Saturday, 22nd Oct.
A bright sunny morning with the prevailing wind already rolling down from the mountains in the west unhindered over the surface of Lake General Carrera. By the time I was down by the waterfront shacks, pulling on a poncho and life-jacket, white-topped waves were bouncing any boats already out in the open. I joined a group of seven and walked along to the pier to an open-topped boat that took us out into the spray. We were headed towards the stretches of caves and formations cut into the marble cliffs that lined the lake but first we were taken on a loop around some islands to some other points of interest.
In an inlet sheltered from the wind a pair of rusted old ships leaned awkwardly against the shore. Used in the days of a copper mine on the side of the lake they were abandoned when it shut down, the little village of Puerto Sanchez and its airstrip still remain. A fast motor onwards, the walls of the Sierra de Avallanos to the east as our backdrop, was what the guide called Isla del Suizo (Swiss Island). This turned out to be the private island of NotOna, where a Swiss Artist had tunnelled into the marble to make a minimalist house. The only obvious signs were a window in the side of a small cliff and a cube of concrete moulded into the landscape with a thin staircase splitting it asymmetrically.
The marble caves were cut out along the water-line where the wind and waves have eroded into the multi-coloured ancient limestone. Grey and white tunnels led under the cliffs with swirling veins of red, orange and brown, filled halfway with the clear turquoise water. The whole boat could fit inside some of these caves and would give a view behind the columns and stalactites that held up the entrances. A short drive along the bottom of a huge slab, overhanging and seemingly propped up by thin marble stilts, brought us to the two marble ‘catedrals’; two small islands standing top-heavy on their narrow columns.
After a fast return to the pier cutting straight into the wind and bouncing thought the waves I took the rest of the day to lazily walk the town. I had played with the idea of getting on the bike but it was a nice place, the sun was out and the campsite was cheap. I decided to rest and get moving the next morning.
Austral Spring 