Puerto Varas and Frutillar, Chile
February 25, 2010
After a fair amount of debate, Lucas and I decided to book a trip to Puerto Natales, through the Chilean fjords aboard Navimag. Navimag runs weekly cargo ships between the two port towns, and has one floor on board for tourists. For about $100/day per person, Lucas and I had our very own dorm bed, three cafeteria meals per day and a front row view of Patagonia. On the downside, the boat didn’t depart for almost a week so we were stuck in the Puerto Montt area until that time. Luckily, the gorgeous town of Puerto Varas and Frutillar were only an hour away.
Puerto Varas is a costal town on the shores of lake (llanquihue) “Yankee way”. Volcanos surround the lake on three sides and the views from downtown are just astounding. The town was settled by Germans back in 1850 or so, when the Chilean government gave them free land in order to entice them to move to the area and bring their good strong engineering with them. You can buy Kuchen and strudel in almost any cafe, and many of the locals have a real European look to them.
We took long walks along the lake, played 21 at the casino, traveled up to Volcan Osorno, viewed the Saltos Petrohue (waterfalls) and just basically relaxed. The taxi driver who took us to some of the sites was nice, but English obviously wasn’t his first language. At one point he took us to a restaurant and told us that, “All of the food was free”. Hmm, come again? I guess he meant, “All of the food was free for him” because we ate the buffet of chicken, steak, lamb, sausage, veggies, salad, fruit, flan, and Chilean Sea Bass… and then were given a bill for near $50 USD. The taxi driver’s meal was free, of course.
Lucas and I near the top of Volcan Osorno.
Saltos Petrohue with two volcanos in the back.
Downtown Puerto Varas – not many lakes with a prettier backdrop, huh?
The view across Lake Yankee Way towards another volcano.
We took a ride up Volcan Osorno as far as you could go via taxi, to a ski resort. It’s open during the summer too but the winds were so fierce and the lift went so slowly that we thought the view at the base of the resort was good enough for us.
The backyard of our spendy lunch joint. We took a little stroll here after dining to work off some of that good food.
Downtown Frutillar, another German town a 15 minute bus ride away from Puerto Varas had this gorgeous open area piano.
Ancud to Castro, Chile
February 21, 2010
We are way behind on blog posting, as we have been on the go pretty much non-stop with very little downtime. So, this one might be a bit short. We decided to visit the small island of Chiloe, south of Puerto Montt, based on a recommendation from our friend Ramon. We booked at a hostel called Nuevo Mundo or “new world”. Our first impression of Chiloe was the wind. Coming across the bay it picked up water and completely soaked everything in its path. Fortunately it soon cleared, and we were able to walk around the city to marvel at the architecture. The first thing Jenn noticed was all the unique housing tiles. There were so many different shapes and colors. We took pictured of so many that we could make a complete book on Chiloe building materials!
The food in Chile is wonderful, but we were really starting to miss variety… especially Asian food. I was dying for a noodle! So, we decided that we would cook our own dinners and try to get something new into our diet. Our trip to the grocery store didn’t help at all… there were no Asian choices to buy! So, even if we wanted something different, it was still going to be the Chilean staples… fish and seafood… but alas, we did find some ground beef and manage to make some delicious beef burritos! The avocado here is to die for. We have it at almost every meal.
In Castro, we tried to find all the magnificent churches. But, once we got there via bus, we found out that most of them are a significant distance away from the town center, and require hiring a car or doing a package tour. So, we were a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to photograph them. We did however see one beautiful church on the Plaza de Armas. It had huge ceilings and stained glass windows. Castro is probably more famous however, for the Palafitos… old houses built on stilts next to the water. Unfortunately for us, the tide was out, so there wasn’t any water for us to see… but, we did see how they are erected! Chiloe is a wonderful island.. and our 3 days spent there could have easily turned into a month. We didn’t make it to the south end, or even to the national park on the Island. But, what we did see was a nice taste… but alas we must move on to the next stop!
One of the places we walked to was an old fortress at the end of the island. I don’t remember the specific details, but I think it was the last stronghold to fall in the war. (which war? we’ll have to look it up later)
Looking through the fortress tower out towards the sea
Lucas, holding up the fort. Literally. 
Standing as close as we could get to the Penguin colony without a boat.
If you look closely, there are actually penguins in this picture. Although, probably not visible at this resolution, there are hundreds of Magellenic penguins here at the colony. Unfortunately, the tides were wrong for us to go out and get closer. This ‘Penguinera’ is one the largest in the area.
Some strange birds with long beaks… they also make a stranger sound… not a chirp, not a click, not a hum… I think it’s something between a whistle and a cooing sound a baby would make.
Church & Architecture in Castro
A street musician were we had a yummy cheesy lunch. The dish was like a dip, but made with cheese and king crab. Tasty on bread! This place had maybe 10 different restaurants in a courtyard, and the musicians would come around and play for tips. They even played in the rain! There was a really old-school foosball table I wish I had taken a picture of. I’ve no idea how old it was, but it had been repaired many times… There was a long queue lined up to take their turn! I wanted to play, but didn’t want to wait in line!
After visiting the penguin colony, we were walking back towards the bus (2 hour walk) and a random guy picked us up. He suggested we have lunch at a place down the road, so he dropped us off and went to eat. While we were waiting, the shellfish delivery came in… It was two men on a boat, one in a full scuba outfit, delivering entire bags of shellfish. Each bag must have been 30 kilos or more.
This is where the ‘asado’ is made… a big iron tank cut in half and filled with wood. The wood is burned down into coals, and then huge chunks of meat are skewered and put in place to grill. This restaurant wasn’t huge… but there is probably 10 kilos of meat on each of those skewers… obviously the Chileans love their meat!
This is how “curanto” is prepared. A hole in the ground is dug, and filled with wood. Big rocks are put on top, and the entire thing is set on fire. Once the wood is burned down, the coals are removed, leaving the superheated rocks. All those shellfish from the previous picture are piled on top. Then, add chicken, sausage, dumplings, lamb, and about 5 other types of meat on top in layers. Then, cover the entire thing in some local grass, and steam away. 45 minute later, pull it all apart and enjoy the feast!
Jenn, taking a swing after our lunch! We also had a new dish here, called “locos”. We think it is Abalone, or possibly goeduck. It may be my new favorite seafood. It’s like a yummy muscle, only meatier and more steak like!
The main church on the Plaza de Armas in Castro.
Inside the church… The stained glass was beautiful… giving off a nice light
The famous Palafito houses in Castro. There are many places these are located around Castro… this one is easily viewed from across the water.
Puerto Montt, Chile
February 17, 2010
No where in the world have we seen a bus system as efficient as in Chile. The phrase, “you can’t get there from here” just isn’t applicable in this country. Our goal was to travel from Santa Cruz, a fairly small wine town to Puerto Montt, a bustling industrial town about twelve hours away. Sounds like a small feat for a bus system, right? You’d be wrong! We had a choice of busses to choose from each departing on the half hour – plus we had a choice of bus ‘classes’ available – from economy (no reclining seats) to semi-cama (partially reclining), to cama (full reclining beds with two meals, drinks and a steward). Nice! The price for the luxury treatment was a tad steep at $60USD pp, but still cheaper than traveling during the day and then getting a hostel at night.
We arrived in Puerto Montt at around 8 AM. The bus had been comfortable, but we were tired from our travels nevertheless, and now we had to trudge through town with all of our stuff and look for lodging. Apparently, life doesn’t start in Puerto Montt until about 11 AM. so our trudging was not particularly fruitful. All of the business we walked past – grocery stores, gas stations, and unfortunately hostels were closed and locked up. After persistent knocking at three dark hostels we finally found accommodations at Hostel Rocco. The room was clean, the bed was comfy and we settled into a three hour snooze.
Chileans love dogs and Hostel Rocco was no exception. They had a very friendly Labrador, and two dress wearing poodles. I enjoyed playing with the lap dogs and got a kick out of their matching dresses. Lucas swears we’ll never have such a silly pet – I think I’ll wear him down someday though!
Puerto Montt is well known for one thing: it’s seafood district, Angelmo. Here we tried the locally famous dish called Curanto. Lucas loves his Curanto, I think it mostly appeals to him because of the massive amount of food that the dish includes. Curanto is a mix of mussels, clams, chicken, sausage, ham/pork, potatoes, and dumplings all slow cooked on an earthen fire. It comes in a big bowl, with bread and a cup of broth. The broth is incredibly strong tasting, and salty, and used to dip your meaty bites into. You can find Curanto about everywhere in the region, some better than others. The mussels however seem to be a bit overcooked for my liking.
Angelmo – the bottom floor is a huge seafood and produce market, the top floor is a smattering of restaurants. Each window hosts a small mom & pop type seafood kitchen. This is where we tried Curanto for the 1st (and 3rd) time.
This is a typical street seen in Angelmo. The area sits on Puerto Montt’s harbor. Here we saw NaviMag, the cargo ship that later was to be our home for four days as we traveled through the Patagonia Channels.
The tide has a pretty big variance between high and low. Later this boat will be floating, no problem.
Jenn poses with a couple of local potato men. That’s their produce in those red bags there in the back.
Stained glass windows in the cathedral shown in the photo below. We’re just starting to experiment with HDR photography and this shot of the cathedral and the dog is one of our firsts. Yeah, or nay? There are dogs roaming all over the town of Chile. Apparently, Chileans take in purebred canines as pups, refrain from nurturing them on ‘principle’, and then when they get to be older dogs they send them out to find for themselves. Many times we’ve seen packs of these purebred strays parading through town. They never seem to get too hungry though. I suspect that the dogs have figured out how to best make eyes at tourists in order to beg off the occasional 1/2 an empanada.
Puerto Montt, Chile
February 17, 2010
No where in the world have we seen a bus system as efficient as in Chile. The phrase, “you can’t get there from here” just isn’t applicable in this country. Our goal was to travel from Santa Cruz, a fairly small wine town to Puerto Montt, a bustling industrial town about twelve hours away. Sounds like a small feat for a bus system, right? You’d be wrong! We had a choice of busses to choose from each departing on the half hour – plus we had a choice of bus ‘classes’ available – from economy (no reclining seats) to semi-cama (partially reclining), to cama (full reclining beds with two meals, drinks and a steward). Nice! The price for the luxury treatment was a tad steep at $60USD pp, but still cheaper than traveling during the day and then getting a hostel at night.
We arrived in Puerto Montt at around 8 AM. The bus had been comfortable, but we were tired from our travels nevertheless, and now we had to trudge through town with all of our stuff and look for lodging. Apparently, life doesn’t start in Puerto Montt until about 11 AM. so our trudging was not particularly fruitful. All of the business we walked past – grocery stores, gas stations, and unfortunately hostels were closed and locked up. After persistent knocking at three dark hostels we finally found accommodations at Hostel Rocco. The room was clean, the bed was comfy and we settled into a three hour snooze.
Chileans love dogs and Hostel Rocco was no exception. They had a very friendly Labrador, and two dress wearing poodles. I enjoyed playing with the lap dogs and got a kick out of their matching dresses. Lucas swears we’ll never have such a silly pet – I think I’ll wear him down someday though!
Puerto Montt is well known for one thing: it’s seafood district, Angelmo. Here we tried the locally famous dish called Curanto. Lucas loves his Curanto, I think it mostly appeals to him because of the massive amount of food that the dish includes. Curanto is a mix of mussels, clams, chicken, sausage, ham/pork, potatoes, and dumplings all slow cooked on an earthen fire. It comes in a big bowl, with bread and a cup of broth. The broth is incredibly strong tasting, and salty, and used to dip your meaty bites into. You can find Curanto about everywhere in the region, some better than others. The mussels however seem to be a bit overcooked for my liking.
Angelmo – the bottom floor is a huge seafood and produce market, the top floor is a smattering of restaurants. Each window hosts a small mom & pop type seafood kitchen. This is where we tried Curanto for the 1st (and 3rd) time.
This is a typical street seen in Angelmo. The area sits on Puerto Montt’s harbor. Here we saw NaviMag, the cargo ship that later was to be our home for four days as we traveled through the Patagonia Channels.
The tide has a pretty big variance between high and low. Later this boat will be floating, no problem.
Jenn poses with a couple of local potato men. That’s their produce in those red bags there in the back.
Stained glass windows in the cathedral shown in the photo below. We’re just starting to experiment with HDR photography and this shot of the cathedral and the dog is one of our firsts. Yeah, or nay? There are dogs roaming all over the town of Chile. Apparently, Chileans take in purebred canines as pups, refrain from nurturing them on ‘principle’, and then when they get to be older dogs they send them out to find for themselves. Many times we’ve seen packs of these purebred strays parading through town. They never seem to get too hungry though. I suspect that the dogs have figured out how to best make eyes at tourists in order to beg off the occasional 1/2 an empanada.
Santa Cruz, Chile
February 15, 2010
After Valparaiso we decided to head south a bit and check out one of the wine regions. Our goal was to continue southward until we arrived at the Patagonia park volunteer program. Since there was a wine region between here and there, it made sense to stop and check it out. The bus ride was fairly comfortable, although a bit warm, since this bus didn’t have air conditioning. But, the windows were open and we were soon driving through beautiful flat countryside with mountains on all sides. When we arrived at the small town of Santa Cruz, it was completely closed down. No shops where open, no one was on the streets, it was almost a ghost town. We even had trouble finding someone to ask for directions to the hostel we had planned to stay. After walking around in circles for nearly an hour, we managed to find the place, only to discover they did not have a room for two nights, and could not suggest another place for us to stay. With some broken Spanish, we were able to book a room for one night, but we’d need to find other accommodation for the 2nd. Relieved, we dropped our luggage, relaxed a bit, and even took a swim in the pool. (although it was freezing cold)
We managed to find a place which was open for dinner, and had our first go at parrillo. OMG, it was a bit ridiculous. I think parrillo means “grill” but I’m not really positive. When our food arrived, it was enough to feed 4 or 5 people. There was a pot of coals below a massive plate of meat and potatoes. The meat was piled at least 8” tall. There was a bit of everything… in fact, two of everything (since it was supposed to be a dish for two). Chicken legs & thigh, chicken breasts, massive sausages, pork loin, pork chops, 3 different cuts of beef, blood sausage (which Jenn liked, but I didn’t care for), and topped off with what we guessed were intestines filled with some kind of minced meat. (also not our favorites). Needless to say, we went home hurting from the sides. I wish we had pictures, hopefully we’ll get another opportunity in Argentina.
The next day we got up with the gusto to visit some wineries. Another couple had told us about two they enjoyed visiting, so we took a collectivo (shared taxi) out in that direction. The first places was called Estampa. We tried the wine tasting and were a bit surprised to find they actually charge for it. And not a small amount either… it was about $25 USD for two wine tastings. (Considering you can buy a bottle of wine for $3-4, it would make more sense to just buy the wine and have a fun afternoon drinking it all). The nice thing about the Estampa winery however, is they have all the grape vines rowed up in front of the building, and you can sample the different varieties. It was awesome to see the different sizes, colors, and tastes of the different grapes.
After Estampa we walked about 3 kilometers to the next winery, Mont Gras. The tasting here was housed in a newish building with a center courtyard and filled with fountains. It was quite beautiful, setting outside with the breeze, looking up at the clouds, and getting a buzz on great wine. We loved Mont Gras… our host ‘Ramon’ talked with us in English and Spanish for nearly an hour. He was very excited to practice his English, and then out of the blue he invited us to spend the night in his home with his wife and child. We didn’t have a place to stay, and had considered just taking a night bus to the next city, but the opportunity to stay with a Chilean family was great. We said yes, and set a time and place to meet up with Ramon later that night after he finished with work. It turns out that Ramon’s wife, Gladys, wasn’t quite prepared to have guests… so we ended up having dinner and drinks with them in their home, and then having Ramon help us find a place to spend the night. It was a really fun experience… Gladys speaks no English, Jenn speaks no Spanish, and after too many glasses of wine, I couldn’t speak either! Ramon is an English teacher for his main job, and only works in the winery for the summer months. But, I think I improved my Spanish more in one night than the entire rest of the trip.
Best memories of Santa Cruz:
Awesome wine. Plaza de Armas with live music, but Mexican bands! Meeting a fun Chilean family and spending time with them in their home. Sorbos sandwiches – this was the best sandwich I’ve ever had min my life… the spices, meet, bread… mmm, I can still taste it now. And who would think that Mayonnaise in Chile could be so good?
Our new Chilean friends: Ramon & Gladys
Estampa winery… just beautiful
Our wine tasting… they were very generous pours!
Lucas tasting some of the grapes. They had them all, oh, and we learned about the “grape of Chile”: Carmenere – I’ll be looking to buy more of this variety when we return home.
