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South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Chiloé Island
April 30th 2012
Published: May 5th 2012
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It was quite a week leading up to this great trip. The adventure began Monday morning when I was informed that Sayuri was going to be out for the whole week sick. While I am not obligated to sub, I was happy to fill in for her. Unfortunately, my body did not fully support this decision, and it gave up on Thursday. I woke that morning with a sore throat, headache, and just feeling sick. As it was so close to my trip, I opted to stay home and try to sleep it off until my departure later that day. The original plan had been to go to Talca on Friday, but Wednesday, I found out that I had to be in Talca on Thursday to complete some visa paperwork (one signature come to find out...). Rather than add an extra 4 hours of travel, I made plans to stay in Talca that night.

Staying home for the morning allowed me to run the errands I needed to do before leaving: a trip to the feria for some apples to snack on and a trip to the bank to get cash and make the deposit for our second night hostel. Seemingly no problems at all until I returned home, started packing, and noticed that my ATM card was missing from my wallet. I hurried back to the bank to ask for it as I was pretty sure I left it at the ATM (I know - stupid). Anyway, I asked the guard there about my missing card, and he returned to me saying something in spanish that I was pretty sure ended with "coro" or choir. "El coro?" I asked, and sure enough, looking beyond his uniform and hat, was Carlos, a man that I sing with in the evening community choir! He asked me why I had missed the last rehearsal! Knowing someone made me feel a bit better about the situation. He was kind and offered his help and advice. It was likely that the machine took my card back after I did not pick it up, but we could not retrieve it until the maintenance guy came to open it at 2pm - after I would be gone. "No problem being without it," I said. "I only want to know if it's safe or not." Carlos then offered to give me a call to which I grimaced. "I don't remember my phone number..." I told him. Further helping me, he offered his number for me to call later with my numer, and after he knew about my card, he would let me know. How wonderful to have someone so helpful! Additionally, how lucky I am that he called later to tell me they had found my card! I'm going to be more careful with my card and memorize my phonenumber from here out.



That day, I made it to Talca just fine by myself, and after completing the visa paperwork, I went with Valeria, Justine, Cody, and a couple of Cody's star students to visit over completos: a hotdog with tomatoes, avocado, and mayonaise. On the way, seemingly every one of Cody's students asked if any of us girls were his girlfriend to which he replied, "Yes! All 3!" holding up three fingers. We had an absolute ball, talking for probably 2 hours. Some of these kids are really talented! One was thinking so hard in English that went he accidently bumped into a woman on the street he told her "sorry!" in his cute little Chilean accent. I laughed and pointed out that she might not have understood. Others that came were not as strong with their English, but their curiousity was killing them - they evoked the help of the stronger students. Trying to make conversation, Valeria asked one girl where she might like to travel - if she'd like to leave Chile one day, and much to our disappointment, she replied no, she doesn't wish to travel outside of Chile. I think that's the case for many kids here though. They feel like they can't leave or it isn't necessary. They don't understand the draw of travelling. It's one fire I hope I can ignite in some of my students, regardless of their level of English.



I do however have a handful of talented kids as Cody does. I have one senior, David, who says he might like to study English in college because it comes fairly easily to him. He's probably the strongest I have and is pretty fearless about talking to me in English unlike so many others. On Wednesday afternoon while I was teaching a somewhat noisy class, his head popped up in the classroom window. The stadium seating around the outdoor basketball court allows students to climb up to the second floor windows.
"David! Where should you be right now?"
"I don't like gym! I like your classses!"



On Friday, I slept in, still trying to beat the bug before our big trip. After Cody arrived back from school we spent the afternoon planning and then shopping for our evening meal. Valeria helped - this time grilling up some superb steak tacos. I was again in charge of the guacamole plus pico de gallo too this time. Rico rico! When it finally got to be 11:00, we headed for the bus station for our 11:45 departure. Maria Gloria and Francisca were so kind to come by at such a late hour to wish us well and say goodbye. We had a nice visit. I also impressed my friends with them when they heard Francisca talking extremely quickly and asked me, "Do you understand her??" to which this time, I was able to respond, "Yeah, for the most part. I'm getting used to it although sometimes I just find myself laughing because its like those guys at livestock auctions..."



The bus was pretty awful: old, very loud, and we were seated in the very back. At least we were all together to commiserate. Despite being awful, the 11 hours passed more quickly than I had expected they would. We woke a string of 80's and 90's American music videos playing on the TV's... ultra weird. The morning outside was lovely though - clear weather that shone on the lovely green landscape.
After quite some time, we finally made our first stay in Puerto Varas, a small town still on the mainland of Chile, outside of Puerto Montt. We found our hostel, an old German built house with a handful of rooms, a warm wood burning stove, and the strong smell of wood. After unloading our things, we set off to explore the town. This whole region is known for its German character that comes from earlier German settlement. Many homes look European, some people as well, and then there are some culinary delights that came from Germany as well. Kuchen here which is actually "cake" in German, is more like pie including fruit and sometimes cheese/cream as well. I enjoyed a nice big piece of chocolate cake filled with manjar (like dulce de leche) and walnuts. I have been craving sweet things since I arrived in Chile it seems. The stuff here just doesn't cut it for me.



As Puerto Varas is in Chile, of course it has its own population of Dogs. One small black and white dog whom we named "Oreo" (roll the r) showed us the way around much of the town including a hill (I told you every town has one!). Once we made it to the lakefront which we thought was a beach at first, much of the group decided to split off to visit Frutillar - another nearby German-flavored town. Kirby and I opted to hang around Puerto Varas and visited a nice coffee shop for dessert, walked the town, visited a church, and returned to the hostel to rest.



Sunday morning, we woke early to begin our trek to the National Park. Fortunately, we got the perk of daylight savings kicking in (fall back), and fortunately, the woman running the place reminded us the night before because our phones apparently did not make the change automatically. Furthermore, at such an early hour, the darkness, rain, and wind did not seem inviting at all. Once it was time to go, the weather had calmed - no rain. We caught the 7:00 am to Puerto Montt and from there, the 7:45 to Castro, Chiloe. The ride was about 4 hours and included a trip across the ocean on a ferry. We saw a little sea lion on the way and birds, but I heard from a French couple at the hostel before that sometimes there are dolphins!



We arrived in Castro at about 11:40 and quickly sought the next bus to Cucao, the national park. No workers were stationed in the ticket booths but each one had departure times listed - 12:30 being the soonest. "Yes! Good luck!" I thought. Others at the station told us that we just board the bus you want and pay the driver, so we headed out to grab a quick bite to eat before heading out. Food always takes more time than you hope here and so we rushed back to the station with our food packaged to go. Come to find out, the information guy tells us that the 12:30 bus doesn't run on Sundays. The next one goes at 2:30. A bit frustrated, we ate our lunch on a bench at the station and then set out to explore the town a little.



We walked down a great hill, down to the water. There was a lovely view across the way - green hills on the other side of the water with those same bright yellow trees. On the water there's also a feria de artisanias which we perused. So many woodworks and knitted clothing! Climbing the hill back to the station was quite a feat with our things on our backs (Francisca lent me her backpack thank goodness!), but our accomplishment was soon met with defeat: no 2:30 bus. It broke down. The 4:00 is the one we should take. A bit beyond frustrated with the bad/lack of information given, we took a seat in the station to wait again. At least we were in good company. It seems that every time our journey took a less than desirable turn, we turned it into a good time just by enjoying our time together. That's something I absolutely love about my colleagues here.



The hour came and we finally left Castro! I've heard over and over that Chiloe is so beautiful, but on our way down to Castro, I wasn't particularly impressed. However, the ride from Castro to Cucao gave me a whole new outlook on the region. The little bus took us through some true Chilean countryside - little houses scattered along the way through green hillsides and blue lakefronts. We really felt like we were leaving the city when at one stop, the busdriver got off the bus and walked a ways off the road toward a house which he entered and stood in the doorway chatting with the people within for probably close to 5 minutes. I guess he was flying over those hills to make good time to afford this stop. After he was done, he got right back to work and soon after, he motioned for our stop. Right as we got off, there was our hostel - Hostel Palafitos, or the stilts hostel. It just looked like a big grey house with new windows from the outside but within, it was lovely! Big windows looked out on the lake and hills opposite. The kitchen was big, modern, and well kept. Our room had exactly 6 beds (with down comforters) for us, 2 bathrooms, and a window looking out on the lake. The decor was mostly wood tones with bright halogen lighting. I was very pleased not only because it was so awesome but also because this was the place I had chosen. Win!



We had little daylight left, but we had to take advantage of the little time we had so we walked down towards the park and took a trail down to the beach. The trail was sandy (with a considerable amount of horse and/or cow poop scattered throughout), but we were surrounded by lush green bushes and plants. Suddenly, the trail was enveloped in trees, and then again, open grass land where we encountered some cattle. We could hear the ocean progressively louder as we walked, but our vision was getting less and less with the onset of night. We pressed on though hoping to see the beach before the darkness set in. When we finally arrived, we squinted trying to take it all in in the fading light. The majesty of it all could not be missed. The grass ended, and a huge expanse of beach lay before us with the pounding waves roaring in our ears even still from a distance. This was a different world.



The way back was really dark, but lucky for us, our cheap cellphones had flashlights and our sole man, Cody, had a headlamp we used to light our way. Needless to say, he's a bit of an outdoor-sy guy. We stayed close to one another to share the light and to shout the occassional "Poop ahead! Poop on the left! Poop on the right!"



Monday morning, we woke to our early alarms only to look outside at thrashing trees, lots of rain, and darkness. Guess our early start wasn't going to happen. We were able to get going around 8am though - starting with a nice breakfast that the hostel provided: eggs, grainy toast, fruit, yogurt, etc. by the lovely lakefront view. We finally got going to the most anticipated part of the trip for me - the national park! We hit a snag though running into a park ranger who basically lured us into the visitor's center to charge us an entrance fee despite the off season. None of us had carried money so we were forced to return to the hostel. We picked up Kirby on our return, so one good thing became of it. Upon entering the park again, the guy was no where to be seen, so we ended up not paying anyway... ugh. Anyway, we set off in one direction through dense plants that rose up to about head level. While it was not raining at the moment, everything was lush, moist and green - dotted with tiny blossoms of every color. A black lab accompanied us whom we called "serio" like "sirius black" from Harry Potter. We found a great lookout over the lake and the surrounding land, but the best part was yet to come: a forest like none other I've ever seen. We came upon it all of a sudden. It was like a patch of mysterious growth, dense with vegetation: trees fallen, growing at angles, weaving between one another; vines and mosses crawling over the trees, mushrooms in the cracks of the path, more blossoms of color... totally overgrown. Had there not been a path, we could not have passed. The wooden constructed path took us over the layers of horizontal tree trunks, several meters deep until we made the loop back to where we had begun.



As we made our way back to the park entrance, toward home, the rain came with force. It seemed like a sign to head home despite our short time in the park. However, upon passing the entrance to the beach path we had taken before, Cody asked, "hey! Does anyone want to go check out the mirador before heading back?" and while I was very tempted by a potential cup of hot tea back inside, I had to take the opportunity. We had seen so little! Serio continued to accompany Cody and me through the mushy path up to the view point. As we approached the rain lessened, and what do you know, as we looked out, the sun even shone through the clouds! I couldn't believe it, but I was so happy I had come. The view was of the grassland like strip that bordered the grand beach that we had struggled to see the night before. We could see the immense power of the ocean - great waves crashing at quite some distance away from shore. We lingered a while, absorbing both the view and the sun (Serio was looking too). Finally, we turned back towards the hostel, and when we reached the paved road, our 4-legged friend left us, knowing his accompanying duties were complete. Smart little guy!



After arriving in Castro, we set out for lunch. It turns out that many of our teacher colleagues spent the holiday in Chiloe because we ran into several! We joined three others: Emily, Denise, and Caitlin, at a restaurant on the coastline. The food looked and smelled great, but we ultimately had to leave without food because the service was so terrible. After an hour of waiting, a less than helpful waitress, and a supposed "10 minutes more" we left, settling instead for a sidewalk ceviche. 1000 pesos or $2 for a whole bunch of shelled mussels (cooked by the way) in lemon juice with herbs and onions - it wasn't the worst alternative! Just would have liked a little somthing more than that to help me through the rest of the long trip besides my supply of almonds, raisins, and dark chocolate. Oh well...



Ultimately, the way back to the Maule region ended up condensed because of our long wait in Castro. We left Castro at 5pm, arrived in Puerto Montt at 9:00, then took our 9:20 (close call!) bus to Talca, arriving at 7:25 am, from where I took the 7:40 bus to Conti. Home before 10am. phew! The busride back was thankfully much more comfortable and pleasant because it was a newer vehicle, and we weren't seated in the absolute rear as before. I'm so proud of myself for making it back to Conti all by myself! Although I was ready to be home, the ride was gorgeous: morning sunshine on fields of grapevines - shades of yellow, orange, green, and purple - green mountains, and quite an array of bright yellow trees. A truly beautiful welcome back!

For More photos:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150890296341023.469024.659676022&type=1&l=1dadc3b3f4

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