Pack-Animals

Transport on pack-animals

Renting a pack-animal for the transport of the equipment is advisable, even for shorter trekking tours, especially as the prices therefore in Chile are quite low (15 € per mule and day).

The benefits are obvious, one does not have to look for the right way, crossing a river is less complicated, one can compose a menu without weight limits, but most off all one is on contact with the local people.

Depending on the tour a mule can carry up to four pieces of luggage, the way should not exceed 60 Kg.

The transport on a mule is an extreme strain on the backpacks and should therefore be covered additionally by a sack.

Hard items like tent poles, thermos bottles, climbing irons, etc. should only be stowed if they are wrapped softly, otherwise it can happen that due to the movement even the sturdiest material will rip.

When using transport barrels pay attention that they dispose of a device to affix some ropes.

Aluminium boxes are hardly available in Chile. Plastic boxes on the other hand can be bought at every home centre, however they are not that sturdy and do not last very long. The boxes should not be too bulky, maximum 70 litres. Large boxes which are filled up to the rim are usually too heavy to be carried by the mules. One should not forget to level out the weight of the packages on each side of the mule, though not too heavy. Half filled boxes should be filled with empty sacks, as otherwise the content will be tossed around and eventually damaged.