Leaving Reserva Añihue

Since Añihue Reserva wasn`t turning out to be the farm of my dreams I decided within the first week that I didn`t want to stay for the entire month I originally planned for. Getting out of Añihue however proved more difficult than expected. Because of it`s remote location it is only accesible by boat. On a nice day the boat ride can take anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour. When the weather is bad, the farms boat is unable to cross from Tonina to Añihue over the rough waters. This meant that I spent a week or so more than I wanted waiting on a sunny day in order for Felipe to come and retrieve me. Luckily the company at Añihue was welcoming. The two girls had a lot of energy and kept me entertained most days, the library was stocked with great books to read and research, and Gonzalo only spoke Spanish which forced all of us to speak Spanish and was great for increasing my language abilities. Our days were even less active in the rain and usually just meant caring for the animals in the morning and evenings. I spent time watching the gusts of wind distrub the surface of the bay like a giant invisable hand. The trees creaked and bent under the force of the howling wind and rain pelted endlessly atop the tin roof.

But eventually, a sunny day did come. We were beginning work on a shelter for the animal manure when we heard the boat coming in the distance. I gathered my things, said a hurried goodbye (Felipe doesn`t like to wait) and sat in awkward silence for the duration of the ride. I don`t think that Felipe is the type of person who likes to be challenged in what he`s doing and I guess that is exactly what I did. He dropped me off at the tiny beach and said our goodbye`s. When I thanked him he snorted out a little laugh. Maybe he thought I was some ungrateful American, but I was thanking him genuinely as the experience, though not what I expected, was still enjoyable. The Chileans have an expression, no me cae bien, which translates to: He didn`t fall well on me. And Felipe just didn`t. I thought he was a puny egotistical little man who needed someone to burst his bubble.

I walked back down the forrested path to Raul Marin. The last time I was in RM I didn`t see a single car. The roads aren`t so much roads as they are wide sandy paths and I had trouble believing cars would have an easy time passing them anyway. This is understandable considering the fact that the town itself had no use for cars at all until recently when the rustic Carretera Austral built an extension connecting it for the first time by land where it was previously only accesible by air or water. There are no busses running to Raul Marin and the only way out is to try to catch an expensive and infrequent ferry or hitchhike. The ferry wasn`t coming for another 4 or 5 days so I went `a dedo´ and was happy when the second car that stopped (also the second car I saw) happened to be headed to my destination La Junta, 75 km from Raul Marin. The pickup truck was packed with people and bags so I hopped in the short half bed of the truck on top of some suitcases and leaning against giant blue plastic drums. We headed down the dirt road and stopped before long at the side of a river where Andres, the driver, rearranged the people and bags to allow to a spot inside the truck. We crossed the river on a one-car ferry to the other side and continued on down the ripio (loose stone) road to La Junta. Andres dropped me off right in front of a bus that was headed in my direction and leaving in about 15 minutes. I couldn`t have had more perfect timing as transporation in this region is very hard to come by and I have heard tales of people getting stuck in towns for days waiting for the next bus.

Since I had a few weeks to spare after leaving Añihue early I decided that I would head South. It wasn`t originally in me plans for the trip but as I got closer I just couldn`t stop. Something kept pulling me further and further down into the depths of Patagonia. I hadn`t expected to want to keep going like that but the drive to see more barren wild landscapes and glaciers and snowy mountains and lakes just kept getting stronger and became this magnetic draw that I couldn`t ignore. From La Junta I planned to take a bus down to Coyhaique and splurge on a flight to Punta Arenas to go to the famous Torres del Paine National Park. But travel never works out exactly how you have it in mind and after arriving in Coyhaique I had a change of plans.