Half-day horse rides
A few hours in the saddle with a local guide on trails above the lake. A good first taste if you haven't ridden in a while or only have a morning free.
FromCLP 75,000per person
Riding and trekking around Lago General Carrera, arranged for you
Tell us when you're in Puerto Guadal and what you'd like to do. We put the days together with local guides we know well, book everything and send you the details before each outing.
Based in Puerto Guadal
One contact, in English, for your days in the hills
Puerto Guadal is a village of around 600 people on the south shore of Lago General Carrera, in Chile's Aysén region. The country behind it is some of the best riding and walking in Patagonia, but most of the people who guide it don't advertise, and arranging it from abroad in Spanish is hard work.
We live here and do that part for you. You tell us your dates, how long you have and what interests you. We work out what suits you, check availability with the guides, and come back with a plan and one price. Once it's booked, we send you meeting points and times before each day and stay in touch while you're here.
What we can arrange
Half a day or a couple of weeks
Half-day treks
Guided walks on foot in the hills near the village, including a trek up to fossil beds that most visitors never know are there.
FromCLP 85,000per person
Full-day rides or treks
A longer day out on horseback or on foot, with time to get well into the hills and have lunch somewhere with a view before heading back.
FromCLP 125,000per person
A day out in the Unimog
A fully equipped Unimog takes you up tracks a hire 4x4 can't manage, to country you'd otherwise only reach on a horse. Lunch is included.
FromCLP 125,000per person
Multi-day horseback expeditions
Set routes from Puerto Guadal of 3 to 9 days, camping out in remote summer pasture country with a guide and pack horses. Some of the longer trips run on fixed dates, and one is a trek on foot with the horses carrying the load. Minimum two people.
FromCLP 980,000per person, 3 days
All-inclusive estancia stays
Programmes of 4, 5 or 8 days at a working estancia on the lake. Transfers from Balmaceda airport are included, and so are your meals, drinks and every activity during the stay.
FromUSD 2,428per person
Your own itinerary
Mix any of these across the days you have. A ride one day, a fossil trek the next and a day in the Unimog before you move on, for example. You get a single plan and one price for the whole trip.
Pricedper tripsend us your dates
Prices are a guide and shown per person. Your quote depends on your dates, the size of your group and what you choose, and comes as one figure for the whole trip. Accommodation is only included in the estancia stays.
How it works
From first message to the meeting point
1
Tell us your dates
Use the form or email us saying when you're here, how many of you there are and what you'd like to do. We reply within 24 hours.
2
We send a plan
We check availability with the guides and come back with a day-by-day plan and one price. Change it as much as you like until it's right.
3
Book it
Day activities are paid in full when you book. For expeditions and estancia stays, a 30% deposit secures your place and the balance is due 45 days before you arrive. We confirm each activity with the guide once the booking is paid.
4
Turn up
The day before each activity we send the meeting point, the start time and your guide's name. You make your own way there, so there's no pickup from us.
Before you come
Useful to know
When to come
The season for riding and trekking runs from about November to April. The multi-day expeditions mostly run from December to March, when the high country is clear of snow. January and February are the busiest months, so book early if your dates fall then.
Getting to Puerto Guadal
The nearest airport is Balmaceda (BBA), with flights from Santiago and Puerto Montt. From there it's about five hours' drive south through Cerro Castillo and Puerto Río Tranquilo, much of it on gravel. Guadal sits just off the Carretera Austral on the road to Chile Chico, so you can also come round the lake from Chile Chico after the ferry from Puerto Ibáñez. Buses between Coyhaique and Cochrane pass through, but timetables change each season.
If the weather turns
Patagonian weather changes fast, and your guide has the final say on whether a route is safe on the day. If it isn't, we try to move the activity to another day while you're here, which is why a spare day in your plans is worth having. If it can't be moved, the options are set out in the booking terms we send you.
Language and experience
We plan and book everything with you in English, and the guides we work with speak English. Most day rides suit beginners. The longer expeditions ask more of you, so tell us honestly how much riding you've done and we'll suggest what fits.
Enquire
Send us your dates
Fill in what you know and leave the rest blank. We'll reply within 24 hours with ideas and a price. If you'd rather write in your own words, email us instead.
Based inPuerto Guadal, Región de Aysén, Chile