Puerto Tranquilo (“The Quiet Port”)

We stayed 2 days in Puerto Tranquilo – in a small camping, spending our time exploring, hiking and resting (we even took a hot bath and was served Pisco Sour by the young couple running the camping).

We really needed a short break after heavy and slow going on the dusty and often corrugated roads. Travelling is sometimes “hard work” – after driving on corrugation, my hands are shaking at night. Puerto Tranquilo is really a deviation from Route 7 along the southern side of Lake General Carreras (reportedly the second biggest lake in South America after Lake Titicaca).

While in Puerto Tranquilo, we visited the viewpoint of the Explorer’ Glacier (Glaciar Exploradores), a beautiful drive and hike during which we enjoyed picking and eating Calafate berries (similar to blue berries but growing on a small bush). And the saying goes that if you eat Calafate you will return to Patagonia…… This is an impression from the drive.

And this is the Calafate we picked during the hike.

During this trek, we also saw Condors flying close by and of course ended up very close to the glacier.

And of course the glacier which was the objective of the hike.

Our last activity in Puerto Tranquilo was an excursion by boat to see the formations created in the marble due to water and wind over thousands of years.

The story continues…….