On channels Patagonia, Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt

After El Calafate and Perito Moreno, most travelers continue to El Chalten, another temple of the hike, and continue through the Carretera Austral, Chile. A trail of beauty, surrounded by turquoise lakes and rocks just as colorful. But above all, a track, winding and ill, that we are reluctant to borrow with our car. Then we go to the sea, and ship to Puerto Natales with Navimag for a crossing of Chilean fjords to Puerto Montt.
The heavy Navimag ferry has nothing to do with the luxury ships lying in Ushuaia ... We meet less than rentiers backpackers, who share cabins with 4 ... or for the less fortunate, the dormitory of 16 people! All these people cohabiting in a common room a bit cramped, or on deck in calm weather. The first day of the crossing should be as impressive as the boat slips in the Patagonian channels to reach the foot of the glacier Amalia. Unfortunately the weather is not looking good, the sky is so white that blends with the snowy peaks. Bright sunshine with us the next two days, but bad luck, we approched more glaciers so close. Two months in Patagonia make demanding and whales "cauldron" blowing off does not make us as effective as their cousins ​​Valdés ...


Finally, for me, the highlight of the crossing will be located on the ground .... The second day we landed in Puerto Eden. Puerto Eden is nothing paradise. There is wet and cold all year and we have a chance to catch a mad timid ray of sun. More importantly, it is a village completely cut off from the world's only source of supply is the Navimag ship on which we travel, that it stops about every two weeks, when time permits. It runs on wooden walkways, the soil of the island being a spongy material that never dries. Yet it is here that the "on" has installed the latest Indian Fuegian the Alakufs. It remains today a handful, lost in the few hundred villagers of Puerto Eden. Their fate is in all respects similar to the Yamana of Ushuaia. Like them, they will soon be part of history books.


The shock is palpable. Most travelers take advantage of the unexpected windfall to stretch their legs. A flood of orange life jackets flooded bridges, not too emotional. Behind a stall stands Gabriela, a recent Indian Alakuf. Dignified and stiff, she poses for the holiday souvenir. It's my turn, I botched my picture and tries a shy smile by purchasing two small wooden boats. Then I walk away to watch from a distance, a little ashamed ...