Chile Guide
The Lake District
The Estuario de Reloncaví
On the way back to Ensenada from Parque Nacional Vicente Pérez Rosales, a southern fork, 1km before the town of Ensenada, will take you 33km along a good road, fringed with large bushes of wild fuchsia and giant rhubarb plants, to the tranquil ESTUARIO DE RELONCAVÍ. The fjord, now packed with salmon farming operations, is a good place to escape and unwind or to horse-trek into the Cochamó Valley, home to the oldest standing trees in South America. Your first view of the bay comes as you descend to Ralún, a small town with a couple of stores and frequent buses to Puerto Montt. The bay is an amazing colour – bright green from one angle, deepest blue from another – and at the far end, standing sentinel over the fjord's exit, is Volcán Yate (2111m).