Southern Chile and more

DECEMBER 2016 – JANUARY 2017

On 07 December we picked up our hire car and headed south. Our first stop was 250km south of Santiago, in the fruit and vegetable growing region and in a small town called Molina. Our aim was to visit the national park near by, but Anne’s cough had got so bad we needed to seek medical advice. Our host David was very helpful and organised a doctor’s visit on the first day and a hospital visit on the second (to get a second opinion). To our surprise the diagnosis was an allergy. The hospital increased the strength of the medication (given my the doctor) and gave Anne an injection to speed up the recovery process.

From Molina, we headed a further 250km south to a small village called Recinto, nestled in the forested slopes of the Andean Mountains. We had beautiful views from our cabin balcony of both the forest and mountains. But would you credit it, I (Malc) started to develop the same symptoms as Anne, so started the course of allergy tablets that had originally been proscribed by the doctor for her (Anne was now on the Hospital prescribed medication). Our first, and only full day, dawned with a fine mountain rain in the air, and as neither of us was in the best of health, a short village walk when the rain cleared was our only activity.

Another 350km south, and we were now in the northern reaches of Chile’s Lake District. Home for the next three nights would be a cabin in the woods, south east of Curacautin. Beautiful location, but access was at the limit of our little Hyundai Accent’s capabilities. Day one again dawned with fine mountain rain but cleared to allow us to walk to the idyllic Laguna Negra. The second day was much nicer, sunshine and a clear blue sky, so we hiked to the viewpoint to see Vulcan Llaima (the local volcano that dominates the skyline on a clear day) in all its glory.

Parc Nacional Conguillio

Woods in Parc Nacional Conguillio

Lava flow fromVolcano Llaima

Our cabin in the wood, just outside Parc Nacional Conguillio

Track to our cabin in the woods

Local birdlife

Volcano Llaima

Access to our cabin in the woods

From one cabin in the woods, we then moved to another, 250km further south. Not quite so remote and with a bit better road access. The cabin was located between the two-lakeside towns of Pucon and Caburgua, next to the Rio Pucon. More stunning scenery, with the skyline dominated by Volcano Villarrica. We had three days here and had plenty of time to enjoy the lakes, rivers and the nearby national park.

Lago Pucon

Southeast this time, to the coastal town of Valdivia. Said to be one of the most attractive towns in Chile, this was stretching it a bit, but it was pleasant enough. However, we did love the open market, selling a fabulous selection of fruit, veg and fish. And with the massive South American Sea Lions waiting for fish scraps, barely feet away from the fishmonger, quite a unique environment. Sadly our second day in the area was a wash out.

South American Sea Lions

South American Sea Lion in Valdivia

South American Sea Lion in Valdivia

South American Sea Lion in Valdivia

It was then onwards south to another lakeside town, Entre Lagos on lake Puyehue. For the two nights here the weather wasn’t favouring us, but we did manage a waterfall (s) hike in the Puyehue National Park.

DIY water transportation wheel

Stones that float

Three Waterfalls Hike

South once more, and another lakeside town. Ensenada was on Lago Llanquihue, a beautiful setting surrounded by two volcanoes, Osorno and Calbuco, the later having erupted as recently as 2015. Accommodation was also another cabin in the woods and a very comfortable one to. Although the weather was still unsettled we were able to get out and enjoy our surroundings. A drive up to the ski station on Vulcan Osorno allowed us to witness all the different vegetation as the altitude increased, until there was nothing but volcanic ash. We also visited Lake Petrohue and explored the waterfall trails along the Rio Petrohue.

Los Pilliyos

It was now Xmas day and our next destination was Chiloe (a large island just off the coast of the mainland), or so we thought. About half way to the ferry port, Anne’s phone burst into life, announcing a Tsunami alert. Not sure what to make of this, we studied what other people were doing, namely nothing out of the ordinary, and continued our journey. However, just before we arrived at the ferry terminal we were stopped by police, advised that there was in fact a possibility of a Tsunami and we should get away from the coast. Also, because of this there was no ferry’s running? With this advise we headed back in-land and spent the night Puerto Vares about 100km from the coast. It was there that we heard that there had been a 7.6-magnatude earthquake in Quellon (far south of Chiloe), which had triggered the Tsunami alert.

By the next day, the news was much better. No one had been hurt in the earthquake, the Tsunami warning had been lifted and the ferries were back to normal. So this time we successfully crossed the Canal de Chacao and arrived safely on the island of Chiloe.

Car Ferry to Chiloe

We had planned a nine day stay on Chiloe, which was now eight, a couple of nights in the north at Ancud and the rest in the centre at Chonchi. Chiloe is one of the wettest places in Chile, but other than dodging the odd heavy shower here and there, in didn’t affect our enjoyment of this very scenic island. The pace of life on the island was even more relaxed than the mainland and scenery was very much like Devon and Cornwell. We loved our stay there. We got out on the water a couple of times to see the marine life and the coast from a different prospective. We visited one of the smaller islands of the main island, including another car ferry. Walked in the country side and visited the Chiloe National Park, which occupies almost all of the western coast, and explored many of the towns and villages. What was also a bonus was our accommodation. Both very comfortable self-catering cabins, but with magnificent views out over the bay with fishing boats constantly coming and going (especially in Chonchi). The only signs of the earthquake, although we didn’t visit Quellon, were a few cracks in the road and a number of small landslides. However, most days we did feel an earth tremor, all part of the after shock process.

Magellan Penguins

Magellan Penguins

Goose

Red Legged Cormorant

Ancud Chiloe

One of many UNESCO church's on Chiloe

Chile mainland from Chiloe

Chiloe

Ibis

Chonchi Port

Castro Chiloe

Castro Chiloe

From Chiloe we started our journey back north to Santiago. First stop was a return visit to Ensenada and the lovely cabin in the woods. We had two full days here, and on the second, we got good weather and were able to explore Vulcan Osorno up as far as the snowline.

Volcano Osorno

Volcano Osorno

Swan

A long drive from Ensenada brought us to our next destination, Nueva Imperial in the heart of the Mapuche region. The Mapuche are one of the last indigenous people to still remain in Chile, although now mostly integrated with the European settlers. We had one full day here to explore, it rained, but we did keep dry for our visit to Lago Budi.

Another long drive brought us to our final destination before returning the car in Santiago, that of Talca. The accommodation here was once again very comfortable. This time we were not self catering and instead ate at the on site restaurant. This had the added bonus of a bit of interaction with fellow travellers. Talca had great mountain scenery just a short drive away, so this allowed us one day of hiking and one day just relaxing.

Santiago was just an overnight before flying on to Easter Island, our so we thought. The following morning all plans changed. Whilst at breakfast my (Malc) day bag got stolen, and with it went my passport, credit cards, money, electronics and more. So instead of Easter Island, the following week was spent getting an emergency passport, a replacement tourist card, and a visa for Argentina, together with undertaking the endless tasks to organise everything I needed to continue our travels. It was a nightmare, but I must acknowledge how helpful the hotel staff were and that also goes for the British and Argentine Embassies and the Chilean Police. Also, Anne was amazing; I don’t know what I would have done without her.
Fortunately, everything was organised it time for us to continue our travels into Argentina, and get the itinerary back on track.

Flight over the Indian Mountains from Chile to Argentina

One night in Buenos Aires, followed by an internal flight to Puerto Iguazu. The focus of the visit was the Iguazu Falls, the largest body of water falling anywhere in the world. We spent two days at the falls and one in the town of Puerto Iguazu. The falls were amazing as ever, we had visited them before, but the crowds were bigger than last time.

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Turtle

Plush Crested Jay

Spiders

Toucan

Swallow-tailed Butterfly

Monitor Lizard

Cayman

Coati

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Our last three nights were in Buenos Aires with the days spent sight seeing.

Personal Observation and interesting facts

Supermarkets
Best supermarket in Chile was Jumbo. Because it stocked our favourite chocolate marzipan and some British beer – Trooper & London Pride.

Chilean's
Almost without exception, the Chilean people were the friendliest we have encountered anywhere in the world.

Iguazu Falls
Iguazu reminded us that there seems more tourist in the world than ever before, maybe people are rushing to see our planets wonders before us humans destroy them all.