We left Puerto Rio Tranquilo on Christmas Day and we followed the route around the extremely large and beautiful turquoise lake Carrera Grande which in Argentina becomes the Lago Buenos Aires towards Los Antiguos.
There was another rainbow over Rio Tranquilo as we left. This was one of or probably the only Christmas Day we have spent driving almost the whole day. Most of the road on the drive today was on rough and unpaved roads till Chile Chico.
The route was spectacular and flanked by the turquoise and jade of the lake and the blue blue sky with fluffy white clouds on one side and mountains and valleys clothed in hues of green with little conclaves of flowers and bushes along the roadside.
We came across a field filled with Ashy-headed geese which we initially thought belonged to a farm but later realised were wild. Though they are waterfowls they spend most of their time on land grazing in open fields of grass.
We encountered a field bountifully covered with daisies extending into the horizon for no particular reason other than the sheer exhilaration of beauty to exist.
In Puerto Tranquilo I had seen roses showing the same exuberance.
The other flowers and plant that I have identified using Google lens maybe totally incorrect in labelling as I have now realised that Google lens is determined to give you a response whether right or wrong ( a very human trait😄)!! But the most distinctive plant is a low growing spiky cushion like plant with small yellow flowers seen all over Patagonia called Mulinum Spinosum.
At Aldana, we completed our section of the Carretera/Ruta 7 as we had now to take the 265 towards Chile Chico and the crossing into Argentina. One of my aims was to complete the drive to Villa O’Higgins.. however, due to the changed ferry date from Puerto Natales we had to shorten our drive by 4 days! Se la Vie.. Another time perhaps!!
The 265 continued hugging the southern coast of Lago General Carrera towards Argentina, and Chile Chico, with ups and downs, hairpin bends and spectacular views.
Along the way we stopped at a view point ( Mirador) with a beautiful jewel like Jade lake.
The main road ran through the centre of Chile Chico and headed toward the border. On the way we crossed a cemetery. Chilean cemeteries are quite interesting, in that there are distinctive house like structures over tombs. They are called pantheons and are generally seen in the south of the country.
We had expected the crossing into Argentina would take a couple of hours. However being Christmas Day, we seemed to be the only travellers on the road. The Chilean immigration, stamped our passports and the document for the car, confirming our exit from Chile. From the Chilean border there was about 7 km of “No Mans” land before the Argentinian Check point.
Entry into Argentina and bedding for the night at Los Antiguos.
More about The Cherry Capital of Argentina and Bidets in the next blog….
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