From Balmaceda airport we will take the Carretera Austral and head south to Cerro Castillo, a majestic jagged mountain which name means castle. At the base of the mountain we’ll find an archaeological site with handprints of the Tehuelche culture, who inhabited these green lands more than 7,000 years ago. We will visit Cerro Castillo Museum. The trip continues south passing through rivers Murta and Ibanez and a beautiful green lagoon, until we reach General Carrera Lake and round the shore west to Puerto Sánchez. The rest of the team will receive us in the hostelry with the chimney fire going and fresh foods.
P. Sánchez was colonized in the early 1950s by a few Chilean families who arrived thanks to the mining industry managed at the time by the Aysén Mining Company; zinc and lead were sought, in addition to copper, which was found later. Then, in 1980, the company became the Empresa Minera de Aysén (EMA), owned by CORFO.
Faced with the failure of mining, the EMA tried to make a productive reconversion for the 80 families inhabiting the land, giving people training and a series of free benefits such as water, electricity and firewood. Despite the efforts, the town remains suspended in time and with its inhabitants trapped in a vicious cycle generated by the combination of social benefits and almost no productive activity. In 1992 CORFO would put this town up for sale. Yes, a town, with its houses, school, multicourt, church, post office, sewage system and even a hydroelectric plant.
On that date, the Walker family decides to buy the lands of Pto. Sánchez, with the opportunity to use them for livestock and alfalfa cultivation. On February 9, 2006, the long-awaited official foundation of the town was finally achieved, in which the free transfer of 6.3 hectares to the Municipality of RĂo Ibáñez became effective. As of that year, the people were able to access the benefits of public policies and state investment in infrastructure and services. The government built a road from Murta to Pto. Sánchez, which for years went unnoticed by tourists, unaware of the wonders that this shore of the lake hid.
- Pick up at Balmaceda airport
- Road trip by the southern highway to Cerro Castillo
- Short hike in the archaeological site, lunch
- Back in the road heading south
- Reception in Puerto Sánchez
- Spare time and dinner
