Futaleufú

Futaleufú is a small town of wooden houses in a valley of the Chilean Andes, ten kilometres from the Argentine border. The river that gives it its name runs a turquoise colour through granite gorges, and its rapids have made it one of the great rafting and kayaking rivers on earth. Around the town lie lakes, forest and farms, and the quiet of a place at the end of a road.

Most travellers spend two or three nights: a day on the river, rafting the canyon or floating its calmer stretches, and others on horseback, on foot or fishing. Futaleufú is reached from Esquel and Trevelin in under two hours, and from here the road continues west to the Carretera Austral, which makes it the natural link between the Argentine Lakes District and the Chilean south.

The river season runs from December to March, when the water is at its best and the days are long.