The road to Lago General Carrera and Chile Chico has a surprising detour when you take the sidetrip via Puerto Ibanez followed by a boat tour of 2 hours. The boat schedule however makes it difficult to avoid an overnight stay in the area. We checked everything out and did find Cabanas Bordelago in Ibanez with a high rating in TripAdvisor.

Puerto Ibanez is one of these small domestic villages which you can find many scattered all over rural Patagonia showing initiatives of people with a bright plan or idea. Houses were built, roads paved and schools constructed. Then the future did not hold the promise as expected and the dreams abandoned. Nature, which is tough here anyway, slowly tears down the proudly created structures, leaving the sometimes beautiful monuments to become the victims of wind and rain. The Chilean government has many times stepped in developing new roads, buildings and renovating the central area, the Plaza de Armas, enticing the inhabitants to stay a little bit longer. And as such providing these places with a strange mixture of historical appearances in a modern age.

Cabanas Bordelago is the typical example of the old and the new. It shows that is was most likely a great place somewhere at the end of the century with owners who wanted to offer the travellers an oasis of comfort and pleasure. But reality took over! A dusty travelers diary in the cabana showed raving reviews until 5 years ago. Maintenance collapsed, cleanlessness soared and with the help of mother nature the downturn proves unavoidable. The reception which is just a room in the owners house shows that the daily burden of running the place has become a grave burden. As friendly as our hostess was it did immediately reconcile the sever task which was put upon her. The cash we delivered clearly provided some light in keeping the place open for another day. Although the cabanas were spacious and strangely enough have a hugh modern flat screen, was crummy and definitely not clean and very smelly. The kitchen, a must have if you want to be a cabana, was a hotchpot of utensils but nothing more. Lacking the intention or passion of creating a Chilean hospitality atmosphere the place finally boiled down to nothing. As there was no breakfast offered either, although promised in the listing, we left with an empty stomach and a weird feeling. The place does need a complete overhaul but maintenance or a clear vision how to achieve this, is not Chile’s stronghold.

We, however, visited a place called Doña Leo (not on TripAdvisor), just a mile down the main road when you are entering the village from Coyhaique, which was offering a nice restaurant and to our surprise with well-maintained and new cabanas as well. The restaurant was nice with helpful people and good food, especially the pisco sour and salmon. So just a tip for the next time.