Much to our surprise, Cueca dancers greeted us at the airport rental car desk in Punta Arenas. The whole dance troupe was there, in costume complete with music apparently waiting for some dignitary returning to Punta Arenas.
I was happy to report to the rental car agent that the Subaru performed perfectly and although the total cost was quite high, it was worth every penny since we had driven over 1100 KM in 4 days.
The 40 minute plane trip saved us a 12 hour bus trip to Ushuaia. I could see through the clouds, incredible sky amazing mountains, snow and large expanses of green water below.
35 years ago, my buddy David Slade visited Ushuaia and spoke about the pristine wilderness he experienced here. The seed was planted and today I finally made it too. The size of the town, the number of people, throngs of tourists, the traffic jam down main street all surprised me a bit, but did not subtract from my excitement. I was satisfied knowing I made it to the end of the earth.
We parked the car and walked to the tourist bureau to get a decent map. I noticed the man in front of me procured a certificate so I asked for one too. We have officially made it to Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world.
Dinner was next. Both of were starving and we just followed our noses to a decent restaurant along main street. Then we pursued the Pira Tour – Eco penguin tour that we had heard about. We easily found Veronique at the Pira office by the wharf and she patiently answered all of our questions. We purchased the tickets and tomorrow is all lined out. We drive 85 KM to the ranch where we pick up the Penguin tour boat at 10 AM. Tomorrow afternoon, we will check out the national park. Only to top off the evening with a sunset dinner cruise around the lighthouse in the Beagle channel. Lastly we needed to check into our hotel.
We drove around following the map and poor directions to our hotel. We were lost for about a half an hour until we finally stopped to ask someone. Alls well that ends well and we drove right into the Ushuaia Hotel at sunset.
Very friendly staff greeted us. This was a very different vibe than where we just had been in Chile Patagonia. Our room looked to be quiet and we were happy to settle in for the evening.
But no, Stan wanted a short sunset walk to view the city at twilight. The colors looked nice. This seemed like the perfect compromise rather than driving up to the Glacier for the big view. We once again followed our nose, and walked around the neighborhood.
To me the houses reminded me of a mountain town. Lots of wood, logs, stone and glass. It felt like home to me. While we were walking we spotted a very unique house and garden. Low and behold the owner was working in the garden. She noticed our interest in her cat and we were promptly invited into her garden and eventually her house to meet her entire family. Laura has 3 kids, 4 cats, and a boyfriend. She has been working as librarian in Ushuaia since 1985 and had lived in her wonderful home since 1989.
Her kids were all home. Two sons and a daughter. They were all beautiful, all spoke English, and were very welcoming like their mom. Each one greeted us with a typical hug and kiss. Remember we had only known these people for 10 maybe 15 minutes at the most and they were greeting us with a kiss.The conversation warmed up as we shared our first Mate tea with them. Here it was 11 PM Sunday night and they were preparing dinner. Everyone had their part in the family but mostly we marveled at the conviviality, and civility of this warm Argentinean family.
We hated to leave but we were tired and needed to sleep to ready for our big day in Ushuaia beginning at 6:30 AM. Arif led us down the path to our street and we walked home, trying to make sense of what just had happened.
Back at the hotel, we ordered a night cap hot chocolate. We explained to Mika our bartender how we were just out walking and met a family who invited us in for Mate. She said that the people here are very friendly and that this would be normal behavior. I knew I would love Ushuaia.
We packed up in search of shopping and Chilean Flamingos. We met the noisy gringos. One was Magan Radich, a lovely horsewoman and her parents from Flagstaff Arizona. Magan was another Gringa who married a local Chilean. They now run a horse-packing business in the valley. She and her husbands business, http://criolloexpeditions.com/ were currently featured in the local newspaper, the Black sheep.
Cerro Castillo was amidst an annual event, the Enduro. Where Huasos and Huasas, Horsemen and horsewomen from all over Chile compete in cross country riding races. The little town was bustling.
We headed South with a quick stop at the Cueva to inquire about some supposed Flamingos nearby. Fortunately there was a bus driver with one of the groupos who told me about a flock of Flamingos half way to Punta Arenas. After a nice picnic lunch on some old ranch road with cows and vistas every direction we headed into Puerto Natales.
First stop El Living for Coffee and posteres. Off to search out Jewelry stores and Magan’s mother-in-law, Boris’s mom. We found Monica and her cute little shop in a sheepherder’s wagon. (Magan told us where her store was in town) She was very charming and welcoming; even let Stan go into main house to try on Tee Shirts.
After a few small purchases, we were off to Taller Arbol, for handcrafted Jewelry. The window was fantastic, full of creative handmade works of art. Jewelry of silver and semiprecious stones. Very unique and interesting. However the store was closed. Stan noticed a guard dog was trapped between the front door, and the gate without food or water. This was a clue that the shop keeper would return shortly. Which he did.
Ricardo was very amiable, spoke good English and was good company and conversationalist for the next hour. Joanna bought ear rings, and Stan a handmade silver chain for Cusco Inca symbol. We talked politics, web sites, and about the bilingual nature of Texas and California. Oh yea, and he told us the story about why he left the dog in such a precarious place. Its 5:30 and it was time to get out of Dodge and head towards Punta Arenas.
AS directed by the bus driver at the Cueva, we stopped at the Penitente Lagune along the highway. Indeed, there were dozens of Pink Chilean Flamingos with black-tipped wings in this little roadside lake. We happily stopped to enjoy the spectacle. Although our cameras were not good enough to zoom in that far, we had our new binoculars to watch these magnificent pink birds, feed, play, fly and walk around in the lake. What in the world were they doing in Patagonia?
While watching them, 2 Nandu’s curiously crept closer and closer to us as they were feeding. Imagine Pink Flamingos and Ostriches wild in the prairies of Montana. That is how absurd the whole scene was. The Nanadus, crept within a few feet of while we watched and took pictures. We hung out with the Nandus and Flamingos for a half an hour or so. During that time, by the lake appeared dozens of squawking Cara Cara’s and the beautiful Ibis’s (Bandurrias.) It was feeding time for the birds around Penitente Lagune. A nice farewell for us from Patagonia.
On the road again, we passed a roadside shrine, driver Stan announced he was sleepy with still 125 KM to go. He was magically saved by a special radio tribute show to John Fogherty and Credence Clearwater Revival. Great old road music. The show got us up and going, singing and rocking through Patagonia all the way to Punta Arenas and the Hotel Cabo del Hornos.
We were treated to an upgraded room, with a complimentary bottle of wine after complaining to the manager last week about the poor restaurant service. The corner room had terrific views. Don’t forget the gourmet chocolates and fresh plums. The bad news was that the hotel is right on the main plaza. Joanna and I both prefer sleeping with the windows open so all night (Saturday night no less) we listened to drag racing, motorcycles, people talking, laughing and roaring busses. Even a wedding with honking cars. Needless to say we were happy to see the morning sun.
Surprisingly, it was a perfectly clear morning. The rain had moved in and it was a glorious morning. The desayuno at El Pionero was Nescafe, rice crispys and fruity fruity fruit juice with burned toast. We happily headed out towards the park but the herd of 20 Guanacos in the middle of the road stopped us along with a couple other gruopos. The sun was shining, the Torres (towers in Spanish) were standing bold and gallant, and the trails were calling. We opted for the nature walk right at the park entrance. My other choices were to hike up one of the main trails as far as we could till we got tired then turn around. However we made the right choice.
During the 3 hours we were on the trail, there was only 1 other group. EVERYONE ELSE was on the main trails. The quiet trail presented outrageous views of the Torres Del Paine as well as a herd of about 40 Guanacos. We stopped, sat down, and had lunch with these peaceful, graceful, courteous, adorable, cute, sweet, playful, loveable Guanacos. They were comfortable with us and we were in Guanaco bliss. It was for this morning on the trail, in Gunanco meadow that I came to Torres Del Paine.
Reluctantly we moved on. It clouded up as per usual in the mountains anywhere and the views were not the same the rest of the day. But we enjoyed driving through the park, seeing the glaciers, the high peaks, glacial-silt green lakes, rivers, and vistas. Many more Gunacos, Andean condors were everywhere. One of the overlooks even came with 2 very tame foxes. These tiny 6 pound foxes had obviously been used to being fed. They came so close to us and begged but were determined not to upset the balance any more than it already was. They eventually gave up and laid down right next to us until the next victim drove in. They left us for the next handout.
We had read about the boat trip on Lago Grey. There is an enormous glacier at the end of Lago Grey that feeds the lake with a constant supply of icebergs and incredible visuals. The Hotel at Lago Gray was THE PLACE TO STAY. If you are going to the Torres del Paine Park, book your room early at the Hotel Lago Gray. Great service, good cappuccino, amazing blue ice berg views with plenty of opportunity for outdoor adventure. We had hoped to catch the afternoon boat to the glacier, but the high winds kicked in again and the trip was canceled. Finishing our cappuccinos, we opted for a short walk around the valley to the boat launch.
I
n our minds were going to end the day with another run to Puerto Natales for dinner at El Living. We followed the few signs and thought we were going the right way until we realized that once again we took the wrong turn and were nearly back to our El Pionero hotel in Cerro Castillo. Oh well, so much for the gourmet vege dinner. Instead, we had a chicken dinner and salad and went to bed early. Dinner was nice except for the gringos at the other table who were way too noisy. Why are gringos so loud? We met them the next day and actually they were very nice.
Driving into the park was spectacular especially with the morning sunlight and cloudpattern.
The Guanacos started showing up along the park roads right away. Each curve brought a new photo op and more Guanacos. The rain in the hills to the east was worrisome to me and sure enough within a few hours we were amidst an all-day rain storm. Combined with the wind it was a nasty day by lunch hour. I did not envy the groupo from the Pionero headed up to the classic Mirador, viewpoint trail, a grueling 8 hour hike up and back.
We ended up on a driving tour of the park that day. The lakes were spectacular with their glacial green tint from the silt. The lower rocks, mountains, and waterfalls were all visible but the high peaks were gone by 11:30. Lucky we got the early morning pix.
Lunch was at a cool hotel/lodge on Lake Pehoe. The entrance was a rustic walking bridge out to the island. Very different. Fun watching the roiling waves of Lake Pehoe with the mountain backdrop while getting pelted with rain. Our waitress told us about her job, 12 days on, 3 days off. She said it was the best paying job in Chile. She also was looking for a gringo husband.
After lunch I signed up for some internet time in the view loft upstairs while Joanna took a nap. Since it was raining so hard, neither of us were interested in hiking that day and the relaxing day at the lake Pehoe lodge was perfect.
Around 4 hours later, we headed out to the Hotel Rio Serrano (one of the hotels we wished we would’ve stayed at) We had some wonderful views along the way, but mostly I was just trying to survive driving on the pothole-laden, wet, dangerous, roads through the park. There was considerable amount of bus traffic as well as other visitors. Everyone was taking a nice afternoon drive in the rain. The Rio Serrano was a nice pit stop for coffee.
We had driven so far through the park that we opted to stop at the Cueva Milodon on the way and drive the main road back to Puerto Natales and have dinner at the El Living.
An hour later we arrived to a very crowded restaurant. But the conversation was lively on this rainy night. We ended sitting on a couch across from a couple from Madrid and a German traveler. Had a wonderful conversation about our travels through Chile. The Vege Lasagna was the perfect anecdote for a hard day of driving.
Our return drive 35 miles north in the Patagonian outback to El Pionero, was somewhat unsettling. No lights, no signs, raining, and our car had an incessant flashing red light on the dashboard. We saw several skunks, jack rabbits, and actually a few cars and trucks driving into Puerto Natales from Calafate Argentina. Our little bedroom, with the tiny bathroom, cold shower and toilet that didn’t work, never looked so good.
I walked around Punta Arenas looking for the Rental car office Wednesday morning. What struck me immediately was how serious these Chileans looked compared to the light hearted vacationing families in Pucon or Puerto Varas. These people were wearing darker clothing, more clothing because of the weather and wind, and just looked different. The vibe reminded me of a mining town. That dark energy of a mining town seemed to permeate the culture. This was a very different vibe than we had experienced anywhere in South America. I found the car rental place, traded up to the Subaru Legacy. Even though it cost more than the Toyota. As they say in the US, Esposa Feliz, Vida Feliz. Happy wife, happy life.
Patagonia is the most rural place I have ever been. Open range, big beautiful skies. Driving the very long straight roads was comforting. A few vehicles passed us going the other direction every no and then. A few hours later we began to see the jagged silhouette of the high peaks region begin to appear on the horizon. This isolated range (encompassing the Torres del Paine Park, the Glaciers Park in Argentina, and Fitzroy) seemed to rise out of nowhere. We stopped at a Turismo hotel/restaurant for coffee, post cards, and maps and continued to Puerto Natales.
Walking around the town of Puerto Natales was a pleasant relief after Punta Arenas. Pleasant people on the streets, lots of backpackers with equipment complimented the numerous outdoor sports stores. Reminded a little of Boulder but far more relaxed and international. Young and old alike were everywhere with their backpacks, walking sticks and Exofficio “zippy” pants. This was my kind of town.
Heading to a coffee shop, we walked in on a sports store and began hablo-ing with the store owner. Turns out she was another Brit and we all laughed because we were speaking Spanish but quickly switched to English. Vicky was one of the many gringas who married a local Chilean man. She was an outdoor, adventuring type of woman and loved Patagonia. Vicky spent the next hour with us, explaining to us in great detail about Torres Del Paine, where to go, what to see, and so on. She essentially planned our itinerary for the next 3 days. THANK YOU VICKY.
With map in hand and a dozen sticky notes, we headed out. Before we headed north to our hotel, we stopped in at El Living, the gourmet vegetarian restaurant on the square. They offer real coffee, home made vegetarian meals, desserts and sandwiches. We ate there 3 times in 3 days. We are like that. If we find something good, we stay with it.
The sun was setting when we finally left for our hotel North by the park. Another wrong turn led us to another photo op, the boat yard in Puerto Natales.
We tried so hard to book a hotel within the park, Torres Del Paine. But we were too late. This was high season and we only started looking for rooms, a month before. The compromise was staying in a hotel in a small town outside the park, “El Pionero” The 45 minute drive north of town, was open and beautiful Patagonia. But the dirt road for the last 10 miles should’ve been a clue that we were out there.
The Pionero is in Cerro Castillo a very rural outpost about 10 miles from the Argentinean border and 60 miles from the Park. We were in the middle of nowhere. We were greeted by a pleasant hostess, Andrea and Jose the bellboy, waiter, and chief bottle washer. There was a groupo eating dinner while we moved into our very small bedroom upstairs in what was undoubtedly an old farm house. The Gravity water system presented minimal water pressure, little or no hot water, and toilets that rarely flushed. We had just moved from the best shower in South America (Cabo de Hornos in Punta Arenas) to the worst shower. But at least it was quiet at night as we were way out in the country in Patagonia.
Carlos was right on time 7 AM but he was quick to alert us that the very thick morning fog would prevent any flights that morning. He was right; the plane eventually did take off 3 hours later. The visuals flying over the Chilean coast, Patagonia, the enormous glaciers and the ragged mountains separating Chile and Argentina were spectacular. The lenticular shaped clouds however were ominous as I knew they meant high winds aloft.
The expert captain landed our plane in a very stiff cross wind safely and we were happy to be in Punta Arenas – albeit 3 hours late. The Lan pilots and attendants are all experts in hospitality and efficiency.
Our miserable little rental car, a Toyota Yaris quickly made Joanna carsick. The next day we exchanged it for a very good riding and performing Subaru all wheel drive Legacy. Driving into town, through the gale-force winds, we easily found our Hotel Cabo de Hornos in downtown Punta Arenas. By the way the town sits right on the Straights of Magellan. There it was this large expansive channel that enabled world trade, world shipping for nearly half a millennium following Columbus until the opening of the Panama canal in 1914.
The high winds (which are normal for these parts, down here in the “Roaring forties”) shut down our hopes of visiting a Penguin island by boat. Undeterred, we drove to another penguin colony North of town at Seno Otway. We started out the right direction but missed the turn and ended up about 30 to 40 KM north of town. There is one major paved road in and out of Punta Arenas. We were on it. It was blowing like hell and out little car was getting blown all over the road. But wait I began to notice something.
We were driving in Patagonia. There was our road and NOTHING ELSE. This was my first experience of Patagonia. In a way, it reminded me of Montana or Wyoming. Big skies, open range. See the sky in the pictures below. The difference is that there are very few ranches, or structures of any kind out here. They are miles apart. Many times, there is not even a power wire, much less a fence. The sky was huge, and full of wind clouds. The color of the sky reminded me of Alaska near the Arctic circle. It is a different blue here. Once again I woke up to the fact that I am not in Kansas any more.
I was driving along, still looking for the penguins when I spotted something out the corner of my eye. OMG, there were these huge birds down in the meadow. They were enormous Ostrich like birds called Rhea’s or Nandu’s. They look absolutely prehistoric to me. For the next 4 days we would see them everywhere down here in Patagonia.
I did turn around, and found the turn off to the Seno Otway Penguineria. The drive alone has made it all worth it. Gale-force winds buffeting us, across the Patagonian steppe with little or no signs of civilization other than the road and fence.
We paid our fees, and joined a rather large crowd of Grupos to walk out and see the penguins return in the late afternoon from a full day of fishing. The coast was wild and wooly. I am certain the wind gusts exceeded 75 MPH as it would knock us off balance many times. The Seno Otway inlet was a tumult of mixed up crazy green/white ocean, waves, and spray. All the while I was imagining the sailors of yesteryear sailing through this insane wind and water. The wind, the geography is the stuff of legends, and after all of those years, all of the sea stories, I was finally experiencing it myself directly. Head on. The relentless wind was pounding all of us penguin visitors.
There they were. Magellanic Penguins waddling along their little path to their colony. The wind didn’t seem to bother the Penguins as much as us humans. They are low to the ground and they seemed to ignore the wind. We watched the Penguins, interact with each other. We watched them swim ashore and land amidst the tumult of waves and whitewater. We watched them tend to their young. The penguins waddled along through the grass to their summer getaway to have their baby’s right here in Patagonia.
We were the last ones to leave the park after 8:30. This is one of the advantages of traveling alone without a groupo. On the way out, we stopped to watch 4 Nandus in the meadows. Penguins and Nanadus in the same day. Patagonia has already won me over.
The Cabo de Hornos hotel offered us the best hot shower yet, but the worst restaurant service we have seen in Chile. Sleep came early as we had been up since 5:30 that morning. Tomorrow we leave for Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine Parque.
On our fast – paced trip we are packing and unpacking every few days. This isn’t my favorite sport but the payoff is seeing a lot of different places in a short time. Before we headed south to Puerto Varas we had to have breakfast one last time at the Trawen, the best restaurant in Pucon. We had the luxury of meeting the owner this time, her kids, and Zoe’s kids. Pamela actually grows the vegetables in her garden for the kitchen. They are wonderfully delicious and healthy at the same time. The kids were the perfect sendoff for us to return to Puerto Varas and then onto Punta Arenas the following day.
We left Pucon and the steaming volcano at the end of the road and headed down the road once again. We did great until we got to Villarica (15 KM) away where we promptly go lost once again. Joanna gets car sick very easily so she can not read a map while I am underway.
Therefore I have to stop to read the map, and as a result we get lost a lot. Usually this presents a photo op for us or some other unexpected wonderful surprise. I am getting to like being the Gringos perdidos.
Lunch was along the Autopista in Los Lagos but not in town this time. Our waiter Hernand David taught was the word Entrecot – a local cut of beef…a very thick T-bone steak. We stopped in Fruitillar once again for some Café con leche and a wonderful German postere. This trip is turning into a culinary cruise. Finally we made it back to Puerto Varas to our Cabanas de los Lagos around 8 PM. This was 8 hours past when I said I would be back with the rental car. I knew there would be extra charges, but the casual pace and experiences returning from Pucon made it okay. To me it is always the journey not the destination.
Our Corner room at the Cabanas gave us a wonderful view of the lake, mountains, and sunset. Carlos (remember Carlos our taxi driver, Gabriela’s dad) even called us in our room to confirm the early morning pickup for our 8:30 flight to Punta Arenas.
By now we have the packing thing down. It was a real surprise to us to realize that all LAN flights within Chile were limited to 20 KG per passenger. This is 10 KG LESS than we thought. As a result we shipped 13 KG back to US, and learned to pack efficiently, carrying on all of the heavy stuff and sending through our 20 KG of suitcase in the baggage check.
Slept in Sunday Morning. Nice to finally hear church bells, first time since Mexico. Pucon is very quiet Sunday mornings. Few people out and about before 11 AM. Very different than it has been. After a late desayuno at the Trawen Deli, we left town in search of some hiking trails by a lake known for good bird watching. After an hour or so of driving we ended up at a small outpost for gas in the country. Not only did we gas up, query the gas station attendant about the road to the bird refuge but there we also met a University Philosophy Professor from Cantabria Spain with his young wife and family. We had been to Cantabria and enjoyed the lively conversation with him. He went on his way and we headed for the San Luis Termales, a local hot springs resort. All of this surrounding countryside is occupied by the local indigenous people, the Mapuche. They seem to fit the pattern in South America that all of the indigenous peoples live in the rural areas. On the other hand, the city dwellers are whiter and of Spanish descent.
Anyway, the San Luis termales were just down the road and looked welcoming and relaxing. The bad news was that they required swim suits which we both had but unfortunately left back in the hotel. It seems that on this trip we have oftentimes been caught without something like not having our swimsuits with us at the hot springs. I guess our usual boy/girl scout preparedness has slipped a little. The good news is that we were able to rent suits and towels and spent Sunday afternoon lounging in the hot tub with a couple dozen other Chileans. No gringos here, only locals. Nice feeling actually. A conversation ensued with a nice woman, eventually with another, and then her 14 year old grandson. The first was a business woman who dealt in Plastics out of Temuco. The next lady was a college professor of Child Behavior and her grandson who was just beginning secondary (high) school.
The conversation quickly shifted from greetings, niceties and where are you from, where have you been to a deep political discussion. The Chileans, including the 14 year old, had questions about the USA – next election candidates, Obama vs. Hillary, immigration issues in the US, Capitalism versus Socialism and liberal versus conservatives. The coup de gras was the 14 year old telling us it really didn’t matter who wins the nomination, since are both capitalists. He said that essentially you will be choosing the lesser of two evils. His Grandmother smiled and quietly sat and listened while the 14 year old told us what he saw to be true. I must say that this kid was well educated and insightful. I wish kids in the US were taught to think as critically as this Chilean kid seems to be able to do.
Our hot springs tour ended with a picnic lunch on the resort grounds watching the tourists come down the longest zip line I have ever seen. The locals called this zip line “Canopy.” Great fun to watch them zip by.
We began meandering back to town, with a few stops along the way at some waterfalls, and to buy some hand made alpaca wool socks from the local mapuche kids.
Back for a quick nap and a very late dinner at the Trawen the best restaurant in Pucon. By now we are getting used to eating dinner at 10:30 – 11 PM at night. Our waiter was a snowboarder who works in Grand Targhee Idaho during the (Chilean) summer – December – March. His remarkable words of wisdom were in response to my comment about Cesaria Evoria on the juke box. I mentioned to Marco that we had seen her perform live and he said “All things are possible in the US.” Maybe there is a good side to capitalism?
Found café-café (real coffee versus Nescafe which every restaurant in Chile uses) right across the street from our hotel at the Trawen Delicatessen and natural café. Great coffee, healthy food, garden fresh vegetables, all the more reasons why we at the rest of our meals at the Trawen for the next 3 days.
We needed the officina de tuorismo to find out about the live volcanoes in the area. In so doing, we found a nice shop Travel Aid, with maps, information, and general overview about Pucon. Hans the owner is Swiss German and married a local Chilean woman. Together they run the shop. They promptly showed us the correct maps to buy, the possibilities of things we may want to do, and most importantly, directed us to Peter the Pilot to fly us around the Volcanoes. Peter can down to Travel Aid for a meet and greet. He promptly charmed us with his stories of Skydiving all around the US. He has a Cessna 180 and would gladly fly us around the area and Volcanoes. The deal was made and flight time scheduled for 6 PM. We were stoked. Next we were off to find some binoculars and have lunch.
Lunch at the marina, boat launch at the lake itself. Plenty of Small Sabots and Lasers for rent, but no big sailboats to be seen.
We finally found the airport and watched a tandem skydiving display before our flight. Peter and his student a marine biologist, Antarctic diver/videographer from Punta Arenas. He was suiting up with his entire family there watching him get ready for a tandem jump.
We watched the entire jump from the ground. Pretty cool to watch the whole thing.
His pilot was our pilot, Hernand.
Hernand took us up in the Cessna 180 along with his son Miguel. Joanna riding shotgun, Stan in the back with Miguel, Hernand’s 12 year old son. We figured we would be safe with Miguel on board as Hernand would not endanger his son in any way. We flew over 4 to 5 volcanoes. Most were old and dormant in fact overgrown with trees. The last one we flew over was Villarica, still steaming from its last eruption in 2005.
We actually flew over the caldera, could look right into through the steam to see the inside of the volcano. The last pass, we all saw the glowing red Molten Lava. Wow. It was so cool that the pilot offered to fly us over the caldera once again to see the lava which we did.
From the small plane, we could also see the current active volcano, Llaima off to the North. 7PM we drove back after our flight to hotel, through amazing amounts of beach traffic and Eltit traffic. While J napped, Stan blogged.
Late dinner at Trawen, met Zoe the brit waitress and had a wonderful healthy meal. Zoe married a Chilean, and has 2 kids, and works at the restaurant. We topped off the evening with an evening walk down to the beach and back through town, through the throngs of tourists in Pucon on Saturday night. Once again, everyone was out, from Babys to Abuelos. 1:30 pm.
Stopped in Fruitillar for Kuchen. Amazing Osorno Volcano as a backdrop. Incredibly beautiful. Saw Carlos at the Toll booth. No Valdivia. Stopped in Los Lagos for lunch. Couldn’t find centro, but did find Maria. I played Taxi for Maria who then guided us to the restaurant downtown. Bad food. But better than starving to death. We took our turn back onto the autopista soon thereafter turned towards pucon through Villarica.
Villarica is the business and industrial, supply town for the Pucon at the other end of the lake which is more touristy. The road from Villarica to Pucon, along Lake Villarica reminded of driving along Lake Tahoe. Lotsa traffic, winding roads, lake on one side, trees, mountains in the other side.
We arrived around 8 PM at night amidst unbelievable amounts of traffic. Pucon is the city of car alarms. With all of this chaos, we still managed to drive to our hotel, got the parking pass and parked the car. Friday night in Pucon reminded me of Fiesta in Santa Barbara. The streets were packed with people, families, and adolescent girls walking in groups, 3 generations walking together. Little kids 7 years old or less were all out with their families. No baby sitters here. And no need to go to bed early. CHILE IS ON VACATION IN PUCON. Throngs of people covered the main streets way after 11:30 at night. Sleep was not easy as our hotel was right on the main drag, and we like to sleep with the windows open. Between the car alarms, honking and people laughing, I managed to get some sleep using earplugs.
