Chile Guide
The Carretera Austral
Parque Pumalín
After six hours of sailing through the island-studded channel between Chiloé and the mainland, the ferry from Hornopirén enters the steep-sided Reñihué fjord and unloads its passengers at Caleta Gonzalo, where the Carretera Austral resumes its course. Getting off the boat, you'll find yourself at the main arrival point of PARQUE PUMALÍN, the world's largest privately owned conservation area, covering 320,000 hectares (790,400 acres) of land. The Pumalín Project, founded by North American millionaire Douglas Tompkins to protect one of the world's last strongholds of temperate rainforest, has generated a considerable amount of controversy over the past five years. But, standing at Caleta Gonzalo, faced with the jungle-like vegetation covering every inch of visible land, few would deny that the park represents a magnificent environmental achievement. It's a place of overwhelming natural beauty, with hauntingly calm lakes reflecting stands of alerce trees, ferocious waterfalls gushing through chasms of dark rock, and high, snowy-peaked mountains off which glaciers dangle precariously.
Immediately beyond the ferry ramp, where you arrive, sits the park's information centre (daily 8am–8pm) – a rotunda-shaped timber building with a high, beamed roof and a huge copper-covered stove in its centre. Here, English-speaking staff hand out leaflets explaining the project's aims and detailing the trails in the park, and there's a range of locally produced artesanía for sale, including hand-knitted sweaters and hats. Opposite the information centre is a café (daily 7.30am–11pm), whose stylish interior features a large open fire, lots of pale, polished wood and black-and-white prints of alerce trees. It serves simple but delicious organic food, including home-made bread, locally caught fish and succulent roast lamb; if you plan to camp and cook your own stuff, call in here for a supply of firewood, fresh bread, vegetables and herbs.
You can also enquire here about available accommodation in the seven nearby four-person 
cabañas (Price: CH$25000–50000) lining the edge of the shore. Designed by Douglas Tompkins himself, they're impeccably tasteful inside, with waxed wooden floors, good quality bed linen made of natural fabrics and bed frames constructed from reclaimed alerce wood. You'll also find several camping areas, the main one just a few hundred metres from the information centre, with basic sites (CH$1500) and covered areas with picnic tables (CH$5000).