Puerto Natales, Chile

Set off from our hotel, after a small breakfast (still full from last night!) with obligatory nuclear orange juice. We returned our Kia serrato to the hire guys and caught a budget flight south to Punta Arenas. Picked up a simple Renult symbol from friendly Adolfo and put the pedal to the floor all the way to Puerto Natales. The winds are immense on this stretch of Patagonia and it was a mainly barren/flat landscape all the way. The trees were cool, all raggedy, covered in litchen and unsurprisingly often showing some serious leaning away from the wind. It was fun to see animals, would you believe the first animals we saw were flamingos? Crazy that they are hardy enough for this weather and their legs don’t break. Spent the evening doing laundry, hiring walking poles, grabbing tons of hike snacks, planning our assault on Torres del Paine, oh and trying to work out how we get a bus on our next stage….seems they are not scheduled on a saturday….any of them!

Chiloe, Chile

Woke in our dome, which was a tad chilly this morning. Breakfast of eggs and avocado on toast whilst enjoying the river views on this cloudy day. Today I wanted to see some of the wooden structures that Chiloè is famous for. The churches of Chiloé are unique in style to this archipelago and are Unesco heritage protected sites. They are made entirely in native timber with wood shingles, built from materials to resist the humid and rainy oceanic climate. They date back to the 18th and 19th centuries when Chiloé Archipelago was still a part of Spain so a mix of influences. The island has over 140 churches today, all following this style but decorated in different ways. There are 16 on the heritage list, mainly in the central part of the island, so we set off on our route north back to the mainland via a couple. First was the Church of Nercòn just south of Castro. The Church was constructed around 1890, from cypress and larch wood. It has a tower that stretches 25 metres high which we climbed up into. The arched long roof is constructed as you would a wooden boat and the upright wooden columns are painted to look like marble. We took a road out past the colourful Palafitos, houses on stilts that sit over the water. Then back in central Castro, and getting to grips with paying a street parking attendant, we found the Church of San Francisco located on one side of the Plaza de Armas. This huge wooden structure is really intricately put together inside and then clad on the outside in a kind of embossed tin. It is yellow with different patterns around windows and other details. Further up the island we visited Dalcahue and the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our lady of sorrows) which was built at the end of the 19th century. It has a pretty white and blue facade, and then a sky blue interior ceiling. We strolled around Dalcahue which sits on the river looking at native art stalls, I would have loved a blanket but the rucksack is a tight fit as it is! We headed back north on the island, scooted through Ancud before deciding not to stop and hopping on the ferry to Puerto Montt. The hotel was ok, but I scored mega points on food this evening. I found Cotele restaurant a short walk away, they only served 3 cuts of beef. You chose your size as they cut it off in front of you before cooking to perfection over a central spit fire. The chef actually worked with a torch to ensure it was perfect. It was amazing, a perfect Camere red wine and a ribeye steak you would dream of! The host was South African, so happy to chat and explain some of the Chilean culture.

Chiloe, Chile

We feasted on hostal breakfast with smashing homemade raspberry jam (they really have tons of raspberries here, very popular fruit). Hiked to the car with our bags and set off for Chiloè island. This was about 2 hours south, then a ferry before another 2 hours to our destination of Park National Chiloè. I was keen to try and maximise our days as you could easily just drive all day in this part of the world. The ferry across was great, about 20minutes but we saw seals playing nearby and Justin may have seen a dolphin? The drive on the other side took us through Castro, the main town and past our accommodation. Park National Chiloè is about two thirds of the way down the island and on the west coast. We abandoned our car on the verge and set off on one of the trails. It is clearly a popular walking spot for families, we completed a loop in the forest where we saw native tepel trees, ferns and massive fushia hedges. The second loop took us to the west and took in a viewpoint of the Pacific beach. Amazingly wide, could imagine a great horse race along it! Back in the car we set off to find tonight’s accommodation, met our host in the turn off on the steep drive (this car is really taking in all terrains) and as we climbed up we could see the wooden dome that was home tonight. It was a fantastic place to stay, epic views and a log burner so we elected to wrestle the Castro traffic to a supermarket so we could eat at home. Great steak salad and wine was enjoyed by all as we watched night set in over the water below.

Petrohue, Chile

Justin and I went out for breakfast today, as this has tended to be my biggest meal each day, I felt no shame in gorging on salmon/cream cheese croissant followed by bacon and eggs, all washed down with real coffee at Cassis restaurant! Felt ready so we set off for our road trip south which begins today with five hours through the los Lagos region to Puerto Varas. Pucon was the usual traffic chaos that I feel might be caused by pedestrians having priority to cross, great for people but just stops flow of cars. I didn’t want to waste the day without an adventure so added a detour to Petrohué. The book claimed this was the prettiest lake to view so we felt it should be the highlight of the day. It was! It was amazing, we looked out at Todos los Santos Lake and the mountains in awe. Really loved the Petrohué River, a short distance downstream which was a bright blue and roared over rocks in a dramatic fashion. I felt this is what Canada might look like. Ended the day in Puerto Varas, after a few loops of the one way system to find our hostal. Beautiful sunset reflecting on Volcano.

Pucon, Chile

I woke at 3.30am and spent the next 2 hours talking myself ready for the hike. How hard could it be? Just needed to put one foot in front of the other! When the alarm finally went off, I was ready….well, got dressed and hit the road to our meeting point. We piled into a bus with about 8 others (all fit walking types) and 4 guides, setting off in the dark for the volcano base which marked the start. As we got out, I was struck by how cold it was, felt underdressed and kept looking up at the cloudy volcano. It was then the guides announced that they would not recommend the ascent and that we could start but would not be able to summit if cloud remained. It felt like a huge anticlimax, but I wasn’t going to hike for an hour in the cold to turn round so all in agreement we headed back to Pucon. We knew the natural hot springs were plentiful in this area, so second choice for the day was a trip to Termas Geometricas, a few hours south. The very bumpy road led to a oasis of ferns which had been landscaped to feed 17 pools. We spent about 3 hours pool hopping at around forty degree water temperatures before bumping our way home, much cleaner!

Pucon, Chile

Totally not feeling energetic today, I hope this is not an omen for tomorrow…. After making egg breakfast (and Suzie creating a tough pan to clean) and some group debate we settle on hiring bikes to visit the Ojas del Caburga, a pair of waterfalls that were about a 40km round trip. We set out around noon and I soon realised that I was struggling to keep up, not unusual for me but I just felt beat from the start. With the sun beating down as we climbed past the airport, at about 7km I threw in the towel. I took a side road back to take some pictures of the volcano and river before heading back into town. I picked up the laundry we dropped off the previous day and headed back to the hostel. The other two got back a couple of hours later, clearly saying I had not missed out and complaining of soreness post the gravelly road terrain. With the big volcano hike looming, I was pleased in my decision. Early night ready for our 5.30am alarm clock

Pucon, Chile

Today we were up and out to the airport again to finally leave Santiago. It felt great to be starting the trip south and whilst the trip has been great so far I am not sure how I feel about Santiago. It is a bit of a bland city, a few interesting points and areas, fabulous food scene but lacks architectural style or depth. Wonderful to get my feet on the ground and adjust to South America, but I don’t need to come back. This post would mainly be a travel day so I am taking the opportunity to record some of the quirky things I saw in Santiago that made me smile: Super small coke cans – made for lower incomes or for when you just need a gulp? Running man – pedestrian crossing man started slow but sped up as it was about to change to encourage people to cross quickly (Chileans don’t move quickly!) Entertaining at traffic lights – saw jugglers, football skills, fire eaters that entertained traffic on red and then collected money quickly as it sped off! Anyhow, back to travel…. caught Skyairlines to Temuco, good flight. Rented a car from Rossalot one way hire and drove the couple of hours to Pucon. Lovely lakes and volcano views as we arrived to terrible traffic, well February is holiday month. Pucon is full of young people seeking adventures (feeling old!) and we head into town to review Volcano hike availability….yes, Justin wants to hike a volcano and assures me I will cope with the 4 hour assent. Sign up with aguadventures as recommended but can only get Wednesday availability and the forecast is dodgy. Tonight we shopped in the supermarket and cooked up a feast in our hostel, veggie pasta to get some nutrients back into our diet.

Providencia, Chile

Had a fantastic start to the day as my stomach cleared – hallelujah!!! the relief!!! I had suggested that Justin and Suzie took the free tour that I did when I arrived so they set off for 10am start. I had worked out that the changing of the guard at la Moneda, presidential palace was today so hopped on the metro down there and missed it by a couple of minutes! Ah, well it was lovely to be downtown on a Sunday morning watching the city wake up as I strolled back to Bellavista. I went to Pablo Neruda Santiago house, La Chascona. This is the same Nobel prize winning poet i referenced in Valparaiso when I visited Le Sebastiana. His Santiago home was created initially for his mistress, Matilda, but he eventually moved in with her. This house was also where his wake was held, despite the vandalism by military and his funeral supported by thousands again despite Pinochet forbidding mass groups of people. Great place to visit. We lunched on savoury waffles, and a ice pop-delicious and probably the first food I had enjoyed for a couple of days. Suzie had heard of a nice park up in one of the nicer suburbs, as the temperature was hitting the 30’s we elected for the metro. Bicentennial Park is lovely, needs a bit more maturing but it was great to crash out under a palm tree again whilst Suzie explored every inch from sculptures to flamingos. On the way back we thought to catch the Gondola to San Cristobal to watch sunset before heading back to the hotel, it turned out to be amazing but the 2 hour queue put Justin off. We watched the sun setting as we hiked down the hill seeing some great colours. Dinner was round the corner, where we finally ate about 10pm and toasted my birthday!

Santiago, Chile

We landed on time at 7.30am, after what seemed too brief a sleep, we were back in Santiago and the familiar bus/metro route into the centre. We were staying in Bellavista this time, slightly north of the river but still central. The hostel let us store our bags and have breakfast whilst we waited for Suzie to arrive from London. She found us in Starbucks around midday and we spent a good few hours showing her the close sights, eating Empañadas and ice cream. Unfortunately my stomach problems persisted so I retired early to snooze and watch iplayer downloads whilst Suzie and Justin enjoyed dinner and more of Santiago.

Hanga Roa, Chile

Today was our last day on Easter Island and we had booked a full day tour that took in significant sites on the south coast. Roared back to town on the quad, before grabbing coffee and hopping on the bus with Kia Koe tours. Our guide, Ana was full of information so what largely follows is her overview. When Europeans arrived in the 1800s they introduced diseases which wiped out a lot of the population. The population got down to a couple of hundred and unfortunately the only people who knew how to decipher their writing (some form of hieroglyphics) died as well. With that all their history was lost and speculation remains. At the first site Vaihu (with toppled Moai) we learnt that the Moai would be purchased as guardians or represent kings that watched over the village. They were all carved from the quarry at Rano Raraku but the eyes (blue stone) and the red hats came from separate parts of the island. The hat is called a pukao and apparently they were very late additions to the Moai (the heads). They are made of different rock which is red in colour. No one knows why they were added, it could be to symbolise strength and power. Or as only a few were thought to have them it could be used to signify the most important Moai. Or it could simply be to symbolise hair – some form of top knot. Next stop was Akahanga and a group of toppled moai. We learnt more about how the platforms had decorative magnetic roundish stones that would have been mirrored in the front of the tribal leader/kings house within the village, like a patio. One of the most famous groups is at Tongariki, fifteen upright Moai that were restored with support from the Japanese. These would have overlooked a large settlement and offered protection to its people. The different sizes would have been based on what the village could afford at the time, the more food you had the bigger the Moai you purchased. The largest in this standing set weighed in at over 80 tonnes -incredible how they positioned! The main highlight of the trip was definitely Rano Raraku. This is the site of the main quarry, scans made of the site have estimated over 550 unfinished Moai. These include one that would have been over 10m had it been completed and also a later one that is unusual in that he is kneeling. Ana explained that they used basalt tools with water to first carve the Moai features and then somehow they were carved out of the main rock. We spent a good hour exploring the site and getting plenty of head shots! A quick hike up to the crater lake followed by a chicken and rice lunch cemented this place as one of the best I have been. Next stop was Te Pito Kura, a different spot where we heard more about village life. They only cooked chicken on auspicious occasions so the chicken coup was rocks built up so only a chicken could get in and out, this prevented theft. We were also shown a perfectly round stone which now sits with four others showing compass directions but it’s source and purpose is a mystery. We finished at Anakena once more, a lazy sleep under palm trees whilst gazing at that beautiful beach was the perfect end. Our flight back to Santiago was at midnight so after a chill and shower at the hostal we headed to the airport. On check in we were told that they had closed the back row of seats, so had upgraded us to the front. Business class flat bed was much appreciated, although we declined food in favour of sleep for the 5 hour flight.