Blogs from Puerto Varas, Los Lagos, Chile, South America
March 13th 2012
January and February are high summer in Chile, when Chileans escape in droves from their cities - smoggy, sweltering Santiago in particular - to enjoy their country's extraordinary natural wealth: its lakes, its rivers, its mountains, its beaches.We'd never have guessed as much over the past 6 weeks, however:so out of the way is the Carretera Austral that only a relatively small handful of people make it there. Chiloé, with its (not altogether unearned) reputation as a place of endless rain, also escapes the summer hordes despite its accessibility. And so we have been lulled into a dangerously false sense of security. Our plan for after Chiloé is to visit regions X and IX - Los Lagos and Araucanía respectively - just when tens of thousands of Chileans are doing so as well. There really isn't ... read more
T'was on the good ship venus....
Published: March 9th 2012South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas
March 9th 2012
Capatins log dated Wed 7th March Weather same as yesterday . Cloudy and overcast . Rain. Wind 4 occasional 3 falling. It' s amazing to think that 24hrs after leaving Puerto Natales and navigating through the fjords no human habitation at all in this desolate yet beautiful land. The journey is 1460km (900 miles) and I am wondering if we will see any other human life at all between here and our destinstion Puerto Montt. I have never been to a fjord and it is quite eerie. Land to port and starboard occasionally only 130 metres wide for navigation and yet no human lif or recognisable building. Looking out the window it is if you are stuck in a film loop and I joked with Megan from NZ that actually we were stationary and that there ... read more
Puerto Varas - 5 Janeiro a 8 de Janeiro 2012
Published: January 24th 2012South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas
January 24th 2012
Bruce springsteen - streets of philadelfia e o que oico enquanto comeco este post. Estamos neste momento a caminho da Argentina, para Bariloche e sao 10 da manha, 9 de Janeiro, Segunda Feira. O ultimo destino foi Puerto Varas onde ficamos 4 noites mas embora pareca muito na realidade pouco fizemos por varias razoes. Primeiro, chegamos Quinta a noite e saimos Segunda, hj, pelas 8 da manha pelo que na verdade tivemos apenas 3 dias nesta vila que esta encostada a um lago e com influencia predominantemente alema. O primeiro dia serviu para ver o que poderiamos fazer e sobretudo conhecer a cidade e depressa concluimos que tinhamos imensas opcoes de actividades mas todas elas a volta de Puerto Varas , no fundo a vila nao e mais que um hub para todas essas actividades, bicicleta, ... read more
Extrem sports in the Lake District
Published: December 9th 2011South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas
December 3rd 2011
Hi peeps! After Patagonia, we went north to the lake district for 4 days (Region Los Lagos), which is located in the central part of Chile. This region is famous for its several extremsports possibilities. After a "tranquilo" first day, on which we hiked to a pass near the Osorno Volcano (it was really easy after what we did in Torres del Paine), we decided to try out rafting... but not the usual one! It was something called "River Ducky" and it's like a canoe (i.e. for two persons) made out of rubber (like a rafting boat). We went to the Rio Petrohue, a river classed III/IV. At this time, our guide told us we were lucky, because it had rained a lot three days ago, so the river had much water and the rapids were ... read more
May 7th 2011
I was forced to spend a night in Santiago due to the revision of my flight back from Easter Island courtesy of LAN Airlines. It was not all bad as my friend Brian now works at a hostel in Santiago. I stayed the night there kicking it with him, Jay, and some other forgieners. The night of the fifth I bussed down to Chiloe. It was a seventeen hour ride. I must have slept well, because all went smoothly. I woke up in time to see our bus board the ferry to take us onto the island of Chiloe. I forced myself to stay awake to appreciate the scenic drive. It was not difficult. Chiloe is amazing. I was constantly reminded of England. There is a lot of European influence in Chiloe. Also, it was a ... read more
the good times are killing me...
Published: September 24th 2011South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas
May 1st 2011
Puerto Varas was a smallish town on the edge of Lago Llanquihue. We found a nice hostel, right near the lake. It was a bit of a walk from the bus station – again the LP had lied to us and said the bus station was in town. It was not – there was a ticket office there. There was not, and never had been, a bloody bus station. It did give us a chance to stretch our legs and see the outskirts of the town, at least. Cold, but not bitterly so, and it showed clearly the German influence of the area. As a town in the Lakes District it was certainly set up for tourists, and the centre was very civilised, maybe a bit too much so – all the big corporates, plenty of ... read more
South American Adventure
Published: February 28th 2011South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto Varas
February 28th 2011
Hello everyone. You must be thinking that we have dropped off the planet, because it´s so long since we have been to our blog. We don´t have much time today, as we are off to some thermal springs in the Andes for a couple of days in a few minutes. We will update you on our adventures¨ when we have more time. We have had some good times and some bad, but overall it has been wonderful. We are both well and happy - hope all our friends are the same. Hasta luego Mary and Gordon... read more
February 8th 2011
Feb 8 So today this girls went bike riding. I woke up a little late so they were ready and went without me. It was good they got to have some girl time and I caught up on emails and packed most of my stuff up. When they got back we had some fruit lunch and Denisse and I booked a rafting trip. She had never been and her friend couldnt go so I went with her. It was the same river but a bit cheaper so I was happy. We had a blast she loved it I'm happy she didn't fall out and get scared haha but she said she was more scared of the bees and flys then the river haha. She even did the jump off the rocks. She said she is really ... read more
January 27th 2011
Hello everyone! we are in puerto varas, chile. it is considered part of the lake district in patagonia. i didn´t go back to check when i wrote last time but i think we were headed to valparasio. what a cool town valpo was! we stayed there for three days and had a great time! we stayed at a cute little hostel with stained glass windows and an iron spiral staircase. it was run by three chilian men who i am sure if you combine the length of their deadlocks they would reach from chile to canada. really warm and friendly people! valparasio is a neat town that is built into the side of a hill so as you can imagine there are staircases everywhere (which we took notice to as soon as we missed our bus ... read more
The sleepy towns of Puerto Varas and Chiloe Island...
Published: August 5th 2010South America » Chile » Los Lagos » Puerto VarasJuly 25th 2010
A fews days at the tip of Patagonia to rejuvenate was next on our agenda...we travelled to the German settlement of Puerto Varas (pop 32,000). It was raining when we arrived but the lake view from my room window was still pretty stunning! Our hostel was 5 older homes that had been connected by passage ways so we spent some time getting lost as we tried to find our rooms and then each other! I was in need of some tea and journal time so a few of us found a cozy cafe overlooking the lake and spent the rest of the afternoon sipping green tea, submarinos (a stick of chocolate melted in warm milk), and eating pastries. We chatted, played cards, read, and relaxed :) Wonderful day! Our day on Chiloe Island was very cool. ... read more
