We did it! More than three years after leaving the United States, we’ve reached the southern end of the Pan-American Highway. The longest motorable road in the world doesn’t go all the way down to the tip of South America. It actually ends on Chiloé Island, known at that point as Chile Highway 5. We drive to the monument there, dance, take photos, and celebrate the milestone.
Watch now:
There’s much more to this video. The first part is all about the Siete Lagos region of Chile. Seven pristine lakes cluster together and we set out to see–and camp near–as many as we can. (In the end, we saw six out of the seven.)
Then we take the ferry onto Chiloé Island and get to meet another American overlanding family. But there’s a problem. Every January, giant horseflies called tabanos negros hatch and infest Chiloé Island for about three weeks. Out of all the times our visit could fall, it’s during this window of time. The biting, swarming flies are so bad that Eric literally hides in our Jeep habitat and doesn’t come out, even for meals.
While Caspian and I don’t love the tabanos, we try to ignore them. We go for a couple of hikes on Chiloé Island, one to a beautiful vista overlooking the Pacific Ocean and river inlets, and another longer hike at Muelle de las Almas.
Ultimately, I have to take Eric off the island for his sanity. We all have things we don’t tolerate well. For Eric, it’s biting, swarming insects. But Eric did a similar thing for me when we were on the northern coast of Peru. There, the intense dust and trash was literally depressing me. So Eric took me away from the coast and back into the mountains, even though it meant harder driving conditions for him. Give and take.
The tabanos are a foreshadowing of things to come. From here on out, Patagonia will test our good humor, resourcefulness, and resolve.
Thank you for being part of our journey.
-B
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