Patagonia Road Trip Kayaking Along the Carretera Austral
PCRs, holiday permits, residency papers… traveling these days isn’t easy and takes twice as much energy. But it’s all worth it when you are floating down the beautiful waters of the southern rivers of Chile. An entire year of the pandemic had us dying to get out on a trip, and after a good season of spring kayaking in la Araucania, it was time to follow the water and head south.
"Even in the middle of summer, you can see water flowing and falling from every hill. That is Patagonia's biggest gift. Clean and abundant water."
We only had 10 days to travel around, and we wanted to make sure to get the most of every day, so we decided to start our trip on the mighty rio Futaleufu. The team consisted of the two Astorga powerhouses Kilian Ivelic and Pedro Astorga, myself, Aniol Serrasolses, and photographer Matias Mondaca. With my being basically based there full-time, it was great to get home and have a few days of big water training on the Futa before the trip south.
It’s incredible how a couple decades of kayaking in this area has changed everything. There’s been considerable growth in the number of kayakers living here full-time. The weather can be tough during the winter, but the Futa is always fun, no matter the flow. It is one of the few places in the world where you can paddle all year
