Valdivia, Lakes and Cruise to Patagonia (Puerto Natales, Chile)

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Hi all!

Sorry to all of you from whom I have heard in recent days who wanted to know if I was alive or this blog was ever going to get off the ground.  For reasons set out below, it is all coming together a little later than I intended.  Better late than never...

I saw a quote that I meant to include here, but I forgot to bring it today. It goes something like this: Chile was made by god when the remainders of the pieces earth that he had not used already, the deserts, mountains, islands, forests and lakes,fell out of his pocket while he walked by.... Chile is a 4000km long country, rarely wider than a few hundred kilometers.  From the driest desert in the world in the north to the southern wilds of Patagonia which have conjured traveller´s dreams inspired by Magellen´s search for a way around South America and Darwin´s visit to the region and the seeds of the evolutionary ideas which it inspired in him.  I would be starting halfway down and would work my way south to the end of the continent.  Because it is a straight line, travellers in Chile either pass in opposite directions and exchange stories or they continually bump into each other on the same route and compare notes.

After 20 hours in transit from Toronto via New York, Lima and Santiago, I landed in Valdivia, a college town near the Pacific coast in the coastal mountains of the Lakes District of south-central Chile. It was a rather sleepy place without the star power attractions of more famous Chilean destinations.  However, it allowed me to get my travelling legs and a sense of cost.  One of the primary attractions to Valdivia are boat trips on the river on which the city is situated and cruise towards the Pacific through the coastal mountains (much less dramatic than the high Andes).  I did just that.  After 20 mins on the river I was the only one left on the outdoor seating of the boat, as a result of the cool breeze off the water.  The Argentinians and European on board scurried below and to the great amusement of the crew I stayed up and watched the world go by avec I-Pod.  When they came to ask if I was OK in the cold (I think they meant mentally, as opposed to physically), I uttered one of the few phrases I know in Spanish:  "jo soy Canadiense".  They seemed satisfied with that answer.  And so I watched the sunset over the river alone, but content.  When I was not on the boat, I was at the fish market on the river watching the fishmongers market their catch to passing locals and tourists alike.  Perched on the river edge, the same fishmongers would clean the fish and throw the excess into the river to eager sea lions, cormorants and gulls. Alongside the fishmongers were merchants selling the fruit of the summer season.  I raided them for peaches, strawberries, plums and everything else we have not seen fresh in Canada for months...

After a couple of days it was time to head southwest through the central valley to the Andes and the heart of the Chilean Lakes District (Argentina has one too, on the other side), Puerto Varas.  Looming above the lakeside town of Puerto Varas is the perfectly conical snow-capped Volcan Osorno.  I am told, arguably the world´s most perfect volcanoe.  The Lakes District was settled by Germans, so the German influence is noticeable in the architecture, pastries, chocoleterias, and schools and clubs.  More noticeable were the roving packs of German tourists dressed like Indiana Jones with no where to go.  You would think it was the German tourists who settled the place.  Almost every place that caters to tourists speaks German.  As a result, everything is siginificantly more expensive in Puerto Varas then in other places in Chile, because it sees so many well-heeled 2-3 week vacationers from Europe who aren´t travelling long enough to be overly concerned about value or price comparison.  All that I talked to were quite lovely, though.

Rafting is the star attraction of the Lakes District after the scenary.  The Rio Petrohue is a class III and IV river that flows out of the Andes through a deep moutain valley, framed by three snow-capped volcaones. I went rafting on a crystal clear day and rarely have I seen such a wonderous ampitheatre for recreation. Our Irish river guide elected me to be the lead of the raft on the sole basis that I was (1) wearing Teva sandals and (2) I am Canadian and was therefore born with a paddle in hand.  It was a struggle to not watch the scenary, though the rushing walls of white water were a good incentive to buckle down and concentrate.

Aside from the rafting, I did some hikes around the base of Volcan Osorno, from where you can look west to the whitecaps that mark the Argentinian border and to picture perfect blue Lago Togo dos Sandos.  Unfortunately, this area (National Park Perez-Rosales) is notorious for tabaneros (I think that is the name), which are the most aggravating bugs I have ever encountered in my life - and that includes our stable of mosquitos, horseflies and deerflies!  They are black, the size of bumble bees and move like drunken flies.  They also arrive in packs of 10-30 and hover incessently around exposed skin.  Oh, and did I mention they bite!? The ex-pats in the area call them "talibanos" because no matter how many you swat dead, there are always more to replace them.  Apparently, they are only around for 6 weeks every summer, disappearing in the first week of February. I, of course, was there on January 28.  I was one of the lucky ones, as they did not find me palatable.  That being said, they completely drain your enthusiam for the surroundings.  After 3 hours of wishing for a beekeeper´s mask, I gave up on what was otherwise a beautiful hike. 

I teamed up with a lovely British couple from Bristol to rent a car and visit some of the more remote mountainous areas of the Lakes District.  We knew this because we were on a pot-holed gravel road in a 2-door car no bigger than a washing machine.  My British compatriot had no experience with gravel roads or winter driving (analagous conditions) and this became startingly obvious the first time he veered off the beaten track on the road and the back of the car was suddenly facing the wrong way.  Needless to say I simply said, "jo soy Canadiense" and I was back behind the wheel.  Well worth the drive south of Puerto Varas though, as you pass through deep mountain valleys dotted with estancias and farms and clear blue bays where salmon farms are not uncommon.  Chile leads the world (or is close to) in fish farming.  This is obvious in the bays of the central region country.  The volume of production is so high that it is driving world salmon prices down. In fact, I met fishermen from Alaska and BC down here on vacation to see what the competition is up to.  Not sure how rigourous the environmental protections are...

On my last day in Puerto Varas, I headed out in the rental car to Chiloe, an island in the Pacific just southwest of PV where the coastal mountains descend into the Pacific and the Chilean patagonian archipelago begins.  I went to see the penguin colonies at the north of the island.  I saw 4 colonies of a few dozen each.  Travellers out there, don´t go out of your way for these penguin colonies.  It was a long way to go for a few penguins, when larger colonies are easily accessible in deepest Patagonia. 

By January 30, it was time to board the Navimag ship that would over the next 3 days wind its way through the bottom part of Chile, though the patagonian archipelago.  Not cheap, but a unique and very popular experience.  About 200 travellers pile on with trucks, supplies and livestock (aside from a gravel road pushed through the mainland wilds by Pinochet, this is the only way south aside from flying or overland through Argentina).  The boat has a reputation for being a bit of a booze cruise and, in fact, was largely populated by travellers on extended trips like myself around the world or South America.  Needless to say, it is highly entertaining and interesting.  All one had to do was go on the upper deck and watch the mountains and islands slide by, the clouds come and go - when the sun was out.  If it was cloudy or raining, full windbreaking gear was essential.  This is no Caribbean cruise, Mr. Smith.  It took a lot of effort to stand upright on deck at times due to the rolling swells and, at times, furrocious Patagonian winds. Needless to say, many found couches in the pub and read and chatted most of the day.  Except for a brief stop in a small town to provide supplies, we did not see civilization for 3 days.  Just uninhabited and unaltered landscape as far as one could see...lsun rays piercing through the clouds, rock, mountains, glaciers, wind-shaped trees, whales, dolphins and sea lions.

On board, I hung out with a group of Irish, Americans, Brits and, yes, Germans.  We also threw in some Danish for fun.  Canadians, as usual, were over-represented on the boat. We had a grand and rollicking time and many of these same people were going to be staying together into Torres del Paine National Park, which was most people´s destination after disembarking.

The night before we were to arrive in our final destination, Puerto Natales, some of us staggered out of the bar, after many cervazas and pisco sours (national drink - a brandy made of grape skins with sugar and lemon), to go on deck to see the southern constellations. Instead of star-gazing, we noticed that the boat was within 100 feet of a rock face.  Then the lights went out, and came back on.  A few hours later we noted that despite our spinning heads, the boat was not moving.  The next morning, the boat was still not moving. Clearly, we had not made it to Puerto Natales.  In fact, we were 9 hours away. Official explanation: lost power in an engine due to an electrical failure.  Traveller explanation: crew sleeping or enjoying pisco sour hour and boat blew off course into an island, despite GPS guidance.  Either way, we sat for the better part of the day waiting for the Chilean navy and its divers to inspect the ship.  In the meantime, everyone with a reservation in danger of being missed (Puerto Natales is the town through which all travellers to world-famous Torres del Paine National Park must go), was herded into catamarans that were called in from PN.  Those of us with time to spare stayed an extra night of effectively free accommodation and food and enjoyed a less crowded and smokey pub.  The next morning, 1 day late, we crawled into PN and disembarked.  We all headed off to arrange our hiking trips to Torres del Paine.  The word now is that the Navimag boat (of which there is only one and which is incredibly popular among travellers going both north and south) is out of commission for repairs for at least 2 weeks, cancelling all trips during that time.  In fact, we were quite lucky.  The boat is the jewel of many a traveller´s trip to Chile, and had I booked one week later, I would be taking a 3 day bus ride or shelling out for a flight and competing with every other inconvenienced traveller for a seat.

Torres del Paine update coming later today... gotta eat.