Introduction
Located: 232km South of Puyuhuapi Village (direct)
Coyhaique is a “proper city” in the middle of the Carretera Austral. It has an airport, called Balmaceda, located about 40km south of the city where daily flights come in from Santiago. However, allow a full hour for the drive from Coyhaique centre to the airport, due to curves in the early sector of the road and possibly slow traffic. For the Carretera Austral this is a principal entry and exit point. From here you can go either north or south on the Carretera.
It is very much a “Patagonian” city, where many people connected to cattle and sheep farming. The surrounding scenery is a mixture of dramatic, steep sided cliffs, valley plains, hills, forest as well as areas that resemble moor land in the UK.
In some parts of the city there is more of a feeling that this part of the World resembles the cattle country of the Mid-Western U.S.A.
What’s Here?
The city is located beside the River Simpson, which offers good trout fly-fishing. Nearby are three National Reserves: the Cerro Castillo, the Rio Simpson and the Coyhaique, where there are pumas and deer. There are trekking trails that pass close to the city, specifically the McKay trail. In the central sector of the city is a plaza where retailers sell ceramics and wool products. Not surprisingly, in a sector not far from the plaza is a “sheep monument” demonstrating the respect the locals have for this animal, as it provides a lot of work and income for the locals.
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