Comau

Early Dec. 2010

Shots from a ferry ride between Hornopiren and Termas Porcelanas in the Fjordo Comau en route to Leptepu.

The termas are accessed typically by private boat, but the ferry runs the fjord twice a week for locals who live along the fjord or on islands. There is no dock at the termas, so the caribineros (police) met the ferry offshore with a smaller outboard and we transferred to the shore this way. After camping for several days we transferred to Leptepu with a salmon farm diver on his outboard.

There is a Parque Pumalin entrance at Leptepu, but it's only open Jan-Feb and not at all 2008-2010 due to Vulcan Chaiten, so Leptepu is just a boat ramp where we continued our route south on the carretera. Most travelers don't take Comau from Hornopiren; the more widely used route is to the west side of the peninsula to Caleta Gonzalo, again only in Jan-Feb and not in 2008-2010. If not for salmon farmers there would be no chance of jumping these waterways without contracting a boat specifically for us.