Puyehue

Puyehue

By now it's starting to get cold and rainy for real but we are still hopeful that things will clear up as we head to Taique Lodge near Puyehue.  The lodge is a bit out of the way down a gravel road which was pretty easy going except our rental car scraped over every rock over the size of two inches in diameter.  I was worried we might be beating the car up a bit but it soon became apparent that small rocks were the least of our problems where the car was concerned.

The lodge is run by a nice French couple with a toddler and a St. Bernard.  We stayed here because the hiking is supposed to be great as well as the views of the volcanoes and the nearby lake.

See those amazing volcanoes in the distance?  Yeah, me neither that's because it rained the whole time we were here.  We did walk around the property and down the road and saw some slender billed parakeets and green-backed fire crown hummingbirds but the light was just so crappy it made for lousy photos.

We opted to drive to Parque Nacional Puyehue to see some waterfalls and drive up the mountain to a ski lodge for hot soup, a few beers and to warm up by the fireplace.

South American gray fox

I'm lichen this photo

We did see some nice birds in the park like thorn-tailed rayadito and fire-eyed diucon as well as millions of black-faced ibis and chimango caracara which fill the niche that crows occupy in North America.  Unfortunately, the lighting was craptastic for birding and photos but still a beautiful drive to the mountain top.

The Incident

We were pretty bummed not to have had better weather in Puyehue but we had high hopes for sun and fun and penguins as our merry band headed out for the five hour drive to Chiloe Island in the rain.  We were tooling down the highway without a care when, and this would be the part of the movie where the music builds and then the shark actually eats the unsuspecting swimmers, we were smacked by a car trying to overtake us in a construction zone.

Much hand flailing and incomprehensible Spanish ensued.

Doesn't look like that big of a deal does it?  But it definitely was because the guy who hit us was from Argentina and through many hand gestures it was decided that we would follow him into the nearby town of Osorno to the local police station.  Problem number one, he didn't know where that was, and Problem number two not one single person at the Carabineros de Chile Comisaria Osorno spoke any English.

Donde esta el bano and un cerveza por favor will only get you so far in a police station in Chile.  Note to self, learn to speak some damn Spanish already.  After a couple hours and some quality time with Google translate, we were able to tell our side of the story or so we thought we weren't really sure.  But it was pretty obvious that he said it was our fault and we said it was his, well 'cause it was.  After much more hand gesturing, we were given a scrap of paper with an address and a lot of Spanish spoken very quickly which we were able to figure out meant that we were to appear the next morning before a judge.  Problem was, we were supposed to be five hours away from that town by that evening.  Fred really did save the day though because he was able to show the police dude that this was not going to work for us and negotiated our appearance in court three days hence.

We left full of anxiety and worry about what it might entail to appear before a judge in a foreign city where no one spoke English.  Let's just say the next few hours in the car were pretty quiet.

Chiloe Island

By the time we reached the ferry for Chiloe, we had resolved to not let the accident interfere with our time on the island since there was nothing we could do about any of it anyway.

Rich contemplating a run for the Argentine border

Couple of drunk dudes welcoming us to the Island

We stayed at a palafito which is the Chiloe version of a house on stilts.  They are on stilts because they have serious tides here.

View from our palafito

It's like the Bay of Fundy with tidal flux

Just relax, take in the views and think about your court date

We took a drive over the island to get our bearings and explore the Parque Nacional of Chiloe which turned out to be absolutely beautiful.  Cold, cold beaches and lakes but at least the weather had cleared so we could take some hikes and soak up the local flavor.  That flavor included the local mythology of the Mapuche people who believed in a creature known as the Trauco, or seducer of virgins.  The Trauco hypnotizes young girls with his gaze then has his way with them.  The only way to distract him is to throw sand in his eyes so Toni and I were careful to always have a fistful handy because you can't be too careful.

Same temperature as liquid nitrogen

Yellow-billed pintails don't mind cold feet

Just a couple of Chiloans chi-illin out

In case of tsunami, run sideways

Don't stare at him!

Darwin stopped on this beach on the Beagle voyage

 Clams are a big deal here, unfortunately I don't like clams

After a nice little hike along the beach and a couple of trails, it was time for lunch.  We had been given a recommendation by the palafito owner.  Turned out to be absolutely delectable.

El Arrayan, go here if you go there

Little shrimps bubbling in melted butter with homemade rolls and Chilean white wine.  Nom, nom

These kids were hanging in the town square sharing one phone

The locals have been arguing about a bridge to the mainland for ten years.  We decided to weigh in.

Down by the harbor in Castro, note police car on right coming for Rich

Iglesia San Francisco in the town square

More yummy local food and Chilean cab

Not to mention the local beer

Southern Caracara

Worlds smallest, not to mention cutest deer, a pudu

Oh, just your typical roadside shot

Lapwings by the bazillion

You know what we didn't get pictures of?  Penguins.  Wanna know why?  'Cause we had to get up the next morning at 3:30 a.m. to get out the door and haul ass back to Osorno for that court hearing.  But first we had to load up the car, get lost, make it to the ferry landing just as the ferry was pulling away, encounter heavy fog and dodge pudu/dogs in the road.  Fred was a machine though and got us to Osorno with time to spare so we had a little caffeine and contemplated how often we would be able to visit Rich in prison.

Osorno

We were nervous I'll admit it.  I mean really all we had was a scrap of paper with an address on it and no idea of what we were in for.  Fueled with instant coffee (what can I say, they love Nescafe here), we made our way to here:

We went in and encountered a room jammed full of people.  After patiently waiting in line to talk with someone, the woman simply pointed upstairs.  Upstairs, more of the same.  We were hoping at this point that the guy who hit us would just not show up but no such luck.  He was right on time.  Then began a series of back and forth into the bowels of the building between Rich and the other guy.  At one point a man approached us and asked if we were German.  I guess because, well we're obviously not Chilean and they have lots of Germans living around these parts.  This is where we got lucky because he offered to translate for us for a mere $30.  Deal!  Over the next two hours Rich told his side and the other guy told his.  Back and forth, back and forth.  Fred, Toni and I could only wait in the crowded room to hear what happened after each visit.

When the final gavel banged, well actually there was no gavel, in fact there wasn't even a judge just a paralegal who communicated to a judge, there was no winner.  We were told to come back on the following Monday.  Problem was we were gonna be long gone back to the US by then.  So, long story short, the other guy will have to cover his damage and we will have to cover the damage on the rental car.  All that to say:

Someone was pretty damn relieved to done with this mess

We were feeling pretty good about the court deal so we strolled around town

Took us a long time to figure out what this was about, it's a college initiation

No bull, we are glad this part of the trip is over

Chile

I'm waiting in line for boarding our American Airlines flight to Santiago, and by line I mean a hoard of my fellow passengers milling around clutching boarding passes and repeatedly glancing down at them hoping their group gets called.  We are in group 3 which, as I know from previous trips, does not bode well for early seating or for snagging the much coveted overhead storage bin immediately above my seat but rather the one 14 seats away requiring Fred to squirm his way back down the aisle full of sleep-deprived disembarking passengers to retrieve our barely legal weighty camera backpack.
Boarding commences in the following manner.

We would like to invite all our:

Passengers with young children
Passengers who behave like young children
Passengers with disabilities
Military personnel in uniform
Military persons who served in any conflict involving the US
First Class
Business Class
One World (Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Rhinestone) Alliance Members
Two World Alliance Members
Executive Platinum Members
Preferred Gold Members
Silver Members
Aluminum Members
Graphite Members
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3

But, finally we are off for our nine hour sleepless flight, thank you Mr. Snoring Dude across the aisle from me, to Santiago, Chile with our friends Rich and Toni in tow for some fun and adventures unknown.  And, by fun and adventure I mean earthquakes, tsunami warnings and car accidents.

Santiago

Santiago is a big ol' city full of buildings and way too many dogs in the streets and traffic and outdoor cafes and nearby vineyards and plenty of hustle and bustle and general citiness.  Since it was Sunday, we were blessed with some relative calm and took the opportunity to take the subway and get our bearings before heading out to the aforementioned nearby vineyards the next day.

Whoosh!  Subways are clean and modern and filled with pick pockets just like any big city

Um. Toni, you should know that US Customs frowns on weeny dog smuggling

Look who perked up after a nice local beer and a little lunch

That's the entrance to the Hotel Orly, really liked this place and it had little to do with the fact that they served homemade pastries for breakfast every day.

Hurry up and eat that pastry Fred, we are headed to the vineyards.

Who's up for a little wine tasting?

Our first winery of the day

Kinda like my own backyard, except with grapes instead of weeds

Whoa, this is way too much wine, said no one ever

I asked which wines paired nicely with pop tarts and canned frosting, he was at a loss for words

Wine pong, so much classier than beer pong

Lunch at the local hot spot La Vaquita Echa, the little, reclining cow

If this had arrived cold, I could have said I had chilly, chili in Chile but it was bubbling hot

This is the Chilean version of the chicken dance.  Those musicians on the right were very good.

Our guide suggested a bottle of wine might help Fred improve his Spanish 

We also visited Castillo del Diablo, a huge winery that produces most of the wine sent out of the country.  It's the one you are most likely to purchase at your local grocery store or Costco or wherever you make your fine wine purchases in bulk.  The tour was a little hoky, the lights get turned out, an image of the devil is projected on a wall, scary devil's voice on a loud speaker, you get the idea.  Didn't bother with photos since all these vineyards start to look the same after a while.

Early dinner, by Chilean standards anyway, off to bed and up early for our flight to Temuco tomorrow.

Temuco to Lonquimay

Short flight from Santiago to Temuco where we rented a car.  No biggee, but in the movies this would be the scene where the music builds ominously in the background.  You know kinda like in Jaws where the unsuspecting kids are all laughing and swimming and having a great time while a large predator swims slowly towards them with the dun, dun, dun, dun theme playing.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

After setting up our GPS, meandering Maria, we were off to our lodge near the village of Malalcahuello in the Araucaria district.

Hotel Suizandina

Loved this little lodge surrounded by mountains and the Reserva Nacional Malalcahuello.  There are pet llamas and alpacas, volcanoes in the distance, really good Swiss food, lots of hiking trails and bird life, peaceful and quiet.  Close to perfection for me.

We hightailed it right off the bat to Volcan Lonquimay and a heart rate raising drive over the Navidad crater.

The crater area consists of barren, rocky patches interspersed with barren, rocky patches.   

The expansive views stretch endlessly attracting tourists, skiers and large mining consortiums

I can hear some German pioneer trying to convince his wife to move here.  Don't worry hon we can live off the land.

Translation, Rich get off that damn thing

My new favorite tree, doesn't everybody have one?  It's a Monkey Puzzle Tree, genus Araucania native to this part of Chile.  Supposedly so named because it's spiky arms would puzzle any monkey attempting to climb it.  Ok, but there are no monkeys in this part of Chile.

Fred and Rich took an all day 4 hour hike in the Reserve while Toni and I took the Hansel y Gretel kids trail around the lodge.

When dinosaurs roamed the earth

No, Rich it's left at the fork, right at the monkey puzzle tree, then we climb the fence and cross the private cow pasture

Two paths diverged in a wood, I took the one less traveled and that's why it took 8 hours instead of 4

The stops along the way to photograph the Magellanic woodpecker might have caused a slight delay

While Toni and I waited and waited for Fred and Rich to return, we took a trail which told the story of Hansel and Gretel complete with cages and ovens for cooking small children that disobey their parents.

Here is the story in Spanish which is basically a moral about how you should buy your M&Ms from the local 7-11 instead of getting them from old crones with warty faces because, while I admit they are delicious, they are not worth imprisonment and being roasted alive.  Risks associated with obtaining Snickers bars are an entirely different story.

Don't worry Toni, Rich will rescue you.  Where is he anyway?  Shouldn't they be back by now.

Hey, what's in here?

Why, it's camelidos of course.

Tell me again about that little chihuahua you had as a pet when you were a kid

Let's go on a picnic, alpaca the lunch

I wanted to pet him but each time I approached he moved away.  Then I saw a German woman staying at the lodge walk toward him with her head down and just stand there.  The llama walked right over.  So I tried it and it worked the llama came right over and rubbed llama snot all over my bowed head.

Como se llama

I was beginning to wonder if the guys had followed this sign by mistake but they eventually showed up around sunset and I had a nice giant hash brown dinner with wine and we all shared stories of Hansel and Gretel and monkey puzzle tree sightings.

Valdivia

Our next stop for one night was the riverside town of Valdivia which is described as sophisticated and festive with a heavy German influence and a lively fish market.  Unfortunately, the market was closed by the time we arrived and we had to leave the next morning before it opened so all we saw were some fish guts being hosed off and some very fat seals lazing nearby.  Not so picturesque. Why do guide books always, always describe fish markets as lively?  

We did get a feel for the German influence however, since there are bars serving German Kuntsman beer on every corner.  And yes, we did partake because, since we were starting to head further south, the weather was getting cold, drizzly and dreary.

We stopped in for a beer at a local spot while we tried to figure out where to eat.  We found a place in our book that was highly recommended so we walked and walked trying to find it