Futaleufú White Water Rafting & Coyhaique – Patagonia

02/02 ~ 06/02

Chile

Thurs (02/02) – Futuleufú

We crossed across the border via shuttle bus to a small town not far away called Futuleufú. A town famous for its river Futa, some of the best white water rafting in the world. Armarno, Keren and myself all booked into the same hostel on the outskirts of town called Los Natalias. It was amazing, with a huge green lawn and garden and high ceilings with carved timber interior three stories high. The common room was welcoming and cosy and always had a few people chilling out.

We dropped our bags and went into town for some food to cook. Armarno and myself bought steaks from a carniceria (butcher). Inside were carcasses and the most rough cuts of meat I’ve seen. I guess it is a family butcher after all. 

The selection was limited but we identified t-bones and rib eye steaks and got two each. We also grabbed some items from supermarket, and watched the lady add up the total on paper. ‘I guess this is how it used to be done‘, I think, as I painfully watch the slow process go underway for our twenty or so items. We walked around the plaza briefly before leaving. It’s a pretty little town!

My steak was tough and full of sinew. My guess was because cattle here have to climb steep hills? Complete guess haha! I cooked my steak with onion and seasoning with a side of tomato and cheese. Armarno was more imaginative in his gourmet meal and gave me some of his leftovers. He actually made so much he was offering it to the entire hostel it seems haha.

After dinner, I chilled on the lounge and met an older guy (late forties?) from the UK called Jeff. We talked for ages, and I discovered he had a wealth of knowledge about hiking and mountaineering and had been all over the world. I could tell this guy had some tales to tell.

Fri (03/02) – Futaleufú White Water Rafting

Today we needed to get rafting tickets. Armarno, Keren and myself decided to go together. There were about six vendors selling rafting tours, but we went with Bochinchos (I think it was called) because the guy was funny and seemed cool. It also seemed like a good deal for 80000 pesos ($162AUD). They also offered a beer at lunch which at have swayed us a little 😛 .

When we returned two new arrivals came in from the UK. Nathan and Liam (who is nicknamed Rumbles). They had been pack rafting down the rivers of Patagonia, which was a unique way of travelling. They joined our little developing group and we all chilled in the common room over drinks. We invited them to our rafting for the next day, but they were a little rafted out and short of funds.

Sat (04/02)

Rafting day! The three of us were excited, and set off early after breakfast. I had some avocado, tomato and Philly rolls and a leftover empanada from the previous day. We arrived at the place, and we’re greeting by the other rafters – a Belgian girl, a German couple and a NZ couple. The drive out took nearly an hour to get to the Futaleufú white water rafting location and we got into our wetsuits and were ready for action!

We had booked the full day of rafting, which was around 20km in total. The day included at least four class five rapids which means high difficulty. It was my fourth rafting trip and the only one with class five rapids. My boat consisted of Keren, the German couple and myself with a raft guide from the USA. He was very thorough and knew the river well, and offered many jokes along the way. 

Not far into the trip we came upon The Terminator rapid, a crushing cascade of rapids with all sorts of obstacles. The German girl went overboard about half way down, but was picked up by the safety cata-raft and was ok. It was her first time, though not entirely her fault. We all had a laugh and blamed her partner for pushing her overboard when getting inside the boat on a rough rapid haha.

The scenery the whole way was indescribable and at times when we could relax was calming. The jade green water was clear, deep and captivating and is smoothly flowed at a tremendous pace downstream. We all had a fantastic time throughout the day and eventually it came to an end where we had lunch – chips, pasta, chocolate and a beer – cheers! 😀

We arrived to the hostel with more drinks and joined the UK boys, Jeff and another couple. Nathan and Liam had an endless supply of huge biscuit bags that we all kept devouring. I ended up finishing my four beers and moved on to my bag of rum (I store it in a soft water bottle so I don’thave to carry glass). Keren brought out tequila shots and thongs started to get real!

There was some dance party that a few wanted to go to, but it started at 11pm (but ‘actually’ starts at 2am). Rumbles was pretty tanked by this point, and watching him attempt the traditional slow hip dancing (being taught to him by the hostel staff) was hilarious. He was so damn funny! Nathan saying ‘he is such a liability‘ (in a joking manner) had me in tears.

Keren ended up having to babysit him as herself, Rumbles and Armarno set off to the party. Nathan, Jeff and I chilled out before going to bed around midnight whilst the others were out. I didn’t want to be hungover on a ten hour bus ride the next day.

Sun (05/02) – Coyhaique

All of us were heading to Coyhaique, a large town much further south. It was the gateway point for doing the Cerro Castillo hike, and a good resupply point. A girl from the UK called Alicia was hitchhiking, but managed to snag a seat on our bus too. We spoke for a bit and she was also doing the Cerro Castillo hike, so we got each others contact details and aimed to meet up later (she had accommodation booked in Coyhaique).

We ended up arriving in town at 11pm at night. I said my final goodbye to Armarno, he was on business in town.  Keren and Jeff had arrangements already, which left the UK lads (Nathan and Rumbles), myself and two other young guys from USA called Cameron and Conrey (who we just met, but were on the same bus) and were trying to find a campground. There were two campsites out of town 1km apart, so the five of us tried there.

They were both full!

‘Shit!‘ we thought, ‘Where are we going to stay?‘. Our first thought was camping in the nature reserve, bit it was a giant hill with no flat parts and a certain fine if caught. We aimed for a bridge on the map going over the river. At our end of the bridge was a rough path leading to the river, and we headed down looking for a spot. The bank was sloped and sandy, not suitable for tents, but we were tired and weary and gave in to cowboy camping (sleeping without a tent).

We got out our sleeping mats and bags, and laid them on the sand. The steepness was a concern, and Conrey had an idea of putting a rock at his feet to push off, and I did this too – along with stuffing met tent back and shoes under the leg end of the mat to raise it. It felt like it worked, but I woke up several times sliding down in the night still.

Just when I got warm and cosy and started to sleep, down came sprinkles and some light rain. ‘Do I throw my tent fly over myself?‘ I think, concerned as my sleeping bag is duck down and not synthetic (the only downside). To my surprise though, the quality make of the bag meant it was some water resistance and the beading water on the bag was a good sign not all was soaking in. I gave in to sleep and ignored the rain, it wasn’t too heavy.

Mon (06/02)

I woke up early, and readjusted my position from sliding down again. I look over at Rumbles to my right who had, hilariously, now slid well off his torso-length mat and was halfway down the bank! An amusing sight to start the day! I look up at the bridge. It’s one of those wooden suspension bridges you’d walk across that kind of bouncy around, except for cars! 

When they drove over it you could hear the creaking boards and chains. Some of the traffic would stop and take photos of us – five cocoons lined up along the river bank.

We walked into Coyhaique looking for some much needed coffee after that night and some food, as we didn’t have dinner the night before. For a large town, it had surprisingly limited options. Wi-Fi, coffee and food – that’s all we asked for! It turns out you only get one of the above, so we ended up going to a random street vendor who had coffee and empanadas.

We needed Wi-Fi though to plan, but as we walked a familiar face called out to me – Jeff! He was with a US guy called Ben whom he had previously hiked with. Ben had researched into the buses, and gave us all a rundown of the options. It was convenient as the buses were actually quite booked up and he knew where availability was. Cam, Conrey, Ben and myself booked a bus on the same day in the afternoon. Jeff, Keren, Nathan and Rumbles were booked for the next afternoon.

We did some last minute resupply shopping at the large supermarket there before getting on the bus. I had my shopping in a box on my lap as there was no time to break it down into my food bag. The bus took off and away we went towards Cerro Castillo!

Trip Summary

The Good:

• Futuleufú was a nice town with probably the best hostel I’ve stayed at
• Futaleufú White Water Rafting was the most challenging rafting I’ve done yet
• We had a group of about nine people developed to hike Cerro Castillo

The Bad:

• Coyhaique was largely uninteresting
• Getting rejected at campgrounds (the cowboy camping was a fun memory though)

~ Continue my Patagonian travels with ‘Cerro Castillo – Patagonia: Multi-day Hiking Trip‘ ~

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