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Jonathan Franklin
Guardian
Saturday March 2, 2002
"Will my horse float?" That was my first thought as our group waded into
the Cochamo river and our two dogs drifted away downstream. But judging
the depth of this turquoise river is tricky; not until we were halfway
across did I realise that the icy spring flow was reaching only their
stomachs. My steed picked his way amid bowling ball-sized stones and
comfortably carried me to the far bank, while the dogs reappeared,
thoroughly washed.
I chose this cabalgata, or horseback trek, after seeing photographs of a
forested valley tucked into an untouched section of the Chilean Andes.
On the map, I counted 29 rivers and, equally enticingly, no roads. Rock
climbers and hikers enter this valley and within less than a day are
free of all signs of human presence. It is a paradise of crystalline
rivers, waterfalls and South America's most intact temperate rainforest.
But while the Cochamo valley has a million acres of wilderness, only
6,000 tourists come here each year.
Thanks to 3m of rain from May to September, human settlements never
flourished in this narrow 50km-long valley which links Chile and
Argentina. Settlers would have had to pass through a guerrilla war to
get here. Several hundred kilometres north of Cochamo is ground zero for
indigenous Mapuche tribes who held the Spanish at bay during a 300-year
campaign. Today, they continue to firebomb country estates and ambush
police convoys with rocks fired from catapults.
While settlers have never fared well in this section of southern Chile,
missionaries and bandits have long used the Cochamo valley for trade and
migration. From the 1700s, it has been the path for Jesuits migrating
over the Andes from Argentina. A hundred years later, an ox trail was
built to haul Argentine meat to the hungry pirates of the Pacific. In
1902, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, America's famous outlaw pair,
brought their cattle to the Cochamo slaughterhouse along this trail.
The trail is heavily wooded, and for much of the day the horses walked
us through canopied fern jungles. But during brief gallops through open
pasture we discovered we were surrounded by 100m waterfalls, glacier-capped
mountains and birds from parrots to condors.
At the end of our first day, our group of four riders and two guides
arrived at the base camp of La Junta, set in a sloping pasture. The
cabin was rustic but comfortable with bunk beds, a wraparound porch and
a wood-fired hot shower. Couples can stay in a separate room - but
privacy is elusive. Floorboards and beds creak easily and the cabin is a
little like sleeping aboard a sailboat: everything is compact and space
limited. Camping is permitted and a hardy band of hikers had set up
tents in the pasture below - although frequent storms made the mud
practically impassable by foot.
There was no electricity at the base camp, but daylight lasts until
around 10pm, after which a dazzling starry sky allows for night-time
excursions, including a slippery slide down smooth granite into the
river. It would be a good idea to plan a trip around either a full moon
or meteor showers.
For dinner, we were treated to grilled lamb, with a chef on duty to cook
and customise vegetarian menus. Great Chilean wine is abundant at even
the most remote stops. To chill the whites, we stashed bottles of
sauvignon along the riverbanks in what quickly became a nightly ritual.
Although I have hiked extensively in Patagonia, this time I wanted a
relaxing vacation. Others who had signed up for the same horse trek
agreed. "We're not walkers. There is no way we are going to hike all
this," said Rosy Kestelman, gesturing to a map showing the 18km trail
covered on the first day. A 31-year-old physicist from Cambridge, she
researched various Andean horseback options from the UK but found them
all prohibitively expensive. "To cut costs, we booked in Puerto Varas
and hammered out the details by email," she said.
In Southern Chile, Puerto Varas remains a little-known gateway to
Patagonia; a coalition of tour operators is poised to pounce on the
Cochamo valley, but local government officials have postponed all
marketing campaigns while they work with non-profit groups in an effort
to integrate local families into the nascent industry. The plan is to
include home-made delicacies and local guide knowledge. The Cochamo
valley, we hear, will soon be marketed as "Chile's Yosemite". The
comparison to Yosemite's Half Dome is apt: sheer granite faces soar
2,000m skyward.
Throughout two days, we saw no other tourists on horseback - only
herding operations to bring cows and horses across the Andes into Chile.
From mid-morning on the second day, we rode off the trail while locals
trotted past: it was election day and entire gaucho (Patagonian cowboy)
families had packed the children on to horses for the eight-hour journey
to vote.
With trips designed for all levels of riders - including children over
the age of six - Campo Aventura is a small operation offering packages
from two nights to two weeks. Horses, guides, camping gear and food are
provided, while travellers are encouraged to bring the bare minimum, all
stuffed into a saddlebag. Campo Aventura has two lodges in the Cochamo
valley; both are comfortable, clean and compact, with views of the
valley and easy access to swimming and fishing. At the lower base camp,
childcare and laundry facilities are available. For longer trips, tents
are used and the camp sites are perched along the river banks.
During the horse trekking season (December to mid-April) rain is
frequent and temperatures swing sharply from 30C during the day to 10C
at night. Approximately five hours a day are spent riding and the horses
are exceedingly responsive. Only in the final dash home did they become
unruly and eager to finish the ride. For experienced riders, the trip
could be a bit slow - but for the novice travel is at a comfortable
pace, with one guide for every four riders.
The Cochamo valley offers world-class fly fishing and ancient forests.
While the trout arrived recently - an intrepid German in the early 1990s
hoofed them in by packhorse - researchers estimate that groves of the
alerce trees in the valley date to 1,000BC. Like the Californian coastal
redwood trees, the alerce was virtually wiped out by forestry companies,
but in Cochamo they have survived. Logging the steep hillsides is next
to impossible and even hiking the near vertical slopes is a challenge
during the "dry" season of December to mid-April.
While the bulk of Cochamo tourism is focused on riding holidays, other
activities offered by tour agencies include mountain biking, kayaking
(sea or river) and simple rock climbing, known as "canyoning". Hiking
options are numerous, ranging from the breezy 6km nature trail to the
fanatical ascent of a Californian known only as "Bolo", who became the
first tourist in local memory to bushwack 11 hours up to the snowfields.
But aside from the conveniences of a well-planned tour, Cochamo is a joy
for what you don't see. There are no motorised vehicles in the valley,
or electricity. During our two-day trail ride, the only litter took the
form of rusted horseshoes. Far from the hustle of modern tourist Meccas,
the expedition into the Andes provided a lesson in the power of
travelling simply. Unlike hiking, the view from the saddle is skyward.
From treetops to river bottoms, everything is more accessible with a
four-legged friend to shoulder the weight. |
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