Chile
Santiago
We arrived in Santiago at around 10am after our overnight flight from Heathrow. After checking in at the hotel we decided to take a walk, which the hotel told us would take about an hour. After 5 minutes we realised why the hotel had wanted us to take a taxi – it was extremely hot and there was little or no shade – nonetheless we continued and eventually reached our destination the San Cristobal Hill. This is a 820 metre hill in the centre of the city which gave us a view of the whole city and the surrounding mountains. Fortunately there was a funicular which took us most of the way to the top. The last part of the ascent was on foot and took us past a small chapel and on to the Statue of the Virgin – a 45 ft high statue donated by France and erected in 1904.
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After an ice cream and a beer we made our way back down and continued our walk to the Plaza de Armas (the main square). On the way we passed a popular area where people met to play chess in the street. The centre of the square is being redeveloped, but we did see the cathedral and a French neo-classical building which is the main post office. Rather than walking back to the hotel we found our way to the metro and had a very short ride back!
Casablanca Valley and Valparaiso
Today’s tour started with a 90 minute drive to the wine district in the Casablanca valley, the valley is about 80 km outside of Santiago. This has become an important grape growing region for the production of premium white wine. On the way we made a brief stop to see some llamas and then it was on to the tour of the vineyard and of course a wine tasting. We also had a nice lunch at the winery – a salad with slices of beef followed by a nice piece of steak and a chocolate and nut dessert with ice cream. The food was of course accompanied with more glasses of wine. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with a trip to Valparaiso, the oldest and most important port of Chile. On the way we made a brief stop to see the statues of the Chilean winners of the Nobel prize for literature. The city rises steeply from a narrow strip of coast to cover over 45 steep hills. There were originally 20 funiculars to take you up and down, but only 15 of these still survive and only some are operational. Beautiful architecture and colourful houses is a very artistic spot. We also saw lots of colourful examples of street art and visited the house and studio of a local artist. From there it was down to the port itself and the ornate naval buildings and monuments. After all of this we had to prepare for a drive to the airport at 0630 tomorrow for the start of our southwards journey to the Lake District.
Puerto Varas and the Osorno Volcano
Today we flew down to the Lake district. A 2 hour flight, and half way along the clouds appeared and all we could see from our side of the plane was thick clouds. Suddenly on the other side we saw the top of the snow covered Osorno volcano poking through the clouds. On landing the temperature was more like summer in Scotland. It was a short drive from the airport to our hotel in Puerto Varas. On the way we stopped to visit a small national park, the Alerce forest, where we saw a little of the rainforest and some 2 to 4 thousand year old trees which can grow to 50 metres tall and are related to the giant redwoods. The area we are now in was colonised by Roman Catholic Germans who were invited by Chile to populate the area in the 1850’s. The town buildings in Puerto Varas resemble those in Germany and there are local schools in which the lessons are taught in German. Magically in the afternoon the clouds vanished and we took an additional tour to visit the volcano, taking a long winding road part way to the summit for splendid views of the surrounding volcanoes and mountains. After returning to the base of the volcano we visited Saltos de Petrohue and walked along walkways formed from lava rock to view waterfalls flowing into brilliantly coloured rock pools and powerboats navigating the rapids of the river Petrohue to the base of the falls.
Lake Llanquihue
A not too early start today for a full day tour round Lake Llanquihue in the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park. This is the second largest lake in South America and the drive round is about 100 miles. Our first stop was at a small farm for more views of the Osorno volcano, which this morning had rapidly moving clouds round the base and summit. While at the farm we saw some more Llamas, deer and some Emus. A short drive from here on the side of the lake was a lovely emerald green coloured pool, the colour of the water was due to algae which had been present in the area before the lake was formed. (The blue coloured water we saw yesterday was the result of the minerals carried in the melt water from the glacier). From here we could look across the main lake and see some of the salmon fish farms. Further along we stopped to see some of the basalt rock formations which reminded us of the Devil’s Causeway in Ireland. One of the pictures taken here also shows how clear the water is in the lake. Our next stop was at a small German town, Puerto Octay, which was formed originally as a place the local community could get supplies; the current population is about 500. Our next stop was for a buffet lunch at a local farm, the meal used their own produce and one of our photos shows the pork roasting on the spit. The food and wine were very good. While here we tried a path laid out for barefoot walking so you could experience the feel of various types of surface under your feet, rocks, pebbles and volcanic rock. The final visit of the day was to a larger German town called Frutillar, where there is a museum showing some of the old buildings such as the mill and blacksmith’s and some of the old domestic and farm equipment. We had a pleasant walk here along the shore of the Lake and admired some of the houses and churches and the modern arts centre Teatro del lago) which every year has a festival featuring opera, jazz and classical music when international musicians come to visit.
Lake District To Wales
A later start for our 11.30 flight to Punta Arenas which gave us some wonderful views as the landscape changed dramatically. We were flying parallel to the coast the whole way. Initially we passed over more of the lakes and then the coast became more fragmented with small islands and fjords. Then the most scenic part as we crossed the ice fields, seeing glaciers heading to the sea and melting into lakes.
Now we have a 3 hour bus journey to our hotel. We are now entering the Welsh part of Chile. This area was settled by Welsh sheep farmers and the language is still spoken here. The farms (Estancias) are very large and there may be 20 km between neighbouring farms. The drive was done without a break, long straight roads through gently undulating farm land but was not without interest. We saw rheas, large flightless birds like emus, lots of lupins which were introduced by the English. The views once we reached Puerto Natales, our base for the night, were stunning. We found a good seafood restaurant which also served nice veggie pasta for which the waiter tied a bib round John’s neck in case he is a messy eater! The last item shows the surprise item we found in the local supermarket. This is a small town which feels almost like the end of the earth and very nice it is too.
Grey Glacier
A quick and early breakfast and then a long and bumpy and dusty gravel road to take us into the Torres del Paine (Towers of Blue) National park. The name of the park refers to the huge pillars of rock, the base of which will be the target of our big trek tomorrow. On the way in we made several stops for photos of the wildlife (including guanacos and woodpeckers) and the scenery. One of the highlights was the waterfalls at the junction of two of the lakes. The day started out with low clouds and the odd spit of rain, but this changed as the day wore on. After lunch we crossed a rickety bridge to get our boat to take us to the Grey Lake (all the lakes in the park are different colours, usually shades of blue, green and turquoise, but because of the sediment in it this lake is grey). The boat trip lasted about 3 hours and took us to the massive glacier on the lake. Saw lots of icebergs as well, all in all a very colourful experience. The temperature on the boat was a pleasant 18 degrees with a warm wind, but this temperature dropped rapidly the closer we got to the glacier. Well we’ve just had dinner and are sitting with a beer in the bar and have just had a 5 minute power cut. Tomorrow breakfast starts at 7 but we have to be ready for our trek at 07:30, so no long lie in for us (again).
Las Torres Trek
Woke up to find clear skies and views. Not much time for breakfast then a 90 minute drive along gravel, bumpy roads for the start of the trek. By now it was 08:45 and already hot. We started off from the Estancia Cerro Paine at a cracking pace. We crossed a bridge over the Ascencio river and started our trek.The trek was to be 9 km in each direction and the initial stretch was uphill for about 1000 feet, which we found very difficult in the heat. After this was a downhill stretch followed by an easier climb through a forest which also provided some shade. We had many rickety wooden bridges to cross with fast flowing rivers and streams underneath. We stopped several times to drink the water from the streams. The final stretch was the hardest as it was the steepest and took us to a final height of nearly 900 metres (about 3000 feet). This part took us over the glacial moraine (the large boulder field left by a glacier). This final part of the outbound trek was supposed to take about 45 minutes but it was more like 75 for us. Finally we reached our destination, the huge granite towers and the lagoon at their base – a stunning view. We could hear the rumbling of ice breaking off a nearby glacier; we were also able to enjoy drinking the ice-cold water from the lagoon. After lunch it was a much faster return journey, it took us about 5 hours to go out and only 3 to return. On the way our progress was interrupted by a horse which had lost its rider and bolted, so we had to jump out of the way. While waiting for our transport back to the hotel, our guide provided us with ice-cold beer, which was much appreciated!
Serrano River
There was a change in the weather this morning – after yesterday’s 28 degrees, today started with heavy clouds and later in the morning we had heavy bursts of rain. Today was a river trip. This started with 2 hours along the Serrano River in fast zodiacs (inflatable boats fitted with outboard motors). After about 20 minutes we had to transfer from larger to smaller zodiacs as there was a waterfall in the river which they couldn’t pass. At mid morning we stopped and left the zodiacs for a short (1hour) trek to the Serrano Glacier and the many icebergs formed from it. This is located in the largest of Chile’s National Parks – The Parque National Bernado O’Higgins. From here we transferred to a large river boat where we were given a glass of whiskey with ice from the glacier – warming as this was the time that there had been a brief period of heavy rain. From the boat we viewed another glacier which 30 years ago had extended down to water level, but has receded now due to global warming. This part of the trip was to take about 3 hours but half way we stopped at a ranch (Estancia Perales) for a lunch of roast lamb. The final part of the river trip took us along the Seno Ultima Esperanza (the Last Hope Channel) to return to Puerto Natales. The Last Hope Channel was named by the navigator Juan Ladrillero in 1557, because he felt it was his last chance to reach the Strait of Magellan, However, instead he reached a dead end at a glacier.
El Calafate
Beautiful sunset last night and sunrise this morning. Early breakfast to get to the bus station for our 5 hour journey to El Calafate where we will stay for the next 3 nights. After about an hour on the bus we stopped at the Chilean border post to leave the country and then continued down the road for a few miles to the Argentinian side of the border. Now are continuing through the pampas with more glimpses of the Andes. So more long straight roads passing through gently rolling dry grassland. Before we arrive we will see Lake Argentina (which we will see more of tomorrow) and this is the 3rd largest lake in South America.
After checking in at our hotel we were off for our 4×4 off-road experience. We didn’t know quite what to expect, but it turned into a fun and interesting afternoon in what is being developed as a ski resort. We were driven to a point at which we took a ski lift up to about 3000 feet and there transferred to the off road vehicle to explore the plateau – very barren and windswept. Stunning views and we saw many condors circling high overhead. After hot chocolate in the cafe it was back down the chairlift and time to explore town and find a bottle of wine and something to eat. We were pleasantly surprised to find vegetarians were well catered for, despite the number of restaurants where we could see hunks of meat being spit roasted over open fires.
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