Exploring Patagonia - Southern Chile - Puerto Ivanez to Coyaique

Leaving Puerto Ivañez, we headed north to Coyaique on Chile's ninth region, roughly 90 clicks away from Puerto Ivañez.

Te "Carretera Austral" which spans most of southern Chile will take you there

The road is filled with bikers cuz the scenery is magnificent, thousands of cyclers come here to do this stretch of road across the Andes.

Exploring Patagonia - Southern Chile - Chile Chico to Puerto Ivañez

S, if you are heading west from Chile Chico, your next stop is Puerto Ivañez which is even smaller than Chile Chico.

You need to take the ferry which in the summer season is always packed with vehicles, so if you are with one, buy yer tickets in advance. As a passenger on foot, there isn't much problem.

the trip is only two hours long, but the scenery is amazing

One arriving in Puerto Ivañez you can go to Coyaique or continue south.

Exploring Patagonia - Southern Chile - Chile Chico

Crossing into neighbouring Chile at this latitude, yo arrive in Chile Chico, that is located at the other shore of The Lago Buenos Aires, which in Chile is called Lago Gral Cabrera.

the town is very nice and tidy, its a fixed stop for bikers and backpackers going both ways of the border. You will have no trouble finding lodging of any price range.

there isn't that much to see around town cuz it is mostly a port for the ferry that comes from Puerto Ibanez, but it does have a lookout where you can view the lake and all the surrounding areas.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Los Antiguos, Santa Cruz

Los Antiguos is a small picturesque town located 60kms west of the city of Perito Moreno (not related to the Glacier). Los antiguos is the Argentine Cherry Capital, where you can indulge in cherry eating galore.

On the way there you will see Lago Argentino on your right side.

It is worth stopping there to contemplate its beautiful blue colour and waves, fruit of the relentless Patagonian winds.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Rio Mayo, Gov. Costa & Perito Moreno

Always south on the "Ruta 40" and entering Chubut province, we hit three small cities.

Rio Mayo, Governador Costa and Perito Moreno (Which has nothing to do with the Glaciar)

These are must stops cuz you need to gas up and eat. Something to be aware of is that many times the gas stations do not have gasoline available, due to delays in the delivery. so it is prudent to gas up every time yo hit a Pump, which are only found in the cities.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Neuquen Province

Now the provinces of Neuquen and Rio negro do not have as many kilometres of "Ruta 40" but they certainly have the most beautiful landscapes.

A series of valleys filled with lakes,rivers and mountains make breathtaking scenes that will make you want to stop every couple of miles.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Malargue

Last stop in the Mendoza province was the City of Malargue which is a renowned winter Ski resort.

It is worth while visiting in the summer time and has wonderful surroundings with mountains and lakes

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Driving on the 40

Undoubtedly  Patagonia is one of the most beautiful and Mystic regions on earth, driving along is another story. I have to say that most of the Ruta 40 has a reasonably good paving with areas that have just been renewed. But there are other that are very nasty gravel roads that will shake your ride for hundreds of kilometres.

On the southern part of Mendoza we encountered several strips that were being renewed with signs of detour, but no worker in sight. There are also many jay walking donkeys and Guanaco´s, without mentioning thousands of jack rabbits that constantly cross the road, providing the majority of road kill casualties.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Embalse Agua del Toro

The Presa Agua del Toro located 84 kms west of San Rafael in Central Mendoza province, is one of Argentina's largest Hydroelectric Dams, and an obligatory stop of the Ruta 40.

it is one of those large bodies of water located in an mostly arid area which congregates local fauna and human visitors.

It is also surrounded by one of the worst segments of the ruta 40, mainly gravel stone in bad conditions.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Mendoza

This time I decided to do a trip on Argentina´s Ruta 40 which spans vertically across the whole country running along the Andes Mountain Range. I will describe my trip in a series of posts which took 16 days added 8000 clicks (Kms) to our cars mileage.

We did the Patagonian part of Route 40 from Mendoza to Rio Turbio which is still on the continent. You can continue all the way to tierra del fuego but that takes a big detour going through Chile.

We departed from Mendoza which is a nice city to visit in itself, (check other posts) but we did not stay long there cuz we had long daily drives to make it to our main objectives which were the Perito Moreno Glaciar in Argentina and Torres del Paine National park in Chile.