We'd already been on our Chilean road trip for three days, and we weren't even close to being able to begin traveling the Carretera Austral, our main objective. The starting point of this route was more than 1,600 km from Ushuaia, so this would take time. We had an option to get to Villa O'Higgins by land, passing through all of Argentina until finally having to cross the border at this point, but we found a more interesting option to get there. It turned out there was a ferry service that would take us to Puerto Yungay, just 100 km from where we wanted to go, on a three-night trip. Neither of us had spent that much time on a boat, so we took this option to experience it all 😃.
After driving 250 km from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, we were finally at the designated spot to board the three-day ferry. Looking at the map, this area of Chilean territory is made up of a multitude of uninhabited islets, so there's no road in that area, and to get further north, you'll have to go through Argentina or travel by boat. This entire distance to Puerto Yungay takes about 41 hours aboard the ferry called Crux Australis, traveling through beautiful landscapes between canals and the mountain range.
Both M and I were excited about this whole trip, so we had arrived in Puerto Natales a little early. We took advantage of the day to explore the city a bit until it was finally time to board. We had purchased the tickets online, which made things easier, but we still stopped by the boat office to double-check that everything was in order. This boat transfer cost $156 per person for foreigners, plus an additional $45 for transferring the car. Luckily, M was very kind and gave me this ticket so my travel budget wouldn't become so tight later.
Boarding time was 8 PM on Thursday, and our estimated arrival in Puerto Yungay was 10 AM on Sunday. This sounded like a long time, but at the information office, we were told that all meals would be included and that there were restrooms and showers on board. We bought some provisions to survive the trip and off we went. In less than three days, we had already taken a ferry twice, so we knew the protocol: boarding the boat in our car, waiting for the pedestrians to settle in, and then boarding ourselves.
As for the interior of the ferry, it had a dining room with tables and chairs, passenger spaces with reclining bed-like seats, like those found on buses, and several bathrooms and showers throughout. You could also go up to the deck, where there were seats for some fresh air. Meals included breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the trip, and coffee and juice were available at all times. The boat also had a screen that showed you the boat's location and a dedicated platform for watching movies offline on your cell phone, since we wouldn't have internet service throughout the entire trip.
The service on this ferry seemed luxurious to me; it was almost like being on a cruise ship (I guess). We were all very excited to begin the trip: most of us were tourists, and there were many people traveling in their vehicles with the same goal as us: to travel the Carretera Austral. Throughout our trip, we met several people during lunch breaks and also shared moments together on the deck of the boat as we sailed through the Chilean canals. We knew the destination itself would be incredible, but the experience onboard the ferry was equally so.
Financially, I think investing almost $350 on this trip was more convenient than driving through Argentina. In all this time, we "saved" three nights and having to pay for all the meals, plus M got a break from driving so much. During the trip, we saw tons of beautiful landscapes, and even while waiting for departure, he gave us some lovely postcards of Puerto Natales at sunset. Long hours awaited us on that boat, but everything looked promising ❤️.
With lots of love. / Con mucho amor.
Lau 💕.
