6 Days of Kayaking in the Patagonia Fjords
March 3-8, 2018
Patagonia, Chile
We've just returned to civilization. We're back in Puerto Varas, Chile after kayaking the Patagonia fjords for 6 days in Pumalin Park, one of the wildest and most pristine wilderness areas left on Earth.
It's challenging to explain how exceptionally beautiful this trip was.
The weather was full of unseasonably warm, sunny blue skies,
and miraculously calm ocean water.
We had daily pods of dolphins swimming off the bows of our kayaks
with Magellanic and Humbolt penguins swimming nearby our kayaks as well!
So just imagine kayaking in front of soaring glacial topped peaks,
and kayaking beside dense temperate rainforest with massive prehistoric looking ferns,
and lush greenery with 4,000-year-old Alerce trees (among the largest and oldest in the world) dispersed throughout. In the photo below, they are the tall trees with the least amount of bark on them. The other trees with blossoms on them are the Ulmo trees which make the most divine honey. Ulmo trees can only be found in the pristine rainforests of the Patagonia Lakes region, the Patagonia fjords and on Chiloe island.
But most of all, throughout each day, majestically rising from the depths of the cold blue Pacific waters to over 4,800 feet straight up towards the heavens, are the Patagonia fjords.
We experienced all this splendor in Pumalin Park!
Pumalin Park was the vision of North Face founder Doug Tompkins and is the largest donation of private lands in history. The park was gifted to the Chilian government and now forms South America's largest national park. Over 1 million acres donated by the Tompkins Conservation added with the 9 million acres from the Chilian government to create 10 million acres of new national parks...5 new parks and 3 more expanded. An area larger than Switzerland!
To start our kayaking adventure we had to leave early from Puerto Varas located at the top of the map, and drive to Puerto Montt, located below Puerto Varas.
We were headed to the green area located at the bottom of the map above, Parque Pumalin, or Pumalin Park.
To get there, we drove for a few hours down the Southern Highway onto La Arena and came literally to the end of the road
We got off the ferry
and drove for a while longer, following route 7, the Carretera Austral, until finally, we arrived at Hornoprien's dock. There, waiting for us, was our 50 foot support vessel, the
Dona Lastena. She was laden with our kayaks and a week's worth of food and fresh water. She would serve as our mother ship for the next 6 days. We would be having all of our meals here on board.
The fourth and 5th days were once again filled with blue skies and sun! We loved kayaking thru the fjords. Below are Sarah and Kris
We passed by massive rock formations
and tranquil spots
We also went on some fantastic hikes. One glorious hike was to a most impressive and thunderous waterfall which was over 150 feet high!
The hike thru the forest was muddy and the rocks were very slippery! In the photo below, Francisco is continuing to lead the way up the waterfalls for us to follow.
Another day we hiked to a high, huge, hidden lake.
and nearly pushed each other in.
All of our campsites were splendid and came with stunning views! I'm sitting in front of our home away from home tent.
Each day our new camp-site had even more impressive views.
Another day of kayaking to our campsite:
At this campsite, star gazing was exceptional. Not only could we see the Southern Cross and Orion's Belt, but all the stars put on a show for free!
We had two nights at this campsite.
Our kayaks are on the boat and we're ready for our last night's dinner which was my birthday party dinner!
Jeff had packed a few surprises, such as two birthday candles which, when put together, said "29". It actually was the 36th anniversary of my 29th birthday!
I wish I had photos of the birthday cake Yoyi made for me and the glorious dinner! It was a marvelous way to celebrate my big birthday!
It's challenging to explain how exceptionally beautiful this trip was.
The weather was full of unseasonably warm, sunny blue skies,
and miraculously calm ocean water.
We had daily pods of dolphins swimming off the bows of our kayaks
with Magellanic and Humbolt penguins swimming nearby our kayaks as well!
So just imagine kayaking in front of soaring glacial topped peaks,
and kayaking beside dense temperate rainforest with massive prehistoric looking ferns,
and lush greenery with 4,000-year-old Alerce trees (among the largest and oldest in the world) dispersed throughout. In the photo below, they are the tall trees with the least amount of bark on them. The other trees with blossoms on them are the Ulmo trees which make the most divine honey. Ulmo trees can only be found in the pristine rainforests of the Patagonia Lakes region, the Patagonia fjords and on Chiloe island.
But most of all, throughout each day, majestically rising from the depths of the cold blue Pacific waters to over 4,800 feet straight up towards the heavens, are the Patagonia fjords.
We experienced all this splendor in Pumalin Park!
Pumalin Park was the vision of North Face founder Doug Tompkins and is the largest donation of private lands in history. The park was gifted to the Chilian government and now forms South America's largest national park. Over 1 million acres donated by the Tompkins Conservation added with the 9 million acres from the Chilian government to create 10 million acres of new national parks...5 new parks and 3 more expanded. An area larger than Switzerland!
To start our kayaking adventure we had to leave early from Puerto Varas located at the top of the map, and drive to Puerto Montt, located below Puerto Varas.
We were headed to the green area located at the bottom of the map above, Parque Pumalin, or Pumalin Park.
To get there, we drove for a few hours down the Southern Highway onto La Arena and came literally to the end of the road
where we boarded a ferry to Puelche.
We got off the ferry
and drove for a while longer, following route 7, the Carretera Austral, until finally, we arrived at Hornoprien's dock. There, waiting for us, was our 50 foot support vessel, the
Dona Lastena. She was laden with our kayaks and a week's worth of food and fresh water. She would serve as our mother ship for the next 6 days. We would be having all of our meals here on board. 
Our support boat came complete with our incredible cook, Yoyi,
with her right hand man, Ronny, the sous chef and crew member.
Along with Ronny was another crew member Santiago.
We had the masterful Captain Rigo.
Our incredible trip leader was Francisco
and
our kayaking guide was Dan.
We hopped aboard and headed for Los Ciervos Island. We had lunch on board in a beautiful cove
and then we headed to Llancahue Island, where we climbed into our sea kayaks and away we went!
It was a good long paddle and the sky was turning an ominous grey. So we set up our tents for the night on the island and returned to the boat for Pisco's Sours, appetizers and a delicious dinner complete with divine Chilian wine. We returned to the island and while we were asleep in our tents, it rained buckets! Believe it or not, there's 20 feet of annual rainfall here!
In the morning we broke camp and took our soggy tents and sleeping bags back to the boat where the sunny day dried them all.
It was a gorgeous day! We kayaked past the mussel "farms".
and on into the entrance to Quintupeu Fjord, where the German battleship Dresden hid out during World War I.
We were surrounded by stunning glacial waterfalls.
The sheer slopes, cut by countless waterfalls tumbling off the heights
We were surrounded by stunning glacial waterfalls.
The sheer slopes, cut by countless waterfalls tumbling off the heights
are covered with lush vegetation that hangs over our heads.
As we glided along under this lush canopy, there are dolphins near our kayaks!
At nightfall, we camped at the end of the fjord.
At nightfall, we camped at the end of the fjord.
On our third day, we navigated down the Cahuelmo Fjord stopping at the entrance to see if there are any sea lions
and were there ever!
and were there ever!
All we could hear was their boisterous barking which echoed along the shore! The fur seals had given birth a few month's ago and their "pups" were adorable!
The sea lions were massive, menacing and territorial. It was quite a spectacle.
We kayaked by thunderous, magnificent waterfalls that dwarfed our kayaks as we paddled beneath them.
It's amazing to us that the seals and pups could laze in the sun
and not roll off the boulder!
We kayaked by thunderous, magnificent waterfalls that dwarfed our kayaks as we paddled beneath them.
These plunging glacial waterfalls were everywhere!
We had a long paddle but a beautiful and spectacular one
for the color of the ocean was stunning. We kayaked to the far end of the Cahuelmo in time to get up to the river and hike through the wild tidal flats. We hiked to the Cahuelmo Hot Springs which was lovely! We were met by the park ranger who greeted us in the Chilian manner, by shaking each gentleman's hand and kissing each lady on the cheek.
for the color of the ocean was stunning. We kayaked to the far end of the Cahuelmo in time to get up to the river and hike through the wild tidal flats. We hiked to the Cahuelmo Hot Springs which was lovely! We were met by the park ranger who greeted us in the Chilian manner, by shaking each gentleman's hand and kissing each lady on the cheek.
It was such a spectacular day!
We really enjoyed the hot springs
with its view.
After reveling in the hot springs we jumped into the ocean to cool off!
We passed by massive rock formations
and tranquil spots
We also went on some fantastic hikes. One glorious hike was to a most impressive and thunderous waterfall which was over 150 feet high!
The hike thru the forest was muddy and the rocks were very slippery! In the photo below, Francisco is continuing to lead the way up the waterfalls for us to follow.
Another day we hiked to a high, huge, hidden lake.
and nearly pushed each other in.
All of our campsites were splendid and came with stunning views! I'm sitting in front of our home away from home tent.
Each day our new camp-site had even more impressive views.
Another day of kayaking to our campsite:
At this campsite, star gazing was exceptional. Not only could we see the Southern Cross and Orion's Belt, but all the stars put on a show for free!
We had two nights at this campsite.
Our last afternoon we beached our kayaks and got them ready to be loaded on board the Dona Lasten.
Our kayaks are on the boat and we're ready for our last night's dinner which was my birthday party dinner!
I wish I had photos of the birthday cake Yoyi made for me and the glorious dinner! It was a marvelous way to celebrate my big birthday!
After my delicious birthday dinner on the boat we went in a zodiac back to shore to sleep in our tent where it was very windy as only it can be in Patagonia and it rained buckets.
Our final morning we broke camp early around 7:30 and took the zodiac back to the boat for breakfast.
Then the captain started the engines and we were on our way.
As the Dona Lastena headed home, I watched the clouds roll in and the sea get progressively rougher. Heavy fog and rain clouded the sky. Here's the view throughout the long boat ride out
and this is what we were so fortunate to have been able to see when we had been kayaking thru the same spot a few days before.
I thought about how lucky we were to have had 5 days of perfect kayaking weather!
At long last, the captain navigated up the Comau fjord to Hornoprien where we boarded the ferry and then drove back arriving around 5pm to Puerto Varas.