Chile

SANTIAGO

Perhaps the cleanest city we´ve been to in all of the Americas, Santiago is a beautiful and welcoming place! We stayed in the Boheme neighborhood called "Bella Vista" that was made up of hundreds of little bars, restaurants and clubs. The main street, Pio Nono was lined with outdoor cafes and locals dressed up to be seen! The live music here is diverse, ranging from rock to jazz. We ate some lovely meals comprised mostly of steak...surprised?! South America would be in a world of hurt if mad cow became a problem...
Beyond the impressive restaurant scene, we toured downtown Santiago and visited a number of local markets. We picked up some neat items, including a Mata tea container and some "Nobleza" Yerba for sipping through a straw. We´ve found this type of tea time is very popular all over South America. Chile has many natural riches, provided by both land and sea. Scott´s love of large sea shells and we happened across a store in the market with a selection of well in-tact conches...so, "Scotty´s got the conch!" - yes, a Lord of the Flies reference.
We also visited the cathedral, the city museum, the post office famed for its beautiful glass ceiling, and a number of other landmarks.

VALPARAISO

Valparaiso is a town painted in every color under the sun. Once a major port, it is still packed with columns of Maersk & Sealand containers on cement blocks next to the cruise boats passing through en route to southern Chile. Pablo Neruda´s house and museum, City walk of Valparaiso, including a mural tour

THE LAKE DISTRICT

A forested region of lush old growth forests, clean lakes, rivers and snowcapped volcanos, the Lake District streches 339 km from Temuco in the north to Puerto Montt in the south. After a stint in Santiago and the coast, we flew to the Puerto Montt airport and stayed not far away in a quaint lakeside town called Puerto Varas. Similar to some of the small towns we visited in New Zealand, Varas had all the makings of a perfect fly-fishing getaway. The Germans populated this area almost a century ago giving it extra charm and you can still feel their presence today by the Alpine-style buildings and downtown street layout, where all the town resident´s stare at 3 of Chile´s 2,900 volcanoes. Yes, the area is higly seismic and they are expecting a"big one" similar to the U.S. West Coast. More importantly to Scott, Varas is situated within an hour of several awesome rivers, namely the Petrohue, which we fished for two days with a local guide named Fernando. We both had an awesome time on this river. The environment was stunning, the water was crystal clear, and the guide cooked us an incredible meal for lunch both days. The lunches included limitless Pisco Sours (the local cocktail of choice made of brandy, lemon and sugar to taste), a bottle of Chilean red wine, steak, pork, sausage, and fresh veggie salads. The fisher[wo]man´s dream come true! So very good. In a long game of catch and release, Scott came out the winner by catching several brown and rainbow trout and Chinook Salmon. Alyssa caught one trout, but was pleased with learning how to cast better in the process. One day was bright and sunny, the other colder and cloudy, and both days we enjoyed ourselves immensely!
In addition to fishing the Petrohue, we did a day tour to Chiloe Island, the second largest island in South America to Tierra del Fuego. It was a rainy ugly day, but we made the most of it by visiting the town´s local handicraft market, touring the city of Ancud, and doing a short boat trip at Pinguinera to see the Magellan and Humbolt penguins in their natural habitat on some rocks offshore. We were informed that this is the only place in the world where two different types of penguins cohabitate, for reason unknown. It is breading season, so they were a bit shy when the boat came near, but it was still great to see them! We also came across some beautiful native and migratory birds.
Our last day in Puerto Varas was spent horseback riding out in the country. Unlike other trail rides both of us have been on in the past, this particular ride was very exciting! We were able to gallop and run with the horses, take them across streams and through some more treacherous terrain. We loved it!

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