One pair of travelers we met while hiking in Torres del Paine were a very well educated Mexican couple in their mid-30's taking a year off for storytelling and traveling South America.

They normally do their storytelling either at fairs, or in an intimate venue like a night club. They have managed a number of 'gigs' while they have been traveling.

We had made Arturo promise to do a storytelling night in English while we were on the Navimag Ferry, but unfortunately that opportunity got canceled.

So when they told us they were doing a night of storytelling in Santaigo, we made an effort to go see them. They did it at Meson Nerudiano, in the bohemian section of Santiago (a short trip by Metro and a few blocks walking).

Meson Nerudiano is an elegant restaurant with a nice 'wine cellar' kind of basement that they use for intimate entertainment. We bought dinner, paid a cover charge, and bought some expensive drinks, just to see what their 'storytelling' was all about.

Unfortunately it was all in Spanish, and though our street Spanish is reasonably good, we didn't understand much of the stories being told. But the rest of the crowd seemed enthusiastic and amused. It reminded me of a stand up comedy show... with a little less comedy and a story theme.

They have a blog about their travels (but it's in Spanish)

http://viajeros08.blogspot.com/

Labels: Chile Inland

The train ride to Santiago turned out to be easy and relaxing. Much smoother than taking the bus, which lurches around corners going in and out of the major towns. It also traveled most of the time faster than the buses we saw on the highway beside us a few times.

We went by some pretty old clapped-out towns on the train. It was obvious that commerce had moved away from the train station for the most part.

The terrain for the most part was fertile agricultural land growing all sorts of things. For one two hour stretch it was all vineyards, but we also saw sheep and cattle, orchards of several varieties, and vegetables. I can understand now why so much of our wintertime produce says 'Product of Chile' on it.

Labels: Chile Inland

From Pucon, we by bus about 5 hours north, to the town of Chillan. The only reason we went to Chillan was because it is the current starting place of the train that goes to Santiago.

Dave and I decided that we'd like to take the train rather than the bus, just for the novelty of it.

But we found it hard to get information about the train... the route and the schedule, the cost, and how to buy tickets. We asked several travel agents but they all said we could either buy them online, or in person at the train station. The Lonely Planet guide to Chile mentioned the train heading south, but not heading north.

We finally found the train system website at efe.cl (the 'F' stands for Ferrocarrill, or Iron Cart). It appeared to have an application to purchase tickets, but the ticket purchase required a logon. Though the website appeared to permit Non-Chileans to create a logon and buy tickets, I could never get the logon to work. I could create one, but when I went to use it, it told me I needed to create a logon. After about 3 times around that circle, I gave up. We finally just waited til we got to the train station in Chillan, and purchased tickets the afternoon before without any problems.

We stayed in the Canadian Hostel, I think we got the address from the Lonely Planet, it's only 2 blocks from the train station and 2 blocks from the new central bus station in Chillan. It was adequate... typically shabby, but clean with hot water showers, reasonable security, and decent beds.

After we got checked into the hostel and purchased our train tickets, we headed for the downtown market. We didn't really need anything, but just wanted to see the mercado. We ended up having dinner in one of the small restaurants in the mercado.

Look At All the Sausages!
Beans and More Beans

Labels: Chile Inland

The Ruca Rayen Farmhouse (and Guesthouse)
The other couple on the Cani hike, Carol from Canada and her friend Ian from New Zealand, told us that they were going out to stay for their last week in Chile at a place we'd heard about called Ruca Rayen (rukarayen.com).

Our Bed (Shaped Like a Boat)
We met the owner, Peter, in town when he came to pick up Ian and Carol, and decided to go out the next day ourselves by bus.

Dave Helping to Round Up The Horses
It turned out to be a lovely place on a farm with a very nice couple running it. Peter is Austrian and came to Chile first as a young traveler, and then as a tour guide for Europeans. He met and married Margot, who is Mapuche (one of the indigenous Chilean tribes). They started with some family land, built a house and a cabin for guests, and have bought horses and more land. They currently have accommodations for about 12 people.

They both are fluent in English, German, Spanish, and Mapuche.


Peter knows the Pucon area very well and offered many options to us for things to do. We opted not to do any more walking, but chose an afternoon of horseback riding and a full day of drifting down the river on kayaks. It would have been nice to stay there another couple of days and just veg out, but we had to head for Santiago.


We really enjoyed hanging out for 2 days with Carole and Ian, who turned out to be very interesting travelers in their own right. Ian is an almost-retired sheep farmer in New Zealand, and for fun finds pickup work on farms around the world. This summer he'll be driving farm trucks in Texas during the wheat harvest. Carole is Canadian and an inveterate traveler. We enjoyed stories of her 16-day hike to the Mount Everest Base Camp--something we'd like to do some day.

"Oh, it feels so good to get those people off my back!"

Labels: Chile Inland

Pucon is a small town in the Chilean Lakes District that is on the edge of a big lake, and within sight of Vulcan Villarica. Villarica is a beautiful snow-capped volcano that still has some occasional smoke and fire.

In the summertime, Pucon is a tourist mecca... both Chilean and foreign tourists flock here for the sun, the beaches, the hiking, biking, and whitewater rafting. We saw some pictures of Pucon in high season, and it reminded me of Key West at Christmas time (small town, streets jammed with tourists).

This time of year, it is definitely off season... Hostals and restaurants and stores are empty. But we were blessed with a spectacular run of weather--about 4 days of blue skies and sunshine.

Though we were greeted off the bus by women hustling hostals, we opted to take one from the Lonely Planet, and got the cheapest price for a room we've had so far. Hostal M@yra wasn't anything special, but it was close to town.

After nosing around the tourist information office and a couple of travel agents, we opted to actually pay for a guided hike up to the Cani Forest. This is a private reserve that some individuals bought up to save the ancient Aruacania trees from the logging companies.


The reason for paying vs doing a self-hike, was that the price included a minivan transport higher up the mountain than you can reach by public bus. AND it included a guide (which turned out to be a good thing... we'd have never found the right path up there!)

It was a pretty long hike, but the scenery was lovely. After 4 hours of uphill hiking, we scrambled nearly straight up for several hundred feet to reach the 'mirador' at the top of the mountain.

Looking Up at the Mirador
From there we could see 360 degrees around us and could see 4 volcanoes (Villarica, Quetrupillan, Lanin, Llaima), including one over the border in Argentina.

Sherry At the Mirador, Villarica in the Background

Part of the walk took us right through the middle of the volano's ancient crater, by a lagoon called Laguna Negra (Black Lagoon). It was fantastic.


We saw trees that our guide told us were close to 2,000 years old! The trees are huge, but like trying to take pictures of big waves, the scale just doesn't show in the photos.


The Unique Leaves of the Araucania Tree

Dave Standing on a Fallen Tree
We only had 3 couples on the hike, and a young Chilean forestry student who spoke a little english as our guide. For once, Dave and I were not last on the hike. There was a Brazilian couple who obviously didn't do much hiking, and they were really struggling.

Our Guide, Guido
We were slowed down so much by waiting for the Brazilians that we barely made it down to the pickup point before dark. We walked the last half mile in the dark. We hadn't imagined being out so long, so we didn't even have a flashlight. (Fortunately someone else had one).

And we were amazed that the minivan was not waiting for us... the last thing that 'Max' the van driver said to us as we got out was "I'll be waiting RIGHT HERE no matter how late you are."

But Max had gotten tied up and sent another van driver, who didn't know exactly where the pickup point was. He'd driven by where he thought we should be, when we were supposed to be there, and not seen anyone. It took us 45 minutes standing exhausted and hungry in the cold and the dark to finally get picked up. Fortunately our guide had a cell phone and Max's phone number.

We finally made it back to town about 8pm!

Labels: Chile Inland

In our wanderings around southern South America, we have crossed the border between Chile and Argentina by bus about 4 times. It is always an interesting experience to see how differently things are handled at different border crossings.


On our most recent crossing from Chile to Argentina, the Chilean formalities consisted of checking that we had a valid ENTRY into Chile, before checking us out. To make it easy for the officials, the bus steward lined us all up in the order we were on the bus paperwork... we were first every time, I think because we must have been the first one to reserve passage (several days ago).


On going into Argentina, they had a friendly drug-sniffing dog check the baggage. They open the baggage doors on the bus and just let the dog jump in and roam around in the baggage compartment. Anything he seems interested in is hauled out and the passenger made to open the bag. But it didn't seem very serious. Both bags they did this with, the owner opened up, rummaged around a little, explained what it was that the dog got excited about, and then they let him close up and that was that. Didn't look like a very thorough search to me.



Both times going back into Chile, we had to get all our luggage off the bus, and take it ourselves through 'Customs', including a questionaire and an X-ray scan of all the bags. Mostly what Chile is looking for are agricultural products. Their country is very agricultural and they are very serious about not allowing any soil, fruits, vegetables, and raw foods.



On the last border crossing, we had some raisins left that we'd actually bought only a few days before in Chile. One of the officers we asked when Dave turned in his agricultural questionaire said that the raisins were OK. But when his bag was X-rayed, they detected the raisins in his bag and pulled them out for a look. But he got to keep them in the end.

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

We left Bariloche at 9am on the bus 'Albus' to San Martin de los Andes.

Albus is the only company that does the trip to San Martin via the '7 Lakes' route. All the other companies go out and up via the main roads. The 7 Lakes Route takes a winding road that turns into a gravel road up in the mountains. It goes past ... yes ... 7 Lakes.

It was a beautiful trip, especially since all the mountains had snow on them from last night's light snowfall.

San Martin is another 'typical' Argentine tourist town. Nicely laid out, very nice looking buildings, and a slew of tourist-oriented businesses.

We hadn't booked a hotel room ahead, but had a couple circled in the Lonely Planet guide. But we were accosted on exiting the bus by 'Mario' who had a nice room to rent at a very good price. It was a block and a half from the bus station, and Mario spoke pretty good English, so we decided to take a look. (Contact Details on our Travel Chile page).

It was an OK room... still under construction, and the wifi that Mario promised was not HIS wifi, but an open wireless router a few blocks away.

We had a late lunch at a nice waterside restaurant recommended by Mario, and then took a taxi up the hill to the 'Mirador' (scenic overlook) over the city. We let the taxi go, and after a few pictures and some hot chocolate at the Casa de Te at the top of the hill, hiked the 5KM back down to the city.

Unfortunately, the only buses leaving for Pucon, Chile leave at 6am, so we had an early night and left for Pucon while it was still dark the next day.

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

Yesterday, a cold front blew into Bariloche from across the mountains. By midday the wind on the lake was blowing 30 knots, and some pretty big waves were breaking on the lee shore. We had rain off and on during the night. And this morning, all the surrounding mountains have a dusting of snow on them.

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

The rain had cleared by the time we woke up to our first full day in Bariloche. It was a beautiful day. We spent the morning getting our bearings and checking the Tourist Information office for ideas on what to do for 2 days in Bariloche.

Of Course We Have to Check Out The Boats!
In the afternoon, we took a bus out to Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. We set out for what is called locally "the Circuito Chico" (small circuit). We took the 1pm Route #10 bus, which first traveled along the lakefront, and then wound its way up on a gravel road to the Colonia Suiza (Swiss Colony) in the mountains. Then it continued on to the park. It was a great way to see the countryside for only about $1 each.



Then we hiked along a lakeside path for about an hour and a half. It was a nice path, mostly level, through a forest of huge trees and (oddly enough) bamboo scrub, and along a lake. I thought it was a wonderful path, but Dave complained that it was too easy.

Big Trees, Beautiful Wood!
We were lucky to have a return bus pull up just as we got there, as we were running late to be back at the hotel to meet Mark and Brandy, who were arriving by bus from Valdivia. The whole Bus-Walk-Bus trip took us close to 5 hours and only cost $2 each, and we got to see a LOT of the countryside. (A similar half day guided tour would have cost $35).

Typical Bariloche Architecture
Mark and Brandy arrived on schedule, and we ended up going out to experience Argentine beef at "Parillada Tony", as recommended by the owner of our hostal. A red meat and red wine orgy ensued, and before we knew it, we had spent close to $60 per couple. But it was delicious. And fun to connect with fellow cruisers.

We swapped notes and stories on everything from Peru travel to watermakers and autopilots.

We found that we already had Restless' notes on their Peru trip last year, in the 'Ecuador Cruising Guide' that the cruisers have been maintaining. Brandy was recounting their 21 day trip with their daughter and I said "boy, that sure sounds familiar". I had avidly read their account while sitting in Ecuador.

On the second day, we got up early and got going out to Cerro Campenera... a short bus ride and a chair lift (my kinda hiking!) up to a mountain view of Bariloche and the lakes and surrounding mountains. We got up and down just in time... the cold front that we knew was coming arrived (with rain and lots of wind) about a half hour later.



Brandy and Mark left on the afternoon bus back to Valdivia, and Dave and I changed our plans from an afternoon hike to a museum, while it continued to rain.

Sherry Checks Out an Albatross's Wing Span

Bariloche Street Scene

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

We crossed over the mountains from Chile to see a little bit of the other side of the 'Lakes District', in Argentina.

It was an uneventful trip on a double-decker bus. We didn't know it was going to be double-decker, and ended up on the bottom tier... better seats, more room, but not as good a view.


Unfortunately, most of the time we were up in the mountains, it was foggy and drizzly, so we didn't see a lot.

We'd had a tip on a place to stay from another cruiser, called Hostal San Francisco. But we didn't know where it was--it wasn't in the Lonely Planet and wasn't online. When we arrived at the bus terminal in Bariloche, the Tourist Information counter was closed.

So it took us about an hour of messing around... dragging our packs with us, to find out the location of San Francisco. The lady at the Tourist Information office downtown was very helpful and gave us a list of 3-4 more places in the same area. We finally found San Francisco after lugging our packs uphill a couple of blocks. But it didn't have any internet... :(

So I sat with the backpacks while Dave went off on foot to investigate the other places in the area. It took him a long time...

I was starting to get worried about him, and imagining all sorts of bad happenings, but he was just being his usual thorough self. We ended up at Hostal Wikter (Victor), about 2 blocks further up from San Francisco. It is a nice small hotel with private baths, central heat, breakfast, and wifi, for only about $22 per night. It looks like it was a much more upscale place a few years ago.

We emailed the directions to Wikter to our new friends, Brandy and Mark from s/v Restless, whom we met in Valdivia. They had already had a trip to Bariloche planned for tomorrow (a border crossing to renew their 90 day tourist visa in Chile).

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

From Chiloé, we took a bus up to the college/beer/waterfront town of Valdivia. Valdivia is a pretty town a few miles upriver from the Pacific. It has been in existence since the mid-1500's. In the 1800's, a number of German settlers came to Valdivia, and started a beer brewery that eventually evolved into a national industry. They still make some great beer in Valdivia.

Valivia is also a college town--lots of young people there. This seems to have help keep the prices down, as we found lots of places to eat and stay, and reasonable hostal prices and restaurant prices.

The center of tourism in Valdivia is the lovely riverfront. The town has beautiful walkways along the water, a very nice open-air fish and veggie market, and an artisan market, all on the water.




The first day we were there, with fantastic weather, we booked a 'dinner cruise' on one of the boats along the waterfront. With a little negotiating, we got the 14,000 peso price down to 12,000 pesos per person (about $20 USD). This included 6 hour boat trip, a sit-down lunch, a free Pisco Sour, and afternoon snacks, as well as guided stops at 2 of the old forts downriver.

Our Boat, the Reina Sophia
Our trip ended up being quite the unplanned adventure. First, it started out badly... departing an hour late, with no steward service while we were onboard waiting, no explanation of what was going on. It turns out that the guide that was supposed to be on board had gotten into an accident in the taxi on the way to the boat. He was probably also the person who was supposed to be serving us drinks while we sat and waited!

Dave Examining Cannons at the Fort
Then, after visiting the first fort, as we pulled away, the engine stopped. After drifting for a few minutes, we found out that the water pump had failed. They told us that one of the other boats would come and take us off. Eventually, the big catamaran doing the same kind of tour just ahead of us, came back and took all 20 or so passengers off our smaller vessel. They were very gracious and treated us very well. It was much nicer inside and seemed like a much more organized operation. Next time we'd take the catamaran.

The Rescue Catamaran


On the following day, another gorgeous day, we did a bunch of things:

1. Visited the Valdivia Yacht Club to see the American boat we had seen from our river cruise. We met Mark and Brandy from s/v Restless and had a good chat about their recent visit from Ecuador to Easter Island and then down to Chile.


s/v Restless at the Valdivia Yacht Club
2. Shopped in the open air market (smoked fish, paperback books in English, raisins)

3. Went to the Museo Histórico y Antropológico Maurice van de Maele, where we saw furniture, maps, clothing, and other artifacts from the early days of Valdivia. Probably the coolest thing was an old restored carriage.

4. Sat and watched the 'Lobos Marinos' (Sea Wolves, aka Sea Lions) play 'king of the mountain' on a couple of floating docks in the river.



5. Strolled the waterfront, people watching and sea lion watching.

6. Ate (twice) at one of the restaurants above the Artisan Market.

7. Watched a bunch of college kids celebrate victory in a televised soccer match. They ran through town making noise and carrying flags. The local police zoomed up in a few minutes on small street cycles, to just monitor the commotion.

8. Packed up our backpacks, ready for an early departure for the 7 hour trip to Bariloche, Argentina, in the morning.

It was a nice relaxing day.

Labels: Chile Inland

From our nice stay in Ensenada, we took a morning bus through Puerto Varas to Puerto Montt, and then another bus and a ferry to the island of Chiloé. We picked a rainy, foggy day for the trip, so couldn't see much of anything on the ferry.

We went straight to the main city of Castro, a quaint little fishing-turned-tourist town. Castro and Chiloé somewhat reminded us of the small towns in Penobscot Bay, Maine. There are many smaller islands in the Chiloé archipelago, and small ferries abound.


Castro has a beautiful square, complete with an old church built completely of wood. We spent the first day and half, with warm sunny weather, strolling around Castro's square area and the waterfront.

Church Inside--All Made of Wood!
We stayed in a small hostel a block from the bus station called La Cordillera. We chose an upstairs room with a waterfront view, though we had to give up the option of a TV and a 'matrimonial' bed to get the view. But it was worth it.

We investigated taking guided tours to see other parts of the island. But they wanted 18,000 pesos per person (about $32). After asking at the tourist information kiosk in the square, we found that we could do a 'self-tour' for only a few dollars.

So the next day, we got going early, and caught the 9am bus that goes through the small town of Chonchi and out to the Parque Nacional de Chiloé. It was a nice 90-minute ride through the countryside (costing only $6 each round trip).


For another $2 each, we got into the park. The park features a couple of short walks--one on a boardwalk trail through a unique area of forest (for Chile) that reminded me of a Central Florida pine/palmetto hammock. The second walk was out to the dunes on the Pacific Ocean. It was kind of drizzling the whole time we were there, but we still enjoyed the walk.



For lunch, we returned to Chonchi, and had a nice seafood lunch and a walk on the (almost deserted) waterfront. The Lonely Planet raved about Chonchi, but we thought it was kind of dull. But both the square and the church was under renovation, and there were no tourists in town.

The Deserted Chonchi Waterfront
I think that during high tourist season, when everywhere else is packed with tourists, Chonchi might be a nice respite from the crowds (especially when their extensive renovations are complete).

On our third day in Chiloé, we took the bus in the other direction, to the town of Dalcahue, and on to the smaller island of Quinchao. Again, the bus fare included the ferry trip.


We enjoyed the bus ride down the backbone to the principal town of Achao, and an hour walking around. We tried to get a map of the town, but the tourist office was closed. We did get in to see the church, nicely renovated.



We had lunch at the new waterfront complex in Dalcahue, where they have built a fish market, an artesan market, and restaurant complex over the water. The 'restaurants' are very small booths with a few seats, selling delicious seafood plates.. anything from steamed mussels to crab and several kinds of fish.

The one thing we DIDN'T get to do while in Chiloé is tour a Salmon Farm. But Salmon farming is BIG business in Chile. The whole time we've been in the Lakes District, we've seen large semi trailers transporting fish... Since salmon live in salt water but breed in fresh water, the farming operation has to transport them back and forth between farms on fresh water lakes and farms near salt water.

Salmon Transport
We would really have liked to had a good explanation in English of the farming operation. But never saw a tour offered.

We loved Chiloé, it would be a great place to come back and spend more time.

Labels: Chile Inland

We had a great time today doing a whitewater rafting trip on the Rio Petrohue.

We went with Ko Kayak on a nice half-day whitewater rafting trip down the same river we biked along yesterday. ($27,000 Pesos per person)


The weather was great and the water was good. They told us it was about 5 feet higher than it was last week. So we had some good rapids.


At one point, our guide, Richard, the owner of Ko Kayak, told us we could jump out and swim for a little bit. By that time, we were all hot and sweaty (in full 5 mil wetsuits with booties and spray jacket), so we jumped in an swam for a bit.

Dave In the Water With the Camera
Evan Having a Good Time in the Water
The scenery was fantastic, in the shadow of Osorno Volcano.

After the trip, Richard and the staff at Ko Kayak treated us to snacks and Pisco Sours. We had a great time hanging out and warming up.

Tomorrow we are trying to put together a big ride DOWN Osorno (truck up, bike down).

Labels: Chile Inland

Donna and Sherry on their Bikes
We rented bikes today from the cabins that we are staying at. It is about $18 per day per bike. They have pretty decent bikes (15 speed mountain bikes in reasonable condition). We set out about 11am to ride all the way to the Petrohue and Lago Todos Los Santos... about 19 KM one way, with lunch in our backpacks.

We first rode to 'Salto Petrohue' (Petrohue Falls). We got off our bikes and paid $2 each to get into the park. There was a cruise ship in Puerto Montt today and so there were tons of visitors in big tour buses.




It was fun to wander through the people and try to guess what nationality they were... from skin color, clothes, and mannerisms. But really you can't tell any more. Chile has a lot of European heritage people (Germans and Croatians, we know for sure) besides the Spanish. And everyone has cross populated, so an Oriental-looking person could be from San Francisco, UK, or Japan. Plus everyone in the world is copying each other's fashions, so it is really hard to tell from clothes and hair anymore. You just have to wait til they open their mouth.

The ride to the falls was easy... all on nice paved roads, not too many cars, and not too hilly. Once we got beyond the falls though, the pavement ended, so we were riding on gravel/dirt road. It wasn't a lot of fun. Especially later in the afternoon (on Good Friday) when all the locals started zooming past to get to the lake.

But we finally made it out to the lake. It was a nice improved park, but they wanted about $5 for a picnic table, so we just ate our lunch in the parking lot.


The lake was beautiful. You could take a ride in a small tour boat on the lake for about $20, but we passed on that.



The ride home was a lot easier, as there was a gentle grade almost all the way back to Ensenada. We only had to ride up 2 small hills, and the rest was coasting downhill.

When we got back, sore butts and all, we were treated to the most spectacular sunset over the lake.

Labels: Chile Inland

Vulcan Osorno from our Cabin Window
Our Sky Airlines flight from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt was uneventful. It was pretty overcast, and we had interior seats, so we didn't see much out the airplane windows.

The pilot landed in the heavy fog, 'below minimums', I believe. But we lived. I don't think there are many reliever airports around here.

We didn't see much of Puerto Montt... it was totally foggy and about 7pm. We took a taxi from the airport directly into Puerto Varas. No reservations... We had the taxi dump us at the front door of the hostal we hoped to get into. But they only had bunkbeds left, scattered across 4 different rooms. (We are now, for a short time, traveling with friends Evan and Donna from s/v Java). So Evan and Dave went around the corner to look for another place while Donna and I guarded the pile of backpacks. Our walking poles make good defensive weapons, if needed!

After a bit, Dave and Evan came back with good news... two nice rooms in Ellenhaus, for a reasonable price. They have built this hostal in the 2nd and 3rd levels of an old building, and it's literally a rabbit warren. But a nice one. I got lost every time I went out of the room, but the room was nice and very clean, and the hot water was hot, and we had internet.

The next morning, Dave and I bought new backpacks... Chilean brand (Doite)... to replace the cheapies we'd bought in Guatemala that are now literally falling apart at the seams. We couldn't justify $400 North Face backpacks, and the Doites looked pretty good. They were being used as rental gear in Puerto Natales, so they will probably hold up to our careful use.

Then we all went out to the grocery store and stocked up for 4 days in Ensenada. We are renting a cabin on Lago Llanquihue, with a nice big kitchen. Then we caught the local bus out to Ensenada. 42 KM with all our gear, for about $3 per person.

Varas was still really overcast and foggy in the morning, but as soon as we headed out toward Ensenada, we came out from the clouds and it was nice and sunny. We could see Vulcan Osorno alongside the lake as we approached. And our cabin is right on the water, and right under Osorno. We'll hang out here for a few days (and let Easter weekend pass by).

Sunset Over Lago Llanquihue
Details on where we've been staying in every town are being posted on our website:
http://www.svsoggypaws.com/travel_chile.htm

Labels: Chile Inland

We were dismayed this morning to find out that the Navimag Ferry, that we were going to take from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, has been delayed. We were told by the agent in Puerto Natales that they developed a repair issue and returned to Puerto Montt to sort it out. (though a later email from Navimag said the problem was due to weather, not repairs).

They gave us the option of rebooking on the next run on April 14, or cancelling and getting a full refund. We have opted to cancel. Dave has already made the trip once, and quite frankly, I am ready to get to warmer weather. We have already seen and experienced penguins, several glaciers, lots of snow-topped mountains, and windy waterways. It would be fun to do the 4-day trip, but I don't want to wait another week either.

So we took our refund and bought 2 one-way airplane tickets from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt for tomorrow. And we have about $400 left over to play with elsewhere. We opted not to bus this stretch of Chile... the route through Chile is about 2000 KM of gravel roads. The alternate route is to cross over into Argentina, and go up through Argentina. Both bus routes would take a couple of days. For about $140 each we can fly.

So our next stop is the southern end of what is called The Lakes District. We already have reservations for Easter Weekend at a cabin called Brisas del Lago alongside a lake in a little town called Ensenada, about 42 KM east of Puerto Varas. It is in the shadow of Vulcan Osorno. We'll just move those reservations up a couple of days, and have a few extra days to spend in the Lakes District.

Labels: Chile Inland

The flight to El Calafate was easy. Not quite as scenic as we'd hoped. We ended up on the wrong side of the plane as we took off and missed the views of Ushuaia, Puerto Williams, and Cape Horn (well in the distance).

The rest of the flight we were over the desert-like mostly flat terrain of southern Argentina.

Arriving in El Calafate, we were surprised to find that there is no public bus service from the airport to town. The only option was a shuttle bus for about $10 US, or a taxi for about $20 US. The new airport is strategically located about 15 miles out of town, so if you don't use these options, you are stuck.

Friends had given us the name of a hotel they used. It's not on the internet, so we didn't book ahead. We just used the Tourist Information service at the bus station. There are several small hotels right near the bus station that are nice and haven't jacked their rates up to full 'tourist' level yet. (see our Argentina Travel page).

Ours is an 'entirely adequate' facility a block from the bus station, and cost us $28.50 US for a room with twin beds and a shared bath, no breakfast (this is pretty cheap for Patagonia). It looks newly-built and well maintained, was quiet and had heat and hot water. Not a bad deal, but Dave found a cheaper one around the corner for only $22.

The first thing we did after getting settled in our hotel room, was to go look for Hostal del Glaciar, to book their 'Alternative Moreno Glacier Tour'.

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

For our second day in Ushuaia, we opted to go out to the Tierra del Fuego National Park and hike along the famous Beagle Channel. Unfortunately, Ushuaia, like at least one other Argentinian tourist town we know of (El Calafate), doesn't have a 'local bus' system. The options to get anywhere are taxis, tourist shuttle buses, and the long distance buses.

So, to get out to the park from town, about a 30 mile drive on gravel roads, we had to pay $15 USD per person for the r/t shuttle bus, and another $15 per person for the park entry fee. This is pretty outrageous for a 3 hour non-guided hike. They are really milking the tourist trade.

However, the park was 'improved'... a maintained path, with some markers, and some small bridges over the marshy areas.

It was a really nice hike... we barely made the '3 hour trip' in 4 1/2 hours, and almost missed our 5:30pm bus back into town. We stopped for lunch in a little glade (out of the wind) along the Beagle Channel, and took lots of pictures.

And then there were 'knee stops'. Though the trail was mostly level along the shore, there were some ups and downs. My old knees, punished by years of jogging and triathlons, and genetically inclined to arthritis, complain a bit when I do a lot of ups and downs.

The only major tourist thing we didn't do was a boat trip out on Beagle Channel. Though we would have like to do it, the combination of outrageous prices and expensive meals in town, we just decided to skip it and move on.

So we booked a one-way flight on Aerolineas Argentina from Ushuaia to El Calafate (about $140 per person). The distance to Calafate is about double the distance from Punta Arenas, so we figured we'd be paying close to $100 per person and in for a 24 hour bus trip if we did it by bus.

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

When we woke up in the morning, the view out our window was breathtaking. Snow capped mountains, everywhere we looked.

Our hostal had good internet, so we spent a little time getting caught up on email, blogs, Facebook, etc.

Then we set off for Glacier Martial, a short taxi ride from our hostal. At the foot of the mountain, the views of Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel were already pretty spectacular, and it only got better.


We opted to take the chair lift for the first third of the way up the mountain. It was a little expensive (about $15 per person), but with my weak knees, well worth it.

This hike is supposed to be 2 hours, but we stop and rest and take so many pictures, that it took us about 3 to do the hike.


We never did actually get to the glacier. It has been receding, and has receded right up a steep cliff face. We met some hikers who had scrambled up all the way, and they said it wasn't worth the climb, so we opted to stop at the base of the cliff. There was a snow bank down low, though, and we took a few shots of Dave 'in' the snow.


The views in every direction were stunning, and we took lots of pictures. A few are here and the rest will eventually get posted on our Picasa photo album.


From the mountain, we could see the harbor and could see a number of sailboats anchored and docked in the harbor. So on our way down, we had the taxi take us to the 'marina'. The dock had about 15 boats, rafted 3-deep along a single pier.


The first boat we came to was SSCA member 'Diesel Duck' with Benno and Marlene aboard. We had looked on the SSCA Members Map page and seen them in Patagonia, and were delighted to actually see them. They were aboard reading (waiting for weather), and when we knocked to say hello, they greaciously invited us aboard for some nice Agentinian red wine.


We enjoyed several hours hearing of their adventures coming down from Ecuador by boat, and swapping boat stories in general. They have done a lot of cruising in the same areas we have, and we have several mutual friends.


We also saw Skip Novak's famous Antartic exploration/charter boat Pelagic Australis. It is a very impressive 60 foot aluminum boat, purpose-built for high latitude sailing.

Labels: Argentina Inland, Chile Inland

Dave at the Bus Station
Punta Arenas is still about 200 miles north of Cape Horn, on the Straits of Magellan. We debated whether to go further south, to either Puerto Williams, Chile, or Ushaia, Argentina. We were yes/no for several days. Partly due to the expense, and partly due to the time and effort required to get there. The good roads and regular schedules end at Punta Arenas. It's either a flight or a long bus ride to get to Ushuaia, and a 36 hour ferry ride to get to Puerto Williams.

We finally decided to go ahead and go on down to Ushuaia. For $50 each we booked a 12-hour bus ride, which included a ferry trip to cross the Straits of Magellan, at a narrow place on the eastern end. We will stay for 2 1/2 days and then take a flight north to El Calafate for $140 each.

Ushuaia is still about 60 miles north of the actual 'Cape Horn'. But it is located on the famous Beagle Channel.

The Rolling Prarie Around Punta Arenas
The bus ride was long, but the bus was pretty nice, so it wasn't too bad. Miles and miles and miles of prairie-like terrain with sheep and cattle and llamas. Then as we got close to Ushuaia it started getting more mountainous. Dave took a lot of pics out the window of the bus, but the light was failing. We got into Ushuaia itself after dark. We can't wait to see what there is to see tomorrow.

An Estancia (Sheep/Cattle Ranch)

Car Ferry Crossing the Straits of Magellan

The Lighthouse





The Gravel Road (Part of the Way)

Labels: Chile Inland

Punta Arenas is right on the famous Straits of Magellan.

One of the 'must do' things here is to go see the penguins. There are 2 standard trips... one is an all day affair in a big Zodiac, out to Isla Magdellena, where there is a large penguin colony--30,000 penguins. The other is shorter, a shuttle bus out to a smaller colony on the mainland--'only' 5,000 penguins.

Though we would normally have opted for the Isla Magdelena trip (who would turn down a boat ride?), they quit running that trip on a regular basis on March 15. Partly due to changing weather (it's Fall here now) and partly because the penguins migrate north starting in mid-Mar.

So we booked the shorter Seno Otway Penguinera trip at a cost of about $20 per person. It leaves daily about 4:30pm from Punta Arenas (several tour agencies arrange the same general trip). We had 6 people in our very nice new van. After about an hour drive on succeedingly worse roads, we got to the waterfront on the other side of the peninsula. We drove on gravel roads across miles of 'Estancias' (sheep and cattle ranches), and past a coal mine, before arriving at the small Penguin preserve.

Though the weather was reasonable in Punta Arenas, it was cold and very windy out at the Penguinera. We estimated that it was blowing about 25-30 knots. The Penguinera reserve has about a mile of boardwalk winding through a penguin colony. At sunset, the penguins surf in from their afternoon fishing trip, and hang out on the frigid beach, before making their way to burrows slightly inlad. So we saw some penguins on the beach, some standing around outside their burrows, and several we could see by peeking into the burrows.

It was fun watching them, and we got some great photos.

After an hour of wandering around in the freezing wind in search of Penguins, we were happy to meet back up with the driver of our van, who had hot chocolate and coffee waiting for us.

Another side trip we made was to the Naval and Maritime Museum in downtown Punta Arenas. There were old photos of the shipping activity and the waterfront, and models and mock-ups of Navy ships and equipment. We also watched the Mystic Seaport documentary 'Around Cape Horn' which is really good, showing real onboard movie footage of one of the last sailing ships still sailing a commercial route between Chile and Europe, in 1929.

Labels: Chile Inland

The flight from Santiago was uneventful. A nice Boeing 737 operated by Sky Airlines with lots of leg room. The flight looked almost full. We actually got 2 meals onboard, including a free glass of wine... a breakfast on the first leg, and then after a short stop in Puerto Montt, a good lunch. Not bad for a 4 hour flight!

We saw some beautiful sights out the window of the airplane as we flew south... at least one erupting volcano, some snow-topped peaks, and a glacier. Dave got some great shots out the window.

The Punta Arenas airport is about 10 miles from town. Transportation options were to take a private taxi for about $12, a shuttle bus for $5, or a bus for $3.50. Since we weren't in a hurry, we opted for the bus. This bus also provided a connection to another bus in Punta Arenas, to Puerto Natales.

We found our hostel without much trouble. We had pre-booked by telephone with Hostal La Luna, and asked for a downstairs room (as instructed by some other travelers we had met). We had a nice comfortable room, and after a glimpse at the upstairs rooms, were glad we'd asked for downstairs. Etienne the owner was very hospitable and informative. Young backpackers would probably think this place boring, but we thought it was a great place for couples.

The only complaint I have at La Luna was that we were sharing the bathroom facilities with 5 other rooms, with no 'relief toilet'. There was sometimes a wait to get in. But the hot water worked well.

The other complaint is that there is no internet at La Luna, and I couldn't pick up anything 'open' on the wifi. We could live without it, except for the fact that we still needed to make onward reservations, etc. So rather than handle those in the late evening and early morning, we had to do them in the middle of the day at an internet cafe. We trudged all over town looking for a restaurant/bar with wifi, but this didn't seem to be a concept that's made it to Punta Arenas. (I guess few travelers down here are traveling with their own laptop).

Punta Arenas surprised me a lot. I had envisioned a one-street town in the wilderness with few services. But it is actually a small city with quite a bit of activity and regular businesses, including some light manufacturing. We were delighted to find a big modern supermarket (better than anything in Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador).

And we finally found a good steak. We quit buying steaks in Central America because the beef is so bad (unless you can confirm it is aged beef imported from somewhere else). But here we are so close to Argentina, that a 'steak sandwich' is a common menu item and we found them quite good.

Labels: Chile Inland

We are on our way south!



We managed to make our way to the airport by public transportation, at about a third the cost of our trip in from the airport by shuttle bus.

We checked the forecast this morning, and there are a series of storms starting to roll into Patagonia. Tomorrow it's supposed to be blowing 35 knots!



This image is courtesy PassageWeather.com

Labels: Chile Inland

We did the Naval Museum in Valparaiso this morning, then hopped the Tur-Bus back to Santiago. We managed to get over to the Museo Chileano de Arte Precolombiano in Santiago before closing time. It was a very nicely done presentation of pre-Colombian art from all over South and Central America.

Unlike most of the museums we have been to in the rest of Latin America, both of the Chilean museums we went to had English subtitles, making it so much easier for us to enjoy the museum.

We were hankering for something different for dinner, and tried to find the Chinese restaurant that we had walked past a few days ago. We found 2 bars that sold Chinese food, but there were smokers in the bar and Dave wasn't having any of that. We finally stumbled on a very nice Japanese restaurant (Miyako), and had a nice sushi dinner.

Labels: Chile Inland

We obviously didn't plan properly... our only full day in Valparaiso is today. Today being Monday, nearly everything is closed on Monday (the Museums we wanted to go to, and the restaurant we wanted to go to). Apparently they do a pretty good weekend business from Santiago, and Monday is the day off.

But we still managed to see lots of Valpo, as the locals call it, and totally wear ourselves out.

Valpo is kinda similar to San Francisco... waterfront surrounded by lots of hillsides. All the roads are higgledy-piggledly, so it's easy to get lost. Most roads either go up the hills or across the hills. There are 14 'ascensors' (elevator kinds of things) that you can take to get up the steep hills. Most were constructed in the early 1900's, and are kind of creaky. UNESCO declared this a World Heritage Site in 2003.

Ascensor Cerro Concepcion
One of the tourist things to do is to take all 14 up to the various hills. We only managed one--the one our hotel is on.

Another ascensor we tried to take today was closed until 4pm, so we walked up the stairs instead, to get to the Cochran Museum, which we thought was the only museum open on Monday. It wasn't, but since we'd walked up about 500 steps to get there, the caretaker let us in anyway, and gave us his spiel.

Sherry Resting Halfway Up the Steps
Lord Thomas Cochran was a Scotsman who essentially founded Chile's Navy back in the early 1800's, after they became independent from Spain. It wasn't as much of a museum as the residence of a famous guy, with a good view. So the spiel didn't take very long. The view was wonderful, and there were cannons there. A successful visit, I thought.

Then we went down to the fish market and found Restaurant Anita, on the 2nd floor over the fish market. It was a great seafood meal and for a reasonable price. As you wander around the restaurants on the 2nd floor, each of the proprietors tries to get you to come in to eat in their place. Anita was a good talker, and in the end, as we still hesitated, offered us each a free Pisco Sour with our meal. This clinched the deal for us. We didn't regret eating there. About $10 for the two of us to eat there.

After lunch we took a tourist launch out into the bay. For 1,500 pesos per person (about $2), we got a half hour ride out into the Valparaiso Bay. We saw the ships from closer up, a better view of the waterfront and the surrounding hills, and some sea lions. It was worth $2. But a little cold out there on the water.



Then we took the Valparaiso Metro train, which starts right near the pier we took the tourist launch from, and goes over toward the sister city of Vina del Mar. We bought a round trip ticket, for about 50 cents per person each way, just to see what there was to see. It was a little disappointing when the train went underground halfway thru the trip, but we did get to see a few things from the train. We got off at the Vina del Mar station at the other end, and walked back about a mile down the route, covering on foot above ground, the area that we went underground in the train. We walked through the heart of Vina del Mar down to the sea, and then along the shore, just to see a little of Vina del Mar and the waterfront there.

We were also trying to see what waterfront facilities there might be for sailboats. We had seen none along the waterfront in Valparaiso, but thought we'd seen some masts over toward Vina del Mar. While we were walking, we saw what looked like a marina or yacht club, and about 6 one-designs out sailing. There was a least one cruising-sized boat out on a mooring, and 20-30 masts of boats either docked or dry-docked along the road. We didn't actually stop in, though, so it's hard to tell exactly what was there.

Our next stop was an antique store called something like Grandfather's Old Stuff. Dave has been re-bitten by the coin collecting bug, and wanted to visit this place, which was mentioned in the Lonely Planet. He ended up buying a 1775 Spanish half-Real coin for $15. If you're an antiques buff, there was lots of other interesting things in this store. But since we are homeless people, buying more stuff we have to store, in hopes we might display it in some house in 10-15 years, didn't seem to make sense.

Then we took a 'collectivo' (shared taxi) for about a dollar, up the hill to La Sebastiana, one of the highest places in Valpo. It is the home of a famous artist, and also museum, but it wasn't open today. (We knew that). But it was also the starting place of a nice walk along the ridge in Valparaiso. Lots of scenic overlooks, etc. Also much artwork on the walls, which Valpo is also known for.

An Example of Valpo Wall Art
More examples on our Picasa site
We walked for about an hour, winding around, following Via Alemagne, gradually going downward, and ended back at our hotel on Cerro Concepcion about 6pm.

Unfortunately, the quirky French Restaurant we wanted to eat at for dinner is also closed on Mondays. So we went back down the hill into the working part of town (as opposed to the tourist district we are in on Cerro Conception) and had an inexpensive meal in a bar/restaurant. Seafood for two, with a beer, for about $10 for the both of us. That's a real bargain anywhere in Chile.

Tomorrow we head back to Santiago (after visiting the Naval Museum, which will be open tomorrow), and on Wednesday, we fly further south to Punta Arenas. At Santiago/Vaparaiso, we are already at 33 degrees south latitude. Punta Arenas is at 53 degrees south, another 1,200 miles further south!

Labels: Chile Inland

Dave Buying Old Coins at the Flea Market
We had an easy trip over from Santiago to Valparaiso... a short walk to the Metro station, off at the University of Santiago stop, and up to the bus station. From there we bought tickets on the TurBus bus to Valparaiso.

The bus was really nice... nearly brand new, clean, air conditioned, and lots of leg room. About $7 pp one way, with a 20% discount on the return trip.

When we arrived in Valparaiso, the first bus stop was in the middle of a big flea market. Dave and I looked at each other and said "Why not?", and hopped off the bus to check it out.

It was jam packed with people looking for bargains... could have been anywhere in the U.S. And people selling all kinds of stuff... junk and not so junk.


We didn't buy anything but a few Chilean old coins, for less than a dollar each, but we had fun looking. When we were thru, we asked 3-4 people before we got consistent answers on which city bus to catch to get close to our hotel. It's always useful to ask more than one person... we have often had very helpful people tell us with great assurance exactly the wrong direction to go!

Our hotel, the Residencia En El Cerro, is a very old house with drafty old rooms, but we have a great view of the harbor. Our room is fitted out to sleep 5 people, but the owner assured us we were only paying for a double (22,000 pesos, or about $35/night). Hot showers (shared) and continental breakfast included.

Great View from Second Story Windows

Labels: Chile Inland

We have been having a hard time finding time between adventures to get things properly posted. I've uploaded a bunch of pictures on our Picassa Photo Pages, including our whitewater rafting and horseback riding adventures in the Maipo River area.

Labels: Chile Inland

Our 'passage' from Ecuador to Chile was long, but pretty easy.

We took the 9:30 bus from Bahia to Guayaquil. The trip took about 6 hours on mostly pretty good roads (for Ecuador). Some of it 2 lane, but it turned to 4 lane as we approached Guayaquil.

The bus terminal in Guayaquil was simply amazing. It was a combination huge transportation center, but also had a mall-like flavor. As we had about 8 hours to kill, we went up to the food court on the top floor. We found a table with a wall plug nearby and Sherry plugged in our external wifi to see if we could pick up any free wifi. Yep, we found a free wifi signal (I think from the internet cafe the next floor down). So while Sherry checked email, Dave wandered the bus station/mall.

A few hours before our plane was to take off, we got a taxi over to the aiport. It is literally right next door to the bus station, but there is no pedestrian walkway or shuttle bus (that we could find). So we took a $5 taxi ride... and it was quite a long ride, because there's no direct road between facilities... the taxi had to go way out and circle around to get on the airport approach road.

The flight was 6 hours on paper, but only about 4 in actuality, as we moved 2 time zones. We took off about midnight from Ecuador and landed about 6am Chile time.

The LAN flight was nice... we got served a free meal complete with metal knives and forks, and a free glass of wine. And a movie with free headphones. No surcharges for checked luggage, etc.

But we paid a $56 Departure Tax from Ecuador and a $132 PER PERSON 'Visa Fee' on arrival in Chile. This arrival fee in Chile only applies to Australian, British, Canadian, and US passports. It is in direct response to the US fee charged to Chileans arriving in the USA. The guy we paid the fee to said we should consider ourselves lucky. Our fee is good for the life of our passport, the visa fee for a Chilean visiting the U.S. must be renewed every 90 days!

The Santiago airport is really nice. We had to go buy an airplane ticket on Sky Airlines for some friends who are going to meet us down south in Chile, so we got a chance to wander around the airport for a bit. The airline, Sky Airlines, apparently has had so much trouble with international credit card transactions that they quit accepting credit cards over the phone or on the web.

After asking several people advice on the cheapest way to get from the Airport to downtown, Dave managed to suss out the best compromise. As you exit the baggage claim area, there are tons of taxi drivers holding up signs that say 'Official Taxi'. They are NOT official taxis. There is an official taxi... you go to a desk, pay the fee, and get a slip to give to the official taxi drivers. This is the most expensive way. Next expensive is a non-official 'official taxi driver'. Below that are the
shuttle vans, and below that, the public transportation. Because we were tired and lugging quite a bit of luggage, we ended up on a shuttle van for $16 USD. The taxis wanted to charge us $25. Public transportation is about $6 via a bus and then the metro.

Anyway, by about 10 am we were at the Green Hotel, a place recommended to us by another cruiser (we booked via HostelWorld.com). Reasonable, clean, quiet hostal only 2 blocks off the Santa Lucia Metro station downtown. Near the University of Chile and all the downtown sights and scenes. We are paying 17,000 Chilean Pesos per night (about $28 USD) for a double/shared bath, free wifi, free breakfast, helpful family with some English running it.

We are also able to leave the luggage that we don't need while we are traveling elsewhere. We plan to park one big bag here that has our US stuff, while we're down south in Patagonia.
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At 3/12/2009 11:57 PM (utc) our position was 33°43.99'S 070°19.12'W

Labels: Chile Inland

We have shut the boat up tight and have gone walkabout... off to Chile for about 6 weeks. We'll be in Santiago tomorrow morning.

I still haven't had time to finish posting our Cocos pics! Oh well, maybe later.
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At 3/5/2009 12:58 PM (utc) our position was 00°36.41'S 080°25.28'W

Labels: Chile Inland

We have spent a good bit of time in the last week planning our first South American inland trip--to Chile. Right now (mid summer in Chile) is the best time to be going, so we wanted to launch off from Ecuador almost as soon as we arrive.

We finally got our tickets booked for certain critical legs of the trip:

1. Guayaquil, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile - March 10 - via air (we'll take a bus from Bahia de Caraquez to Guayaquil). LAN Chile about $275 per person, booked through Costamar Travel in Lima Peru. We plan to hang out in Santiago for a week and do some local sightseeing. We fly out of Guayaquil at 11:40pm and into Santiago about 6am on the 11th.

2. Santiago to Punta Arenas, Chile - March 17 - via air. Sky Airlines at $112 per person, booked through Costamar Travel in Lima Peru.

3. Navimag Ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt (a 5 night 4 day trip thru the Chilean fiords) - April 7-11 for $435 per person.

4. Flight back from Santiago to Lima, again on LAN Chile, on May 2. Also booked through Costamar for about $250 per person (#1 and #4 booked together as a multistop gave us better rate than 2 one-way tickets).

From Lima, we plan to take a Spirit Airlines flight back to Ft. Lauderdale (and then another flight on to San Diego) for Dave's son's wedding on May 9.

This plan gives us about 3 weeks in Patagonia, to hike Torres del Paine and to see Ushaia and Puerto Williams (right next to Cape Horn). Then we'll start working our way back north towards Santiago.

The rest of the trip, we'll take buses and local transportation, and 'wing it'.

We looked at doing a 10 day cruise to Antarctica from down there, but it's still WAY too expensive--the cheapest cabins start at about $5,000 pp.

Any of our friends interested in coming along? Spirit Airlines flies out of Ft. Lauderdale to Lima Peru pretty inexpensively.

You can download a free 'getting started with your Chile trip' guide from Lonely Planet.

Labels: Chile Inland