Kayaking Reloncalvi´s Fjord (Chile)

After disembarking the Navimag Ferry in Puerto Montt on January 23, 2006 at 8:00 a.m. we were picked up by Ko Kayak for a 3 day kayaking adventure. Everyone agreed that next to the Ice Hiking, this 3 day adventure was one of the highlights of our trip so far. Our guide Peter was a very experienced kayaker and we felt very comfortable. In addition the Company ensured a support boat met us for days 2 & 3 in case we were getting too tired to paddle on our own. Click here on Ko Kayak if you are interested in seeing their website. Here is one of our favourite pictures from the trip.

The first day we paddled about 9 kms down the river with the current (this made it much easier than days 2 & 3). The trip would have been perfectly enjoyable if we had not been incessantly bothered by Tabanos (massive flies that bite and are in peak season in Chile in January & February). We found out that they are attracted to dark colours and as Casey was wearing a navy blue shirt...he had the most painful experience. Thank goodness that it was too windy on days 2 & 3 and we were not bothered by the Tabanos.

We also hit a mini rapid on day 1 (the only one of the trip) and were all feeling a little alarmed as we were each in our own kayak and responsible to get ourselves down the river. We followed our guide down the rapid after some instructions and had a 50% pass rate. Both Casey & myself hit one of the waves the wrong way and it tipped our kayaks over. As such, we were pretty wet & cold for the next hour until we got to our camp site. Here is a picture of the river on the first day.

Speaking of camp sites....we were not really at a "camp site". Rather, we pulled our kayaks off to the side and asked the permission of a local farmer to set up tents on his land. Here is a look at us "living off the land"

Day 2 was the most exciting day. The river was like glass when we started out in the morning. We kayaked approximately 15 kms before lunch time. The most excitement came when I spotted something surfacing about 30 feet from my kayak. Of course, no one believed me until the monster surfaced again. It was a sea lion! This was the first of many that we would see in day 2. They were very quick and so we were unable to get any pictures, but it sure was a neat experience. One got as close as about 10 - 15 feet from our kayaks. We also saw two pods of dolphins! Unfortunately, they were not very interested in us and so surfaced a few times and disappeared.

By day two we were out of the river and in the fjord. We had transitioned from fresh to salt water. After lunch the water became unbearably choppy and so the support boat had to take our kayaks and transport us to a local farm where we were staying. There was no camping though, we actually got to stay in the farm house with the family. Here is a picture of day 2.

Day 3 involved approximately 8 kms of paddling in the morning. We paddled from the farmhouse to Sea Lion Island. Unfortunately, we did not see any Sea Lions on the rocks on Sea Lion Island as it is mating season and they were all out in the open water searching for a mate. Apparently that is why we saw so many on day 2 when we were kayaking. Good thing they didn´t think we were invading their territory and tip one of our kayaks! Although we didn´t see any sunning Sea Lions on day 3...the scenery was still great. Here is a picture of our support boat...probably not what you were expecting. It did make for an interesting ride though.