While we have spoken to many tourists during our time in South America, surprisingly, I have found that not a lot of people have even heard of this place. Even the countless blogs I have read did not include this trip and I think one of the reasons is tourism is not very well developed here. Maybe the government would like to preserve this untouched beauty from over tourism, I don’t know. But the Marble Caves is among the top 5 things we wanted to see on this tour and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. The hard part was getting there but once you do, it was all worth it. This is a must see if you are ever visiting this part of the world.
If you are coming from Argentina like we were, Los Antiguos is the closest town to the border. The other town which is just 10 miles from Los Antiguos across the border in Chile is Chile Chico. The Marble caves are located in a town about 180 kms by road in Puerto Rio Tranquilo. There were no regular buses to Puerto Rio Tranquilo from Los Antiguos. So our only option was to get to Los Antiguos, take a taxi and cross the border to Chile Chico and find transportation from there to Puerto Rio Tranquilo, or book a tour from Los Antiguos. So after scouring the internet, I was able to find a tour operator called Chelenco tours in Los Antiguos who offered a private day tour.
We got ready by 7am, ate a couple of medialunas we had bought from a panaderia the previous evening and waited for our tour guide/driver Mateo from Chelenco tours. He arrived on time at 7.30am and we got into his minivan. There was one more person, Kerri from Toronto who joined us on the tour. In a few minutes, we were at the border crossing where we waited a few more minutes for (I think) the officer in charge to arrive. We stood in line and got our exit stamp from Argentina on our passports. From there, it was another short drive to the Chilean immigration office where we got our entry stamp into Chile. Mateo had to file some papers too on the tour operator’s behalf and we were off. The drive to Puerto Rio Tranquilo is a 175 kms long bumpy drive on an untarred, dirt road with golf ball size stones throughout.
We stopped a few times on the way to get some awesome views from the various bridges that have been built on the road between Chile Chico and Puerto Rio Tranquilo. Bridges that span huge chasms of rock, with thundering icy glacial rivers below. We stopped next to one of those bridges to have our breakfast that Mateo had brought with him. We had some bread that looked like English muffins with Dulce de leche as spread. He also introduced us to another novelty – coffee bags. These look like tea bags and you just add the bags to hot water and you have perfectly brewed coffee. I don’t know why the rest of the world hasn’t thought of this, or if they have, I don’t know why it hasn’t caught on because this would be a great idea especially while travelling. Pretty soon, the landscape changed to scenic rainforest, as we entered the wet region where the rain clouds from the Pacific came in contact with the Andes and gave way to lush green land.
After about more than 4 hours of driving we finally reached the little turn off in the road towards the sign that said ‘Catedrales de Marmol’. The road led down towards the lake where there was a small beach with some boats, a house on the side and some restrooms. There were a few people who looked like they had just returned from a tour, and a couple of them were kayaking. Mateo informed us that we will have to wait a little as they were expecting some more people to join us on our tour. We were admiring the lake and taking pictures and in a short while Mateo returned and said that the party didn’t show up so we could go on our tour. So it was just the 3 of us, Govi, myself and Kerri along with 2 guys who were navigating the boat.
We headed out on the beautiful azure blue lake towards the caves. The boat turned around the corner and then we saw the first of a series of marble caves along the shore of the Lago General Carrera. From a distance they looked like little holes in the rock walls where the water meets the land. We drove to the extreme end of the cave formation and started towards one of these caves. Grey, yellow and blue streaked stone formed caves at the water’s edge, where over 6000 years of weathering by the wind and water had eroded the rock away to the point where you could park your boat in them. And we did! We could touch the walls of the caves and see the little dimples in the rock. Looking down, the water was so clear that we could see the marble patterns carried down under water and to the bottom. We went from one cave to the next, each a new and different shape and colors and lines that were gorgeous to look at and the blue of the water reflecting on these rocks made it all the more magical. Some of the shapes looked like natural temples, some smooth, some with sharp edges, some had little columns or branches going down into the water. The water itself was still and crystal clear as we clicked picture after picture. We went into several caves some we could only take the nose of the boat in and some were big enough that the boat could go several meters and park.
After almost 30 minutes we finally came about to the postcard perfect ‘Pièce de Résistance’, the Marble Chapel or Capilla de Marmol. This was an island of marble, with beautiful patterned caves at its base, some with pink streaks running along the sides and greenery growing all over it. As the guide explained, it was a piece that broke off of the mountain and landed in the water. The boat circled the chapel so that we could get a nice view of it and take pictures and then we came upon the Catedral de Marmol. It is named so because of the cathedral-like shapes that form the roof of this row of caves. Some of the caves went straight through the island so you could see through to the other side. The beautiful swirling patterns on the face of the marble and the light reflecting off the blue-green water was truly a magical sight.
As we made our way back to shore we saw a couple of boats full of people on their way to view this wonder. We thought to ourselves that our timing was perfect as we got a free range of the boat and we were able to walk up to the front and back and take pictures from all directions, which we couldn’t have done if the boat was full of people. I have to admit, at the end of the tour I had taken more than 900 pictures, each one breathtakingly beautiful.
Mateo was waiting for us with our lunch as we returned back dazed after viewing this marvelous wonder. Frederico’s wife (owner of Chalenco tours) had baked a vegetable tart which we each had 2 pieces of. And for dessert we were served chocolate cake, also home made, which we topped with some dulce de leche from the morning’s breakfast. Mateo had also brought along a bottle of Pisco Sour, a Chilean cocktail made from Pisco, lime juice and sugar, which we all had a shot of (except Mateo as he had to drive). After this delicious and satisfying meal we started on our 4-hour journey back on the same gravel road eventually crossing the border back into Argentina and getting our passport stamped one more time with a 90 day visa, and reached Los Antiguos at 7.30pm.
This was truly one of the best natural wonders I have ever visited and I believe it must be on top of every travellers bucket list. It took a bit of an effort to come here, and I have come to realise that a lot of the amazing sights tend to be hard to reach, but in the end I can assure you that it was totally worth it.
