Chiloe & Lake District

DAY 60 (1 OF 1) – PARQUE NACIONAL VICENTE PEREZ ROSALES, PETROHUE, CHILE

In the morning, we went to Cafe El Barrista near the lakefront for breakfast and a cup of “real coffee” (i.e. non-instant coffee). After breakfast, we hopped on a minibus for Petrohue, the entrance of Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales. We planned to do a day hike at the park as a warm-up session prior to our upcoming W-trek at Torres del Paine in Patagonia. Inaugurated in 1926, Vicente Perez Rosales is the oldest national park in Argentina. Other than the mighty Volcan Osorno, the park also provides magnificent views of Lago Todos Los Santos, and other distant volcanoes and snow-capped peaks along the Chilean-Argentine border. Many came to Petrohue to cross the Lago Todos Los Santos by ferry and cross the border to enter the Argentine Lake District.
It was a fine day for hiking. After we registered at the CONAF (Corporacion Nacional Forestal) office, we set out onto the trail of Sendero Paso Desolacion, knowing that we wouldn’t have enough time to finish the entire trail before the last bus back to Puerto Varas. We decided to do the first segment of the trail, and then detour to the lakefront of Lago Todos Los Santos, and find our way back to the trailhead along the beaches. Flanked by yellow wild flowers, the trail was a pleasant route offering great Alpine scenery. Volcan Osorno was visible from almost everywhere. We walked on volcanic stones, sandy paths, dried streambeds, and lakefront beaches. After the hike, we returned to the park entrance for our return bus. A staff of a tour boat company was having ice-cream at the entrance. He exchanged a few words with us, and convinced a park personnel who was about to leave the parking lot to give us a free ride back to Puerto Varas. A perfect day hike ended with a 1.5-hour free ride back home. We couldn’t ask for more.

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South America 2013 – Our Destinations
Buenos Aires (Argentina), Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil), Pantanal (Brazil), Brasilia (Brazil), Belo Horizonte & Inhotim (Brazil), Ouro Preto (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Paraty (Brazil), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Samaipata & Santa Cruz (Bolivia), Sucre (Bolivia), Potosi (Bolivia), Southwest Circuit (Bolivia), Tilcara, Purmamarca, Salta (Argentina), Cafayate (Argentina), San Pedro de Atacama (Chile), Antofagasta & Paranal Observatory (Chile), Chiloe (Chile), Puerto Varas (Chile), Torres del Paine (Chile), Ushuaia (Argentina), El Chalten (Argentina), El Calafate (Argentina), Isla Magdalena (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Valparaiso (Chile), Afterthought

December 15, 2013 | Categories: Chile, Chiloe & Lake District, Day 61 to 70 | Tags: Cafe El Barrista, Chile, Lago Todos Los Santos, lake, Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales, Petrohue, Puerto Varas, Sendero PAso Desolacion, Volcan Osorno, volcano | Leave a comment

DAY 59 (3 OF 3) – CITY, LAGO LLANQUIHUE & VOLCAN OSORNO, PUERTO VARAS, CHILE

Leaving Chiloe behind, we continued our journey in the Chilean Lake District. Our next destination in this region is Puerto Varas, a picturesque lakeside town dominated by the majestic Volcan Osorno. Puerto Varas has a prominent German population since the pioneer era in the 19th century. For the next day and a half, Puerto Varas would be our last stop before we head south to Patagonia.
After we checked in our hostel, we spent the rest of the day checking out the heritage timber houses in town and walking along the waterfront of Lago Llanquihue. We stopped by a beach and saw many people fly-fishing. There were some lucky ones who caught trout. We ended the day with Japanese sushi rolls at a fusion restaurant by the lake about two kilometers from town centre.

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December 15, 2013 | Categories: Chile, Chiloe & Lake District, Day 51 to 60 | Tags: Chile, Lago Llanquihue, Puerto Varas, Volcan Osorno | Leave a comment

DAY 59 (2 OF 3) – CHACAO CHANNEL AGAIN, CHILOE, CHILE

We crossed the Chacao Channel once again, this time, we were leaving Chiloe Island for Puerto Varas on the mainland. The Chacao Channel today was calm and full of wildlife, including sea lions, Magellan penguins, and many seabirds.

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December 14, 2013 | Categories: Chile, Chiloe & Lake District, Day 51 to 60 | Tags: Chacao, Chile, Chiloe, island, ocean, Pacific, sea, sea lions, seabird | Leave a comment

DAY 59 (1 OF 3) – PALAFITO 1326, CASTRO, CHILOE ISLAND, CHILE

Chiloe has a cool climate but the the wood interior and handmade wool products at Palafito 1326 gave us a warm stay at Chiloe. We love the view to the sea, where we could watch the incoming tide. During low tide, the surrounding of the hotel is like a huge wetland where we could watch seabirds, dogs and people wandering on the mud.

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December 14, 2013 | Categories: Chile, Chiloe & Lake District, Day 51 to 60 | Tags: accommodation, Chile, Chiloe, hotel, palafito | Leave a comment

DAY 58 (3 OF 3) – SEAFOOD, CHILOE, CHILE

No one should leave Chiloe without tasting its delicious seafood. The following photos show some seafood dishes that we had tried in the past four days.

Seafood restaurant at Castro

Local osyters (the taste reminded us of Kumamoto oysters)

Ceviche (salmon, octopus and razor clams)

Seafood soup with mixed shelled fish

Curanto (traditional dish of mussels, clams, and meat which in the old days would be cooked in a hole dug in the earth)

Seafood chupe (seafood stew in a light cream sauce)

Seafood soup with mixed shelled fish, simple and flavourful

Congrio (a popular white flesh fish that can be found in most seafood menu) in rich crab sauce

Loco (local abalone-like seafood)

King crab meat from fish market with chopped coriander, onion and pepper + lemon juice.

DIY noodle bowls with clam meat + king crab meat on the side (Seafood from fish market)

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December 14, 2013 | Categories: Chile, Chiloe & Lake District, Day 51 to 60 | Tags: Chile, Chiloe, clams, congrio, crab, fish, food, loco, mussels, seafood | 1 Comment

DAY 58 (2 of 3)- BOAT BUILDING, SAN JUAN, CHILOE, CHILE

There was a boat building workshop adjacent to the church of San Juan. We were invited to go inside the workshop to watch how fishing boat was built by hand using traditional methods. There were two fishing boats under construction. The structure of a boat would take roughly one year to complete. According to our guide, boat building at San Juan is quite famous. Orders would come from all over the nation.

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December 14, 2013 | Categories: Chile, Chiloe & Lake District, Day 51 to 60 | Tags: boat, Chile, Chiloe, San Juan | Leave a comment

DAY 58 (1 OF 3) – ISLA AUCAR, COLO, TENAUN, SAN JUAN, CHILOE, CHILE

On our last day at Chiloe, we hired a local guide to take us to visit three more UNESCO churches along the east coast of the island. Before the churches, we stopped by Isla Aucar, a small island off the coast of a fishing village. On Isla Aucar, we found a small botanical garden, a wooden church and a cemetery. To us, the footbridge leading to Isla Aucar was a beautiful structure. At low tide, many clams and mussels are exposed on the beach, revealing a healthy coastal ecosystem. The only drawback of the otherwise perfectly serene seaside scenery was the mussel factory at the other end of the bridge, where we could see smoke rising in the air.
The three UNESCO churches that we visited subsequently at Colo, Tenaun and San Juan present a number of architectural features unique to Chiloe. Similar to other aspects of the Chilote culture, Chilote churches combine European influences with local materials and craftsmanship. Mastered in wooden boat construction, the Chilote people built many of their churches with a wooden barrel vault ceiling, just like a boat placed upside down. Vivid and contrasting colours were often used, sometimes for the interior like the Colo Church, and sometimes for both the exterior and the interior like the Tenaun Church. Blue was often used, which to us might present a strong tie with the local maritime culture. Our guide suggested that perhaps the use of vivid colours was intended to counter the dark and grey winters of Chiloe, providing a sense of delight in the cold and wet days. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the person who held the keys for San Juan Church. We could only appreciate it from outside.
Wooden bridge, Isla Aucar, Chiloe (2 pictures above)Exposed mussels at low tide, Isla Aucar, Chiloe (1 picture above)
Church of Colo, Chiloe (4 pictures above)Church of Tenaun, Chiloe (3 pictures above)Church of San Juan (1 picture above)