Coyhaique

Coyhaique was founded in 1929, late even by Patagonian standards, and its centre is built around a plaza laid out as a pentagon with ten streets radiating from it - a plan attributed to the Carabineros officer who set it out and unlike anything else in Chile. It is the only city of any size in Aysen and the base for the whole region: supplies, flights, hire cars and the Carretera Austral all run through it. It also has a serious air quality problem: almost every house heats with wet firewood, the city sits in a basin, and winter inversions have repeatedly given it some of the worst recorded particulate levels in the Americas.

History

Captain Enrique Simpson Baeza was the first recorded visitor, on 19 December 1872, after navigating up the Aysén River. In 1903 the valleys here were leased to Luis Aguirre of Punta Arenas, who passed his rights to the Sociedad Industrial de Aysén, and in 1906 the company built its main station at Pampa del Corral, where the Simpson and Coyhaique rivers meet - several of its buildings are now a historic monument. The town was ordered in 1928 by the intendant Luis Marchant González and founded on 12 October 1929 as Baquedano, then renamed Coyhaique in 1934 to tell it apart from a Baquedano in the Antofagasta Region; the name comes from Tehuelche words meaning "camp by the lagoon" (Wikipedia, Coyhaique).

The main sights

• A pentagonal plaza - with ten streets radiating from it.
• Founded in 1929 - late even for Patagonia.
• The base for all of Aysen - supplies, transport and the Carretera.
• Severe winter smog - wood heating in a basin, with inversions.

When to go

December to March; the winter air quality is a genuine reason to avoid it then. A full day.

What to expect

The city itself is functional rather than attractive. In winter the smoke is bad enough to affect people with respiratory conditions. Hire cars book out months ahead in summer. Prices are high for Chile.

Nearby

Cerro Castillo is south; Puerto Aysen and the fjord are west.

Key facts