Back in February 1998, we had made the Cruce de Lagos from Bariloche, Argentina to Puerto Varas, Chile, and decided then that we would have to return to venture even farther south to see the fjords,  glaciers, and Laguna San Rafael National Park.

Accompanied by our regular travel companions, Gastón and Marta Bobillier, we finally made the trip to "Chile Austral" (Chilean Patagonia) in April 2002. With Gastón's help, we decided upon the package offered by Patagonia Connection, a company which focuses on small groups (around 50) and lots of service.

April is at the end of the temporada alta (high season) in Patagonia. This means smaller groups, lower airfares, and potentially "iffy" weather. We also chose as our destination what is known as "flyover" country in Patagonia. Rather than the more popular destination farther south, the Torres del Paine national park and its famous five-star Hotel Explora, we settled on the less-visited but equally spectacular Puyuhuapi Hot Springs and Laguna San Rafael, saving the remainder of Patagonia for our next trip.

Wednesday, April 3 - Depart San Diego for Santiago

	Saturday, April 6 - Depart Santiago for Balmaceda, Coyhaique, and Termas de Puyuhuapi
	Sunday, April 7 - Queulat, Puerto Puyuhuapi, Termas de Puyuhuapi
	Monday, April 8 - Termas de Puyuhuapi, Laguna San Rafael National Park, Puerto Chacabuco
	Tuesday, April 9 - Puerto Chacabuco and Coyhaique
	Wednesday, April 10 - Coyhaique, Lago Elizalde, Villa Frei
	Thursday, April 11 - Coyhaique, return to Santiago
	Friday, April 12 - Santiago
	Saturday, April 13 - Tito and Michu's Wedding, Santiago
	Sunday, April 14 - Santiago, depart Santiago for San Diego

Wednesday, April 3: Depart San Diego for Santiago

We used American Airlines, as it has a relatively short (just over nine hours) non-stop red-eye from Dallas to Santiago. We arrived in Santiago on the morning of the 4th, and rested and visited family on the 4th and 5th.

Saturday, April 6 : Depart Santiago for Balmaceda, Coyhaique and Termas de Puyuhuapi

We arise early Saturday, as we have over nearly twelve hours of air, road, and boat travel ahead of us.

The airport serving the Patagonia region (Region de Aysén) is Balmaceda, a converted military aerodrome just 3km from the Argentine border. Balmaceda is a modern airport (with jetways!) built in the last decade, and lies east of the cordillera (Andes Range), which places it on the high pampas well beyond the rainforest, and less subject to its weather.

In Balmaceda, we are met by Cecilia, our Patagonia Connection guide, who tags our bags with our hotel suite numbers, and we board a motor coach for the 70km journey along the Carretera Austral (Austral Highway) to Coyhaique, the capital city of the Aysén region. We stop briefly in Coyhaique at the Café Restaurant Historico Ricer (more about this restaurant and city later) for a pisco sour and hors d'oeuvres (our lunch will be very late this day) and continue on to Puerto Chacabuco, where we will board our catamaran.

En route to Puerto Chacabuco along the Austral Road (which is not yet fully paved at this point and at times precarious), our hour and a half trip takes us across the cordillera into the rainforest climate, passing waterfalls, mountains, gorges, and dense forests and ferns.

We arrive in Puerto Chacabuco, where we board the Patagonia Express catamaran.

The Patagonia Express is a small, luxurious catamaran, built in Chile in 1991. It accommodates 70 (we were only 50) and has a crew of five, so the service is intimate. We are served lunch (at 4pm due to the schedule) as well as afternoon tea (at 7pm) en route through the fjords. The five-hour trip goes through the Aysén Fjord, the Puyuhuapi Channel and the Seno Ventisquero, and included a brief delay for the skipper to buy centollas (king crabs) for the hotel from a local fisherman in a whaleboat.

We finally arrive at our destination, the Termas de Puyuhuapi Hotel & Spa, at 8:30pm. To make the arrival more dramatic in the black Patagonian night, the hotel turned off its lights until just before we arrived at the pier. With no other lights around (not even stars or moonlight), the sudden illumination was quite dramatic. As we disembarked, we were met by the entire hotel staff on the pier, creating a sort of Fantasy Island experience. We were surprised not to see Herve Villechaize and Ricardo Montalban in the reception line.

Aside from our small catamaran group, there were only a few other guests at the hotel, as this was the last excursion of the season. So we practically had the entire hotel to ourselves. We were served welcoming pisco sours and vainas while the porters took our bags to our rooms. Then we were briefed on the facilities, which include several indoor pools, Jacuzzi, fitness and game rooms and a fully-equipped Thalassotherapy Centre and invited to partake of the thermal baths before dining on regional seafood and (naturally), excellent Chilean wine.

Sunday, April 7: Queulat, Puerto Puyuhuapi, Termas de Puyuhuapi Hotel & Spa

After breakfast, we board a launch for the short trip across the channel to the village of Puerto Puyuhuapi, where we board a van for the short road trip to the Queulat National Park where we hike through the rain forest to view the Ventisquero Colgante (Hanging Glacier).

We return to the village and view the characteristic architecture of the German settlers (following the pioneer Walter Hopperdietzel) and tour the famous carpet factory Alfombras de Puyuhuapi.

The catamaran is waiting for us after we had seen all there is to see in the tiny village, and we board it for the short trip back to the hotel, where we have a leisurely lunch, and spend the rest of the day partaking of the hotel's facilities. The rain is falling again, but gently, and we have no trouble ambling from pool to pool, settling finally on the 38ºC (100ºF) open air bath surrounded by giant ferns and nalca (giant prehistoric rhubarb) plants, remaining until the bright stars appeared in the sky. We have a drink in the cozy bar and dine again in the restaurant.

Monday, April 8:  Termas de Puyuhuapi, Laguna San Rafael, Puerto Chacabuco

At 7:30am we check out of the hotel and set sail on the Patagonia Express catamaran bound for the San Rafael Lagoon. The route takes us through the Ventisquero Cove and along the Puyuhuapi, Moraleda and Costa Channels into the Tres Cruces Gulf and the Elefantes Estuary. We finally enter the San Rafael Lagoon about 2:00pm. At last, we see it: San Rafael Glacier. Enormous mountains of 20,000 year old ice rise up and sparkle like turquoise-colored jewels. We approach the bizarre ice sculptures in rubber rafts, and drink cocktails chilled with a chunk of ancient ice. Later we begin the return trip and arrive in Puerto Chacabuco about 10:00pm where we spend the night at Hotel Loberías del Sur.

Tuesday, April 9:  Puerto Chacabuco and Coyhaique

After breakfast, we board a coach for the 2½ hour trip along the banks of the beautiful Simpson River, and into Coyhaique, where we part ways with the rest of our group, who were headed on to Balmaceda and back to Santiago by air. But we had decided in advance to spend an extra couple of days in Coyhaique, the capital of the Aysén Region, and we check into the landmark Hostería Coyhaique. We rent an SUV for our own independent excursions.

Coyhaique surprises us. Here, on the edge of the Patagonian pampas just east of the cordillera, is a modern city of 40,000 inhabitants. It has services of every sort, from a wide range of lodging choices to excellent restaurants and taverns, banks, car rentals, shops, cybercafés, outfitters, and coffee houses (cafeterías). And why not? Coyhaique is not only the capital of the region, but the converging point for all trout fishermen and outdoorsmen who come to Patagonia.

The central meeting point for all visitors to Coyhaique seemed to be the Café Restaurant Historico Ricer, or simply the "Ricer." It's a rustic, German-Chilean-style restaurant right off the unusual pentagon-shaped town square or Plaza de Armas. It's so well located, and the food and coffee is so cheap (and the service is good), that you can't avoid not stopping there. We had more than a few café cortado (the ubiquitous Chilean macchiato served in a glass) at the Ricer.

We wanted to experience a Patagonian barbecue or asado patagón. This is a lamb roasted over a fire pit and basted with an Argentine chimichurri sauce (many of the settlers in this region came from Argentina). We find one at El Comedor, a restaurant near the hotel, in a cabin at the rear of the restaurant with its own gigantic hearth.

Wednesday, April 10 Coyhaique, Lago Elizalde, Villa Frei

We do a "road trip" - to the nearest Patagonian lake, Lago Elizalde. En route, we stop for lunch in Villa Frei, just as a busload of backpackers disembark.

Thursday, April 11on to the Balmaceda Airport for our return to Puerto Montt and then back to Santiago.

Friday, April 12 Santiago

Saturday, April 13:  Tito and Michu's Wedding

Sunday, April 14Lunch at Pollo Cognac in Lo Barnechea. Depart Santiago for San Diego