We love Puerto Varas

We had two goals today: to check out the Petrohue River and to see a volcano. We did both.

Overlooking Puerto Varas are two volcanoes - the impressively cone-shaped Orsono and the nearby Calbuco. Less cloud was forecast for today and by the time we got going we could see most of Orsono and a little of Calbuco.

We headed for Orsono - there is a road going up it to a ski centre - and also out this way is the Petrohue River and waterfalls. The top of Orsono had only a tiny cloud halo as we drove to the river and with the sun out, the sky was blue.

The setup at the falls is well geared for tourists with walkways and trails. There is little water at the moment, so the falls were not much to see. We did enjoy the rocks and azure of the water. Down the trails we had good sightings of the river and checked out nice rapids. Celliers likes very much. High water is in September and they can also have excellent levels in June, July and August if rainfall is good.

Here is a funny... from the trail we got down on to the rocky beach next to the trail. Even at 20 metres away and 3m up the perspective of the size of the rocks is wonky. I suggested to Celliers to stay below and I went to the trail to photograph him for perspective. I couldn't see him so I started calling his name. After a few calls he replied and said he could see me. I couldn't see him!

It took me a few moments to find him. He was totally camouflaged! His black pants looked like shadow and his grey fleece top was the colour of the boulders. He looked like a river rock! 

I've included a photo showing the river and rocks. Open big and see if you can find him. I've included a second zoomed in photo showing him lying on the rocks. Very funny!

In 2006, when I was out in Chile to write for the Patagonia Expedition Race, I spent a few days with friends Heather and Michael who had done the race and were living and working in Puerto Varas. They took me rafting on the Petrohue. I remember lots of water, fast flow, fun rapids and lovely wave trains. This is further downstream from where we were today.

From the falls we drove upstream, checking out the river where we could access it, to the start of the river where it flows out from Lago Todos los Santos. And then we turned around and headed for Volcan Orsono.

What a road! Not far up the road we encountered this bird of prey. He was strutting up and down next to the road. We watched him, took photos and then drove off. He was totally unconcerned. What a great sighting to get such a good look at him. Mane identified him as a Southern Crested Caracara, known as 'Carancho' or called 'Trado' in Argentina. Caracara plancus is his scientific name.

Up, up, up the road winds. The daytime temperature today has been around 9 to 11 C. Up top... 3C (or less - the car hit 3, started blinking but didn't go below). Brrr... 3C is cold. Thank you down jacket!

We had hot chocolate and a sandwich at the restaurant, looked at the lower part of the snow-covered slopes, saw the ski lifts and then headed back down. There is usually more snow at this time of year. They have had a dry summer.

We've only seen a bit of the town - it looks great. This is a massively popular tourist spot in the summer,  especially in February. The population is around 25,000. Many people here work in Puerto Montt - 17km south on the sea.

Tomorrow we continue south. We'll spend a few hours in Puerto Montt and then catch the first of three ferry rides on our journey to the Futaleufu River.

Futrono to Puerto Varas

On Tuesday morning we set off from our lovely cabaña near Futrono and drove around Lago Ranco, through incredible farmlands, past more lakes and reached Puerto Varas just before night set in.

We took a quick detour shortly after leaving the cabaña to check out a side road. In this part there are cliffs near the road with lake on the other side. We'd spotted a river on the map that looked worth checking out. We delighted in the skinny waterfalls dropping from the steep, densely vegetated cliffs - almost obscured by low cloud and the light drizzle.

Back on the main road, we took another short detour (200m) to a playa (beach) on Lago Ranco. A divine pebble beach. We spent a while walking on the pebbles and checking out the interesting colours.

Continuing the clockwise loop, we pulled off again to check out a waterfall (Saltos del Nilahue) marked on the map. We discovered this to be kayaker territory and the waterfall is certainly run at higher levels. We walked around on the rocks above the falls to check out the flow and features. Celliers was delighted with this sighting. The top part is, he says, really nasty (and probably so at higher levels too) so the kayakers may put in just above the drop.

Back in the car we continued towards the town of Lago Ranco. Our Footprint guide book mentioned it as an "ugly little town" but it is certainly not that. Neat and tidy, we found.

From the town we decided to take a cross-country route on back roads instead of heading for the highway. We were definitely fine for a bit and then without taking a turn we ended up off course where our road eventually came to an end at a farm gate. In my broken Spanish I spoke to a farmer and found out where we were and how to get back on the right road. With these back roads on our maps, junctions are sometimes not turning-type junctions (or they don't look like turns but should be). We were a few kilometres off and it was easy to fix.

The detour proved to be a good one because we saw some great farms and also a few locals riding horses - in the rain and wearing ponchos and wide brimmed hats, coiled ropes on their saddles... Lovely.

It really is one gorgeous farm after the next. Large fields with cattle (happy dairy cows mostly, lots of fluffy calves around too) and sometimes sheep grazing, bright green grass, huge trees standing alone in a field, dense vegetation on the perimeters and surrounding hills, wood stacks everywhere and hundreds of kilometres of fences with wooden fence posts. What a job digging all of those in!

The older fence posts in this area have moss growing on them. We stopped many times to take photos. Sometimes the tops of the fence posts are painted - we've seen black and white mostly and then a cool blue at one property. Another had red and white bands.

From a small town on Lago Rupanco we looked out across the lake. On a clear day we would have been able to see four volcanoes. We think we saw the one only (number 1 on the board). We did take a photo of the view and an information board showing us what we were missing.

And then it was through to Puerto Varas and the lovely home of my friend Mane and his girlfriend Raini. We had a wonderful dinner and a very late night talking and talking and talking.  Tomorrow... sights to enjoy in the area.

Forests, lakes and volcanoes

(A post from Saturday) After a very comfortable night spent in Chillán on Friday night, we drove through this sweet university town and headed straight for the highway South. Back on Ruta 5, the Panamerican Highway, it was trucks-trucks-trucks all the way.

We love the COPEC gas stations. The 'ultracity' ones are smaller than ours but they even have showers (around R15) and their front outside wall is a vertical garden.

We loved the drive from the highway to Panguipulli. It made me think of the valley to the hamlet of Rhodes in the Eastern Cape. Wider valley, longer, bigger but with farms the whole way.

The colours... autumn-winter tones but almost 'smudgey'. I am sure it is stunning here in summer with the greens - millions of trees - but these colours are really doing it for us. Goldens, yellows, browns, whites, dark evergreens and a whole lot more.

We got to our accommodation in Panguipulli after a quick stop at a supermercado (supermarket) to get some groceries. This cabaña was also one that we booked on AirBnB and we expected it to be the best of the four places we reserved...

It is so close to being fabulous... the little things are missing. There was only a little wood for the wood stove and no matches. No mat on the cold floor. Lovely big sliding glass windows - not one of them locked closed. A kettle and a small microwave (it does say on the site there is no kitchen). Lovely wicker chairs on the porch - no cushions for them. A window in the bathroom with louvre panes that don't close properly (it is 8C in the day so much colder at night), no countertop, no hooks in the bathroom... little things like a mat on the cold, tiled floor and a picture on the wall would finish it off properly.

After bending the latches on the large sliding windows (almost door size) so that they lock, we headed for town to get matches and wood.

The wonder of a wood-fired estufa. It warmed this single room up in a jiffy. We used my little camping pot on the stove to cook a delicious marrow, did potatoes in the microwave and completed the meal with cooked chicken bought at the supermercado.

The bed had layers of bedding, including an outer eiderdown, so we were toasty.

This morning (Saturday) we headed out of Panguipulli on the Circuito Siete Lagos (circuit of the seven lakes) route.

We missed the turn-off to the geometric thermal pools but in terms of timing it worked out well. We absolutely loved the road from Coñaripe, a town on the far side of Lago Calafquen. Dense indigenous forest, excellent quality hard-packed dirt road (called ripio) and views down into the valley - catching occasional glimpses of Lago Pellaifa. Once in the valley we drove to the farm of Pellaifa, which we'd seen from above. What a great location! Down here there are thermal pools (and many other spots in the area).

Another divine road, sheltered by a canopy of indigenous forest, took us to a junction where we turned left to Neltume and the end of the road at Puerto Fuy. On the way to the small port is Huilo-Huilo and a massive treehouse-like hotel - too expensive for us but well worth looking at. On the other side of the road is the entrance to the Huilo-Huilo Reserve. We read online that it has something like 250km of hiking trails!

We're staying in the small town of Neltume. This area is clearly focused on summer visitors because not much seems open or accessible now. We found a small place to stay for the night - friendly and suitable and went for a walk around town.

We heard numbers coming from a large hall and thought that there was perhaps an auction on the go. We went to take a look. Inside I saw lots of people sitting on chairs at long tables, warm clothes and blankets over their knees. "Bingo!" I said excitedly to Celliers. The man standing near the door smiled and confirmed that I was right. We'd  stumbled on a Saturday evening bingo game.

The streets of this town are dotted with large wooden sculptures. We saw a cluster in the woods near the hall  and went to take a look. They really are lovely and most feature birds of prey, fish, pumas and traditional Mapuche people.

Walking back to the hall we saw some men standing around, taking turns to throw something. We went to look.

There's a small wooden 'wall', below which is an inclined tray of thick mud. The men take turns to toss metal discs from a distance. The discs lodge in the mud. The men throw from different distances, presumably by ability. There's a piece of string across the tray and I presume that if your disc lands above the string, you get to take a step further away when you throw. If it doesn't,  you stand in the same place again until you better your throw.

The men (no women there) were friendly and allowed us to watch. Before we left, I asked if I could see the discs. I felt a few and it seems like the discs have slightly different weights too. I did ask the name of the game but when I don't see words I struggle to remember them. Looks like a really sociable game.

Aside from serving tourists in summer and skiers in winter (apparently all year skiing here), this is a logging town. There is plantation between indigenous forest.

Tomorrow we want to see the Huilo-Huilo cascades - it is listed as an impressive waterfall. It should only be a few minutes walk from here. We can see a hint of a snow-capped slope of what we think is Volcán Coshuenco. Chances of seeing it are slim because of the thick low cloud all over... but we're optimistic.

Earlier today we were in the 'explosion zone' for Volcán Villarica. It is quite cool to be in towns where there are signs for volcano evacuation. In Lican Ray town, with its black-sand beaches, we saw a 'traffic light' that indicates the status of the volcano. It was green, which is a good thing.

Our route on Sunday will take us to Lago Ranco, another of the seven lakes. We're  sure to be in for more rustic farms and forests and, I hope, some glimpses of volcanoes and snow-capped peaks of the cordillera (mountain range - parts of the Andes).

I've included a selection of photos showing scenery along the road, wood sculptures in Neltume, men playing the disc-throwing game, a panoramic of Lago Calafquen from the town of Lican Ray (black sand beaches). And maps of our routes.

Oh, the farms

We have a problem with mornings. "You always have had," I can hear my mom saying.

It is cold and overcast in the morning and we are so slow to get moving. Once up and walking around the cold, crisp air is invigorating. This morning (mid to late morning to be more correct) we got out of our fairly bland accommodation in Neltume and walked to the Huilo-Huilo (pronounced 'gwe-low gwe-low') cascades.

Although the waterfall is a trickle now, it was 100% worth the $3,000 (this is pesos, not dollars - they use the same symbol; exchange rate is $40 : R1) each to walk in the amazing forest and to see the waterfall and pools. Our minds boggled at how incredible this must be to see in spring when the river runs strong with meltwater.

The colour of the pools - the photos we took do not nearly do it justice. Crystal clear too. You can see every feature of the rocks in the pools.

The forest we walked though was amazing. Huge trees that towered over us. Green and lush and magnificent. The wooden staircase that descended from high to the river... fue maravilloso.

A quick walk back to our car and we began a lovely drive to Futrono, a small town on the northern shore of Lago Ranco, one of the seven lakes.

We mostly took back roads and feasted our eyes non-stop on the farms out here. Large fields, cattle, sometimes sheep but mostly large fields dotted with large trees, tree-lined avenues leading to farm houses, magnificently soft autumn-y colours, straight tree-lined field borders, wooden fence posts, more and more trees... it really is a wonder to see. Farms cover this whole region. And where there are not fields there is indigenous forest and patches of pine plantation. Patches.

We also enjoyed crossing the wooden bridges for sights of shallow rivers bubbling over pebbles and rocks. This area is a wonder.

Our route took us back through Panguipulli, where we stayed the night before last. We know the supermercado there so we hit it for recarga - recharge data for our local phone. The sweet lady kindly loaded it for me.

The place we're staying tonight is one of the best of my life! I found it yesterday on AirBnB. I liked the photo. It is a lovely wooden cabin on a farm just outside of Futrono. Patricia, our hostess, met us at the gate with a warm smile. This is a working farm with cattle, chickens, geese and bees (the bees and honey seem to be her dad's pet project). We met her sister and mom too in the lovely big house just up from our cabaña.

We have a lounge with a wonderful wood-fired heater (kaggel in Afrikaans). Bliss! The small kitchen is just perfect - simple and plenty of everything. Patricia gave us a basket with apples from the farm and a half-dozen fresh farm eggs. I whipped up an onion - baby marrow - apple quiche for dinner. Yum! She also gave us two pumpernickle bread muffins, which we'll  eat with breakfast. I'm looking forward to a walk around in the morning. The vegetation is dense and a little stream runs right next to our cabaña.

Tomorrow (Monday) we're heading for Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas. I am so looking forward to see my friend Mane. It has been too many years since we last saw each other. We met at Patagonia Expedition Race in 2005 (Mane is a photographer) and again in 2006 and it must have been 2007 or 2008 that he was with me at the Himalayan Stage Race in India. I was running and writing; he was photographing. He has been back to India at least once or twice to photograph the event.

We have so many questions for Mane about Chile and these farms and southern towns. He also knows the south incredibly well so he'll guide us as to travel options and routes and must-see locations.

I have been to Puerto Varas before - in 2006 when my friends Heather and Michael Graz did the Patagonia Expedition Race. They were living and working here and after the race I spent a few days with them. I remember the wonderful sight of the volcano on the other side of the lake... we've  been surrounded by them so far but with the thick, low cloud we haven't  seen them!

I've got such great photos from today but my phone went totally wonky and I'm hesitant to connect it to the camera incase my phone has a virus that it will pass on... I'll get it checked when I'm  back on wifi and then I'll update this post with images.

A few photos - bit of a wonky order (writing and uploading from an app on the phone). Huilo-Huilo falls, a river on the way (Monday), a viewpoint at Lagos Panguipulli, a farm fence post, our cabaña near Futrono. And a map showing our route to Futrono.