Marvelous South of Chile!

Isla of Chiloe is in the South of Chile.  The Land of the Cold!

My last post was right after a trip to the North of Chile to La Serena and Coquimbo for the week after Christmas. On January 15th, Ahimara and I took a trip to the South of Chile. This was a gift given to me by Pedro and Cecilia. Emilia could not go with me because she was having an eye surgery. I had the wonderful pleasure of spending time with Emilia’s older sister, Ahimara.

Ahimara and I by the bus.

The bus left in the evening and drove all night. It was actually a comfortable bus. We arrived at Porto Varas in the morning and unpacked, settled in and had some time to rest. I took a nice long walk along the walkway of Lake Llanquihue after the long bus ride. In the afternoon, we loaded the bus and visited the City of Frutillar. It is a beautiful lakeside town. Ahimara and I walked for hours looking in the many local artisanal shops and sampling the wonderful food sold by the vendors along the lake. When we returned to the Inn, I decided to go for a jog. I went too far for too long and it was pouring down very cold rain. Needless to say, that night, my knee was very injured.

Fruitillar, Chile

One of the many delicious Restaurants 

Cloud covered Volcano Osorno

I know some Spanish by now and I can converse in simple sentences, but I cannot say, “I need to buy an Ace bandage and some analgesic crème for my knee. No, I don’t need a doctor, or crutches; just a nice strong elastic bandage!” When words fail, use motions and body language. Ahimara and our guide, Patrick figured it out and soon I was as good as new with just a bit of a limp.

He's actually a nasty little guy with a very big "!"...have to see to believe!

Ahimara and I by the Green Lagoon. 

Probably the only time I was ever warm was in these Natural Hot Springs!

Language isolation is very difficult for me. I am a person who loves to talk and tell stories. I am not able to do that here. I have been silenced. I sit and listen, smile, and nod. In this way, the trip was very difficult for me. It also forced me to learn more Spanish. Ahimara would teach me how to say the things I wanted to say in Spanish. It’s just tedious for everyone when an adult talks like a baby! I eventually put headphones on, listened to music and audio books, watched great English HBO movies on TV at night, and enjoyed the scenery. I took lots of pictures.

First stop on Isla of Chiloe....I was freezing! 

I bought a scarf and mittens, but take note of my shoes! This is Patrick the tour guide.

Instead of giving a diary of actual events, I am going to just mention the places I visited and the highlights. Day 3: I wasn’t able to hike to the Waterfalls of Petrohue due to my knee, but Ahimara took pictures for me. I was able to do the smaller hike to the Green Lagoon. I saw half of the cloud covered perfectly coned Volcano Osorno and many beautiful lakes. Day 4: We went to the National Park of Puyehue and we took a boat ride. We also went swimming at some natural hot springs. Day 5: We boarded a ferry for the Island of Chiloe, Island of Achao and the City of Castro. The highlight of my day? I SAW TWO PENGUINS: Real, live penguins in the ocean during the ferry ride! What a great thing to see because penguins don’t normally come this far north from the Antarctic! Day 6 was a day of rest for me while everyone else went to Porto Monte. I needed some time to tour the shops of Porto Varas, find an internet spot to check my email, take a walk, and relax. I ran into some American tourists! Yeah! I was so STARVED for conversation that I followed them to their departure bus in non-stop conversation! I must have been a bit of a nuisance, I am sure, but I wanted to hear them talk and I wanted someone to understand me! I even recognized my desperation as it was happening, but I didn’t care. I was so happy to be near English speakers . Day 7 was spectacular Valdivia, a boat ride to tour a Spanish Fort complete with a reenactment of a Spanish/Chilean battle. I was confused about who won the battle though because I couldn’t understand the narration. I could only surmise that Chile probably won because they have their independence! Like I said, I didn’t understand a thing that was said on the entire tour. I just enjoyed the scenery and took pictures. In Valdivia, we toured a chocolate factory and a beer processing plant before we drove all night back to Rancagua. I slept comfortably on the bus for about 8 hours! I’m getting used to this traveling business!

Preparing Oysters for us 

This is Curanto: clams, mussels, potatoes, fish, chicken.  Steamed on hot rocks.

Did I mention this trip to the South was to the very cold part of the world?! I froze my ass off the entire time; day and night! I slept cuddled up to the radiator when it worked. I was not prepared for this kind of cold. I had only my wind breaker and sandals. Others around me were wrapped in heavy duty winter coats, sweaters, gloves, and boots! I eventually had to buy a scarf and mittens and wear my jogging shoes for warmth. We were on the last edge of civilization where the Patagonia begins and the heavy duty campers prepare for their excursions toward the wilderness of the Antarctic

One of the many, many. many local shops we visited 

Entertainment the local way

Oh the food, the food, and the delicious food! I have never had so many new and wonderful things to eat! The food sold on the street is delicious. I had sopaipillas with mostaza and aji which is flat, fried bread with mustard and a red sauce. We ate the most delicious sweet milk filled churros con manjar and the same creamy filled cone called cachitos. We had fresh raw Oysters scooped right out of the ocean, with lemon and salt. I experienced the local cooking experience of Curanto. It is the steaming and cooking of clams, mussels, chicken, fish and vegetables over hot coals and covered in leaves. We ate at a place that roasted all different kinds of meat over the coals on a spit and served it family style to the table. In Valdivia, we hiked to the top of a breath taking cliff to eat dinner. I’ve eaten so much salmon here too!

A reenactment at a Fort in Valdivia

The experience was wonderful. I actually made some friends on my one week trip. I saw beautiful volcanoes and lakes and villages. I truly believe we stopped at every single local artisanal shop! They sold fine sweaters of llama and alpaca, woolen goods, and carved crafts. It could only have been better if I understood the history of the place and if I could understand the tour guides! My English improved though and I had a great time getting to know Ahimara more. She was a great travel companion and interpreter.

Its never hard to find a sign of Rotary everywhere I go!

Rotary Rocks!