Lakes District, Chile

21st November

Thursday afternoon we left the Atacama and flew to Santiago and then on to Puerto Montt. What a contrast! San Pedro is at about the same latitude as Rockhampton and Puerto Montt about that of Hobart. So here everything is green and lush and the German settlers have created neat and tidy farms with large herds of dairy cattle and enormous German style farmhouses.

We are driving a small manual Peugeot and  the roads are free of traffic, although finding our hotel in Puerto Montt was a little tricky as there are few street names and lots of unsignposted one way streets.

Monument to the 19thC German settlers who took up the offer of free land.

Wood stoves are apparently the way to go!

This seems to be the standard rubbish bin throughout this region.

We are enjoying the freedom of driving ourselves and yesterday - Friday we went to Frutillar a pretty resort town on Lake or more correctly Lago Llanquihue and then today, Saturday, to the Waterfall at Petrohue (Saltos de Petrohue). The lake is surrounded by steep mountains so I found it a bit odd that the falls were draining the lake rather than vice versa. The water is emerald green and very clear. I am not sure what the story was, but in places there were piles of black volcanic ash almost across the road.

Looking across Lago Llanquihue from Frutillar.

The waterfront at Frutillar.

Grand farmhouse near Frutillar.

Waterfall at Petrohue.

Another view of the Petrohue River.

On Sunday we picked up an English couple we had met in San Pedro and set off for Chiloe, a large island. Ruta 5, the motorway which runs the length of the country is a tollway, but you pay just $1 when you leave. It does not vary with distance travelled. When we got to Pargua to catch the ferry to Chiloe, it was pretty low key - no signs, no one directing traffic - just drive on and then set off.

On Chiloe, our first destination was the penguin colony at Punihuil. After negotiating our way through detours in Ancud because of a Fun Run we eventually found the road. There were roadworks the whole way and it was a narrow winding rough gravel road which after 10 or 12 km finished at a beach. We could see activity at the other end of the beach and as the sand was firm drove down. The penguins are nesting on small islands in the bay and the fishermen have a simple but effective system for boarding the boats to see the penguins. Tourists climb onto a trailer which is pushed into the sea and you board without getting wet feet!

We saw Humboldt and Magellanic penguins who nest side by side and are difficult to tell apart.

Black necked swans near Caulin, Chiloe.

One of the very common, pretty red flowered trees.

Organiser of the penguin boat trips.

All aboard the trolley to be wheeled into the sea to board the penguin boat.

A Magellanic penguin poses.

Empenadas for lunch was next, before making the return trip to Ancud and the luxury of bitumen for the run down to Dalcahue and Castro to see the UNESCO listed wooden churches and the houses on stilts along the waterfront. It was after 4 p.m. before we headed back to Puerto Varas ready for a good sleep.

The wooden church at Dalcahue.

 Another grand wooden church, this one in Castro.

I like the dashing style of this statue in Castro church.

Palafitos,  or wooden houses on stilts in Castro.

 Monday morning in Puerto Varas was pouring rain and our flight was delayed, but the skies were clear further south and our first views of the Torres del Paine area were spectacular.

Aerial view of Torres del Paine.

Mt Fitzroy in Southern Patagonia.