Puerto Varas, Chile

Market place in Chiloe Island
see all photos »

Well after a 22 hour bus ride, finally made it to Chile through part of the Andes. The Andes which separate Argentina and Chile has done its job well, because both countries are vastly different. The architecture, the food, the prices, the way of speaking, pretty much everything is different. Which of course makes it more interesting for the traveller! (So far) Chile is an interesting mix of metropolitan/urban and rural, but doesn´t seem to have the ultra conservative feel of some of the other countries like Uraguay, for example. Where Argentina has mostly concrete block structures and colonial columns, houses in Chile are mostly made of wood and have timber rooves. They are small and modest but seem to be better cared for. The guide who took us to Chiloe Island yesterday said that there is a very reasonable housing scheme for poor families and pensioners. Apparently Chile also has a good health system, where at the moment they are experimenting with free cover for some sectors.

Puerto Varas from the ferry to Chiloe Island
see all photos »

Ok, now Puerto Varas. Sorry I don´t have too many pics of the town itself (I might try to get a few after finishing up here). I should have gone out and taken shots of it yesterday and the day before, but to be honest its hard to get to do that at times. Besides on the tour, we have a consummate photographer who is willing to share all his pics with the rest of us in a 56 DVD boxed set!! Only joking, but this guy takes photos of practically everything, so its pretty terrible, but the rest of us have become quite lazy about taking photos. Already he has filled 16 1 gig cards! Only thing is that I´ll have to go through them when I return, which will be no mean feat!

Church on Chiloe Island
see all photos »

Anyway, Puerto Varas is a pretty little place with a huge German/Austrian influence. Houses are wooden as I mentioned, but often are covered in shingles with peaky rooves. Apparently the immigration during the 1950s or something favoured Western Europeans to settle the area, which has very rich volcanic soils. It is close to Puerto Montt which I thought we were staying at, but according to our guide its a bit on the "dodgy" side so we stayed here instead. The town itself is situated on a large bay that turns into a glacial lake further up the road, so its very pretty.

Chiloe Island
see all photos »

Yesterday, activities to choose from were hikes up one of the volcanoes, horseriding, canyoning and whitewater rafting (and all those "adventure" things) or a trip to Chiloe Island for the day. I picked Chiloe Island because its the furthest south I was able to get and we were promised penguins, sea otters, sea lions, marine bird rookeries and hopefully the Chilean dolphins. Anyway we were collected by minivan at 9:00 and reached the southern most part of the mainland about 2 hours later. Travelling through the countryside gives you a reasonable idea about how the locals live and work. Its very similar to Victorian countryside and yes again absolutely brimming with gum trees!! They really love them over here, and its always amazing to see them. I have to pinch myself sometimes to remember where I am. The soil is very rich volcanic red and black, so agriculture is of course the main income sourse here. Farms look to be well tendered and very neat (which is a bit different to the rest of South America I´ve seen so far). Roads are in very good shape, and there are tolls pretty much every 50k or so. Again, the roads between the major centres are not that busy, strangely. I´ve come to the conclusion that because they drive little buzzbox cars here, for the most part, its easier and safer to take a bus. Or they mightn´t do much travelling for leisure or pleasure, preferring to stay closeby. I´m not sure.

Park on Chiloe Island
see all photos »

We stopped in the town where the ferry departs (forget the name of it just momentarily coz i don´t have the map with me) and walked around the markets which you´ll see photos of. That took about an hour or just wandering around the stalls which had local crafts and food (note the cheese and food stands!).  We then took a ferry across the bay to Chiloe Island which was about 40 minutes or so.Chiloe Island I believe is about 160k long and about 60k wide (something like that), so its pretty big. Has a population of about 200,000. Interestingly the guide told us the people there are "very lazy", only working (mostly fishing) when they need money, partying all night, starting work at 11:00, stopping for lunchand siesta til 2:00, before finishing at 5:00 to start partying all over again!  Man that sounds like my kinda place!! Haha. I could believe this actually, becuase the houses and buildings are not as neat and well tendered as in Puerto Varas itself.

Penguins on Chiloe Island
see all photos »

We drove for about an hour or so south and the last part was about 10k of gravel road which was corrugated as all hell! A little dinghy was waiting for us and we putted out to nearby rocky outcrop islands where the penguins, sealions, sea otters, and all other manner of marine birdlife were waiting for us. It was amazing to be so close to them for sure! I kept having to pinch myself to remember taht I was somewhere in remote southern Chile watching penguins and sealions! I know I keep going on about it, but truly its such a spinout to see and experience these things.  Lunch was local fish served with boiled potatoes and a green salad, which was so green it was just lettuce. The fish here is fantastic, as you would imagine! I had congria or something, but its this large white fleshed fish, holey schmoley it was wonderful! Simply prepared (grilled) and then served with half a lemon and a few subtle spices. The accompaniments were free. I also had a beer, and the entire meal cost me about AUD$9.00. Was another amazing day for sure! I don´t know how long this can continue.. having great days I mean. The whole experience has just been so unreal (at least until now

Sea Otter on Chiloe Island (hopefully it turned out!)
see all photos »

Anyway, have to catch the bus for Puçon in another 30 mins or so, so will bid you farewell, and hope this finds you all happy and well! (By the way, Puçon is where apparently i´m climbing this volcano using clampons and ropes coz you have to scale up ice cliffs!!!! 2 guides per 6 people, so hopefully I make it down ok!!)

Cheers everyone!