit by a massive landslide in 2017
Coffee stop in "Betty's house" literally!
On the Carretera Austral
Lunch break
Arrived in Puyuhuapi
Locals playing "Tejo"...
... and somebody was watching the game!

Puyuhuapi to Coyahique

A couple of words can describe today's ride: rain and cold! Well we are in Patagonia after all...  After leaving Puyuhuapi, the big challenge of today was to face the Queulat Pass, a curvy and steep gravel road, under pouring rain... but after all it wasn't too bad! We reached Villa Amengual and our usual coffee place was closed, but we fortunately found a "magic bus" where we could drink a coffee and warm up a bit. A quick lunch in Villa Manihuales and then we finally reached Coyahique in time for a walk in the centre (after a well deserved hot shower!) and a tasty dinner all together! We made it!!!

Wise choice!
The magic bus in Villa Amengual
Trying to dry some gloves...
Coffee tastes better after much work!
The "Virgen" waterfall, a few kilometres before Coyahique
Brooke
Denise and George
A walk through the centre... yes, the sun finally came out!
Buen provecho!!!

Coyahique to Puerto Bertrand

After the rain of yesterday, we really deserved a great day... and so it was! Leaving Coyahique and riding through wonderful landscapes we quickly reached Villa Cierro Castillo where we stopped for a coffee... and then we continued to Puerto Tranquilo on a great long gravel road! There, on the shore of the great lake General Carrera (the biggest lake in Chile), we had lunch and then we went on a boat tour to admire the amazing marble cathedral, a rock formation sculpted by the lake water over thousands of years to create beautiful, intricate structures and caverns that continue to be shaped to this day. But the day was not over, back to the bikes we had to ride for around 50 kilometres more to reach our beautiful lodge where we are going to spend the next two nights!

The Cierro Castillo
Amazing road (here still paved!) and landscape!
Paul
George and Denise
The gravel has begun, here Brooke and Sandra
Lake General Carrera, here we come!
The boat waiting for us
The Marble Chapel
Incredible rock formations
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We almost made it, the last bridge and soon we'll reach our accomodation!

Rest day ride to Chile Chico

The first rest day of this tour! Some of us decided to make it a real rest day and enjoy the beautiful accomodation and its surroundings... while others (Alex, Paul and Domenico) went for quite a long ride until Chile Chico, following the southern shore of lake General Carrera. What an epic ride! A lot of gravel and magnificent sceneries! After a coffee break in Chile Chico, at the border with Argentina, we slowly came back and even had time to relax a bit before having dinner again all together. Tonight we have to go to bed early... because tomorrow's ride will be one of the longest and toughest of the whole tour!

Patagon is a wonderful and very friendly dog!
Arrived in Chile Chico
The ride was epic and even the landscape changed a lot along the route!
This truck probably almost fell down and was abandoned there
Time to fuel-up the motorcycles
Alex relaxing
The place where we are staying!

Puerto Bertrand to Gobernador Gregores (Argentina)

The longest and toughest ride of the tour has finally arrived. around 220 km on unpaved roads over the "Paso Roballos" to enter Argentina, and then 240 kilometres on paved road with potholes and strong wind! We came to the hotel very late but we made it!!! P.S. Pictures don't do justice to the wonderful landscapes!!!

First photo stop at the junction between two rivers, the Baker and the Neff
Let's continue to Paso Roballos
Guanacos
Probably it rained a lot a few days ago!
Entering Argentina
Landscape quickly changed and became a steppe

Gobernador Gregores to El Chalten

Yesterday's ride was tiring, but no time to rest, today it was another long and tiring rain, mostly paved (except for a 70 km stretch) but the strong wind didn't give us rest! We reached Tres Lagos where we had a quick lunch in the only possible place (the gas station!) and then continued to El Calafate, at the shade of mount Fitz Roy, but it wasn't possible to admire this imposing mountain... let's hope for tomorrow!

What you see in the background is not fog but dust... imagine the strong wind!
Finally in El Chalten, time to fuel-up!

El Chalten to El Calafate

Fortunately the clouds disappeared and this morning we could admire mount Fitz Roy, the paradise of climbers and hikers! After the first photo stop just outside of El Chalten, we proceeded to La Leona, where we had coffee and finally reached El Calafate quite early, in time for lunch. So today we had some time to finally rest!

Mount Fitz Roy in the background
What a beautiful mountain
Foxes
At La Leona
La Leona river. This was once the only place where you could cross this river with a raft. Nowadays there's a bridge

Rest day ride to the Perito Moreno glacier

One of the biggest highlights of the tour was awaiting us today, the incredible Perito Moreno glacier! What a magnificent site, where one feels so small looking at the power of nature! We first reached the main wiewpoint by motorcycle and then went to the pier where we joined a cruise and hike tour... to come very close to this world wonder! On the way back we also stopped at the glacier museum, where we could learn more about the whole Patagonian ice field. Time to rest now!

Approaching the Perito Moreno glacier
Paul and Alex
Ready to board!
Breathtaking
The ice wall here is around 50 metres high... and below the water surface there's another 120 metres of ice!
Let's start the walk!
This ice formed many hundreds of years ago!

El Calafate to Puerto Natales (Chile)

Time to go, after two nights spent in El Calafate! Today the wind didn't bother too much and we reached the border with Argentina around 1pm, so we had lunch before crossing it and then quickly reached Puerto Natales, our basecamp for the exploration of the Torres del Paine National Park!

Photo Stop with a view!
A lonely gas station
Gas stations attract stickers! Everybody wants to leave a mark...
So we put our sticker too!
At lunch
Today Argentina was playing in the World Cup!

Rest day Ride in the Torres del Paine National Park

What a beautiful day!!! After the strong winds of the previous days, this was the perfect reward! We spent the whole day riding around the wonderful Torres del Paine National Park, had lunch right under the peaks and then, after coming back to town, we went out for a delicious pizza in the southernmost original Neapolitan pizzeria in the world! Pictures don't do justice to the wonderful landscapes, but you can still have an idea!

Many photo stops today
George and Denise
David and Paul
Our lunch spot
Alex and the Torres del Paine
Paul and the Torres del Paine
The Paine waterfall
At the Laguna Azul, sorry but the picture is just a little bit backlit!
The sweetest dog!
PIzza tonight. Carmine is a guy from Napoli who met a local girl in England, then they moved here and opened this pizzeria a few years ago. His story is so interesting!!! And this is definitely the best pizza in Patagonia!

Time to go "home"!

Puerto Natales to Cerro Sombrero

Let's continue riding southwards, today we reached Tierra del Fuego across the strait of Magellan! The landscape has definitely changed, and a long straight road took us from Puerto Natales to Villa Tehuelches where we stopped for a coffee break before reaching the strait of Magellan. The clouds were quite thretening but fortunately the wind wasn't too strong. Our destination for today is Cerro Sombrero, a little village in the north of the Tierra del Fuego, founded in 1958 as a residential and services centre for the national Petroleum Company.

Coffee/lunch break
Roadblock!
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Looking at this tree, you can understand how strong the wind can be!
David
Shipwreck in the strait of Magellan
On the ferry to Tierra del Fuego
We reached Tierra del Fuego!

Cerro Sombrero to Ushuaia (Argentina)

Today we finally reached the southermost city in the World! And of course also the southernmost place of our trip! Tierra del Fuego is famous for the strong winds, and today we got a proof of it! We stopped for a coffee break just before the border with Argentina, and then continued to Rio Grande where we had lunch. Another stop in Tolhuin at the most famous bakery of the island and then finally reached Ushuaia! We made it!!!

Coffee break before the border to Argentina
Many motorcyclists around, as we get closer to Ushuaia
The famous bakery in Tolhuin
Paso Garibaldi
We reached Ushuaia!
Dinner with a view

Rest day in Ushuaia

Today we went for a short ride in the National Park of the Tierra del Fuego, and we reached the end of the Ruta 3 so, as the locals say, the end of the world! After we came back, time for a rest and then we went for a walk in town, to buy souvenirs and have dinner there. Argentina was playing in the World Cup today, and they won, so after the match we could enjoy watching incredible celebrations on the streets!

At the end of Ruta 3!
Riding in the National Park
The famous southernmost post office
George and Denise
Paul sending a postcard from the World's End
Big celebrations for Argentina's victory today

Ushuaia to Rio Grande

Despite the weather forecast, this morning it wasn't raining so we went for a ride on gravel to the coast in front of Puerto William, Chile, and then continued to Tolhuin for a quick lunch before finally heading to Rio Grande. Tonight dinner out!

Clean and dirty boots
Ready to go

The coast at Puerto Almanza, on the Beagle Canal

Rio Grande to Punta Arenas

Last riding day, we made it! What an epic ride today, strong winds and sometimes rain (so not much time for pictures!), but we also managed to see the penguins at the Pinguino Rey reserve and made it to the mainland just before the port operations stopped for a while for strong wind! We reached Punta Arenas, left our bikes at the garage and then went for our last dinner together. Goodbye everybody, and thank you for 3 unforgettable weeks together!

Photo stop at the monument for the Falkland war in Rio Grande
At the Pinguino Rey park
Crossing again the strait of Magellan
Motorcycles delivered!
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Add a comment Rate this post
Paul Mollere
Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 01:52

Domenico, your travel blog of our Adventure Patagonia trip is top notch! You did an awesome job leading this trip. It was a blast! So many sights, experiences, people, memories, it was world class. We had an awesome group of people and friends. Muchas gracias mi amigo!
Domenico Schiano Moriello
Monday, January 9, 2023 at 17:28

Thank you Paul! I hope to meet you soon again somewhere in this World!!!
George Eller
Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 11:36

This ride is very challenging, but it is also very rewarding. The scenery in Chile and Argentina is breathtaking. Snow-capped mountains dipping their feet into crystal blue lakes.
Domenico Schiano Moriello
Monday, January 9, 2023 at 17:29

Hey George! Yes, definitely a challenging tour!
David McMilan
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 23:23

Domenico's definitely going for blogger of the year again . . .
Domenico Schiano Moriello
Monday, January 9, 2023 at 17:29

LOL, thank you David!
Denise Eller
Monday, November 28, 2022 at 12:28

We had a perfect day at Torres Del Paine! Great weather, gorgeous scenery, and lovely new friends! It doesn’t get any better than this.
Dan
Sunday, November 27, 2022 at 18:57

Hi Domenico,
that is the next trip on the list, it looks great!!
Have much fun.
Save Trip.

Dan
Domenico Schiano Moriello
Monday, January 9, 2023 at 17:31

Hello Dan!
Yes, this tour is great and, in my opinion, Edelweiss toughest together with the Adventure Big Five... you should really do it! And hopefully I'll be the guide Greetings from Italy!
Paul Mollere
Monday, December 19, 2022 at 22:42

Dan, it was an awesome trip and I am very glad to have experienced it. Words and pictures are hard to convey what this trip was like, it was incredible, still processing it, and with a smile. Domenico did an awesome job leading this trip on many levels, he took great care of us in my opinion.
Uli Fischer
Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 21:33

hallo domenico
bei deiner tour kommen so viele erinnerungen hoch im 2018 waren martin und ich die einzigen doppel fahrer ( 18 männer und ich ) aber es war so toll und eine schöne erfahrung liebe grüße und weiterhin viel spaß und gute fahrt euch allen sieht nach viel spass aus lg aus der schweiz
Domenico Schiano Moriello
Monday, January 9, 2023 at 17:32

Hallo Uli!
Danke fuer dein Kommentar, ich freue mich dass du unser Blog gefolgt hast! Liebe Gruesse aus Neapel! Bis hoffentlich bald!
Teresa
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 14:47

Yay! That y'all are back in business.
Ride on!

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