Chile Chico

Chile Chico sits on the southern shore of Lake General Carrera in a pocket that is dry and warm by Patagonian standards - the lake moderates the climate enough to grow cherries, apricots and apples, which is remarkable at this latitude. Settlers moved in from Argentina in the 1910s, and when the government granted the land to a cattle company and sent police to evict them in 1918 they refused and fought, in an episode remembered locally as the Guerra de Chile Chico; the settlers eventually got title. The border with Argentina is at the edge of town, and the Jeinimeni sector of Patagonia park is south.

What you actually see

• Fruit grown in Patagonia - cherries and apricots in a warm pocket.
• The Guerra de Chile Chico - settlers resisting eviction in 1918.
• The lake moderating the climate - the reason anything grows here.
• The Argentine border at the edge - a crossing in the town.

When to go

December to March; the cherry harvest is in January. A full day.

Honest expectations

The ferry across the lake is weather-dependent and books out in summer; the road round the southern shore is long gravel. Wind off the lake is severe. Services are limited.

Nearby

Jeinimeni and Patagonia park are south; Puerto Rio Tranquilo is across the lake.