Day 14 – The fjords and snow-capped volcanoes that weren’t

Our stay in Chile was short but sweet. Today we are  crossing back the border to Argentina. This time not with a long bus ride, but via a boat trip over the beautiful lakes of the Lake District that is shared by Chile and Argentina. We drive along the Llanquihue lake to the Petrouhue waterfalls. The weather is obviously not in a good mood today. The volcanoes in the background wrap themselves in a fog and the rain pours down. Waterfalls Petrouhe are not really classic waterfalls. They are rapids. These waterfalls are formed by a black volcanic rock which is very resistant to erosion.

From here it goes to the port of Petrohue on Lago Todos Los Santos, where we take the first boat. Our luggage is loaded into containers that we will only see back at the end of the ride. Lago Todos Los Santos is so named because it was discovered on 1 November (All Saints). The lake has an emerald green color ... but that is all what we see. The weather is possibly even worse. From the beautiful fjords and snow-capped volcanoes… there is nothing to see. For the first time this trip, we are really unlucky. The boat trip takes about 1h40 to complete. We arrrive in Peulla where we are transferred to the only hotel in the area. This is done by bus. In the hotel we have ample time for lunch. At 3 pm the bus leaves for the Argentine border. No problems this time along Chilean side. Also on the Argentine side, everything goes smoothly. Some of the suitcases are taken out of the container to be checked. Here on the border we take the next catamaran. Our suitcases are removed from the container and let loose on board. I hope it will be fine. Our next boat trip is a short one. The catamaran only takes about 20 minutes to cross Lago Frias. The next bus takes us in about 15 minutes to Blest where the last catamaran is waiting for us. The suitcases are loaded on the front deck. I see my suitcase falling of the conveyor belt.  Ai ai. Our boat trip across Lake Nahuel Huapi takes about 1h15. On weather improvement, we can’t count today.  It is a shame as we see on board the catamaran pictures what we have missed today : an impressive boating trip on lakes with deep fjords and with snowcapped mountains.