Unbeaten path to Pumalin: with a we wealth of natural resources and native species, this extensive sanctuary in southern Chile is ideal for adventure tourism.

• Author: Stuparich, Ricardo Carrasco

In the Argentine Patagonia, the pampa becomes a monotonous panorama after a few hours of driving. Eroded dry gullies and endless plains and grasslands covered with stunted vegetation give the landscape a desolate, almost lunar look. But everything changes when you get to the Chilean border and start driving through the mountains towards the Pacific. The green waters of the Futaleufu River keep you company all the way into the abundant lowlands of the southern rain forest. This river is one of the fastest flowing rivers in the world. With rapids that can reach nearly thirteen feet in height, the Futaleufu draws hundreds of tourists who, in the safer seasons, try their luck on rafts and kayaks. Every bend in the road reveals an entirely new and different landscape, giving you the illusion of having traveled hundreds of miles. Beyond lies the town of Futaleufu, its many lagoons, and the eternal Lake Yelcho.

But today I won't be waylaid by inviting coves or superlative rivers, not these anyway; I know how far I have to go. Traveling north, I arrive at the coastal town of Chaiten, capital of Palena Province, some four hours by ferry across the Gulf of Corcovado from Chiloe Island. Fittingly, Chaiten means "basket of water" in the Huilliche language, and after stopping for some smoked salmon and papas chilota, I plan to follow its watery form further north some thirty miles toward Caleta Gonzalo. In the cove at Chaiten small flocks of swans have gathered against the backdrop of the great Corcovado Volcano; the scene looks likes it's been painted in a delicate watercolor. At Lake Blanco the road narrows--in fact, it looks like a gigantic rock split open with a pickax is pushing it toward the dark waters. It is so beautiful and peaceful that time stops. The reflection of the mountain range, fragmented and snowy at this latitude, gives the place a prehistoric look, and I almost expect the colossal carnivore Giganotosaurus, which roamed these lands seventy million years ago, to appear in the midst of all these huge plants and dark water.

Soon I arrive at the southern entrance to the most recently designated of Chile's nature sanctuaries, Pumalin Park. There, on the roadside near Caleta Gonzalo, are a cafe and some cabins for visitors.

In 1991, erstwhile U.S. clothing tycoon Douglas Tompkins, a frequent visitor to Chile since the early sixties, bought an abandoned, overgrown property, Renihue Ranch, with the idea of protecting its some ten thousand...