Rio Baker Fishing Trip

Rio Baker, some 2000 Km (1250 miles) south of Santiago is Chile’s largest river.  It is know for its world class trout fishing, rafting and kayaking.  Unfortunately it is also know as the proposed site of two dams for Chile’s HydroAsyén dam complex.   We went for the fishing, scenery and cool weather.

We flew out of Santiago on Friday morning (Jan. 6) and landed at the Balmacen airport, outside of Colhaique two hours later.   Ellen, who organized the trip, had arranged for a car and driver to take us 275 Km/170 miles south to Puerto Beltrán (or Bertrand) where we were staying at the Cabañas Ràpidos del Rio Baker.  (There is also a bus that leaves Coihaique at 6:00 AM and costs about $25 US [13,000 CLP] to Cochrane; we paid a bit more, but not too much, and we left from the airport at noon.)

 Puerto Beltrán is at 47° south latitude, about the same as the Washington-Oregon border in the US or Bordeaux in France… but upside-down.  The climate is moderate, with average January highs of 62° F, July lows of 28° F, and 24” average precipitation, concentrated in winter. We had highs in the 60s and 70s and a bit of rain. Take a sweater and rain gear.  And shorts.  This week (Jan. 16-22) it’s in the 80s.

Leaving the airport, the drive on the Carretera Austral was spectacular with very little traffic.  The mountain in the background is Cerro Castillo, Castle Peak.

  

The highway is paved for the first 75 Km, to Villa Cero Castillo, where we stopped for lunch.  Ellen, Sid and Alejandra ordered sandwiches… huge sandwiches as it turned out, with meat, cheese and four fried eggs; onions, lettuce and tomatoes optional.  Our driver Alejandro and I had bifsteak, and split fries and salad.

  

  

Alejandra shows off her cholesterol special.

The rest is wrapped in the napkin.  We had it for supper…. split four ways.

Back on the road the pavement turned into gravel--good in some places, rutted and pot holed in others--with lots of dust when we met other vehicles… especially when trapped behind a truck pulling two trailers.

Around every turn was another stunning view.  The color of the lakes ranged from greenish grey to azure depending to the content of glacial melt waters.

We stopped at Puerto Rio Tranquilo, 200 Km south of Balmaceda.  Good restrooms and lots of hitch hiking Israeli ex-soldiers.

And then at about 6:30 we arrived at the cabañas.  It was a long ride but more than worth it for the scenery.

Behind the lodge were six cabins.  This one was ours.  It had two bedrooms and an ample kitchen/living room with a wood stove. 

 

 The next morning Sid and I got ready to go fishing.  Getting into waders is not the easiest part.

 

But we managed, and on the second cast from the bank, I hooked a nice trout.  All you can see is the splash.

 

Then we headed off with our guide.  As you see the boat was a bit small for two to fish from so we either both cast from the shore or one of us cast from shore while the other fished from the boat.

Here’s Sid and our guide Guido, fishing from the shore, and below from the boat with Guido’s son.

  

  

And this is my view from the shore where I was fishing. 

  

After a morning on the water, lunch in the lodge with pisco sours was welcome.

And that evening the ladies enjoyed a chat in the lodge with Ricardo, the owner.  He says that opinion on the dams is divided with the workers, who stand to benefit from new jobs, in favor and most middle class people opposed. 

The next morning we to Puerto Bertrand (or Beltran), population 100 or so.

And went for a boat ride.  Unfortunately, the weather turned rainy and stormy and we came back after about an hour. 

  

On Monday, Alejandra and Ellen went to Puerto Guadal and Cochrane with Ricardo.  Still pretty small and rural, but Guadal has a B&B/pizzeria and there was a supermarket in Cochrane. Fruit and vegetables were a little hard to come by since most everything comes in by truck, but they found apples and oranges.  

 

And Puerto Guadal has a plaza. 

And a church.

Sid and I went fishing again….

And Sid kept a couple for supper.

Of course you can’t fish all the time.

In the afternoon while the fishermen were napping Ellen and Alejandra walked to Puerto Beltran and visited the neighboring Patagonia Baker Lodge.  It caters largely to foreign fishermen and offers luxury accommodations, bilingual guides and gourmet meals prepared by chefs--at about $5,000 US per week, everything included. 

  

  

We had a chef too.  Jorge, on summer break from culinary school, fed us very well, focusing on Chilean classic dishes like pollo arvejada (Chicken with peas),  salmon concato (stuffed with tomato, onion, sausages and cheese) and the first-course corn-stuffed tomatoes at left.

After lunch Ellen, Alejandra and Ricardo visited a local farm where they bought a lamb for the next day’s asado. The owners also had green houses and sold vegetables and home made cheese and jam.

Fortunately, the lamb was already dressed.

 

Tuesday was another fishing morning for Sid and me, while the ladies read and the lamb cooked. 

  Then we waited for dinner. 

  

 

It was worth the wait. The lamb was very young and tender and was cooked just right.

  

The trip back to the airport on Wednesday was uneventful and beautiful.

  With wild lupines and foxglove by the road side.