We made the long journey from the dry desert to a lush and fertile volanic region with gargantuan lakes referred to as north Patagonia or the Chilean lake district. Upon landing at Puerto Montt airport after a long drive and two flights, I was decidedly underwhelmed. The grey tarmac of the airport, the overcast sky and drizzle made me feel like I was already back in the UK! This was such a deep contrast to the dramatic scenery I had experienced thus far in South America. The feeling of being in the UK continued as we drove to our hotel through green flat fields and grey roads passing very normal cars (in contrast to the the many fire-engine red pick up trucks found in the desert.)
Over the next three days, the rain was relentless but I had some very enjoyable rainy experiences.
1) White water rafting on the Petrohue River (Wednesday 2nd November)
This was the highlight for me and to think I almost backed out of it as the thought of getting into a cold river and wetsuit did not appeal! We boarded the minibus in our hotel at Puerto Varas and got off to change into cold damp wetsuits, wet shoes and waterproof jackets. I was absolutely freezing and tried to keep moving to stay warm. We then had a beautiful misty walk through a narrow track in the forest to reach the river. The white water rafting team were superb and our safety briefing was fun rather than just terrifying – an impressive feat given the subject matter was what to do when you are trapped under the raft and so on! Our individual raft guide was an adrenaline junkie but one I trusted with my life.
The river was stunning amidst the mist and rain and surrounded by lush green hills. The water was so clear that we could drink it (we all tried and it tasted like spring water.) Michelle and I started off in the front positions of our raft along with Ale, Elisa, Christel, and our white water rafting guide. He gave us instructions like paddle forward, rigght forward and left back, stop, get inside… at first we were NOT a well oiled machine. But by the end we were and did regular paddle high fives in celebration!
The first time we encountered a rapid with swirling blue water, it felt like a centerparcs water slide… but it was a real river! Being at the front, I quickly got 100% dunked into the cold water. It was so cold and anyone who knows me would think I would not enjoy being so cold. But I felt so exhilarated and alive! I did not want it to end when it did. This was so much better than the white water rafting I did in Canada’s Kicking Horse river years ago. I ran up the hill to reheat myself and after a hot cup of tea and plenty of crisps got the feeling back in my fingers and toes.
2) Hiking in Alerce Andino National Park (Thursday 3rd November)
This was a pretty forest trail (under 10km and very flat) with 3000 year old Alerce trees and a gushing waterfall at the end. What was the weather like? Torrential rain mostly! But I enjoyed the lush green scenery and testing out my gear, most of which fared well. My jacket pockets and gloves were not so waterproof but my jacket and patagonia trousers kept me very dry. My hiking boots were truly magical. I walked through small streams and muddy puddles but my feet were completely dry.
3) Meeting our guide Alejandra
Alejandra was a very impressive guide, a female Bear Grylls who is well travelled. She used to work for Douglas Tomkins, the founder of North Face who last year died aged 72 of hypothermia after a kayaking accident in the Chilean lakes. She was living in remote lands that Tomkins reclaimed from overfarming. She would use the local medicines rather than visit a normal doctor given the remote location. We learnt a lot of remedies from her such as Matiko leaves as antisceptic, garlic tea for colds, onion skins for plasters and so on. She called herself the odd one in her family that didn’t want to get married or have kids. She had a brilliant positive attitude of self improvement and adventure and used our minibus journeys to teach us about Chilean history. Just a couple of the many nuggets:
– The Mapuchas in Chile had no big city to defend from the Spanish (in contrast to the Mayan or Inca civilisations.) They fought because they thought this world is a paradise and it was their job to look after it.
– Criollo were the sons of Spaniards but ranked lower in the Spanish colonial system than Spanish newcomers to Chile. They brought ideas of republic and independence after studying in Europe and had less rights than Spanish e.g. Running for government positions.
4) Downtime in Puerto Varas
We had plenty of downtime, some of which was spent wandering around Puerto Varas, a small town we were based in with classic German architecture situated on the shore of Lake Llanquihue (pronounced Yankee-way.) We got hot chocolate from the cute food truck area one day and spent a lot of time looking at the many outdoor gear shops. Joy of joy, I found hand warmers (the teabag type that stay hot for hours) which I realised I would certainly need in Patagonia. I use them for skiing but hadn’t thought to bring them… I squealed with delight when the sixth outdoor shop I asked had them. I also realised a waterproof backpack cover would be a good purchase. Many of our group bought waterproof trousers in a shop Ale our guide recommended… the shopkeeper thought it was strange to have sold out in the space of a few hours!
We also had time to eat well. We visited La Marca twice, a cosy ski style restaurant restaurant that did excellent meat, wine and rich sides such as creamy bacon and cheese potatoes. 2014 Carmenere red wine was so good – see I learnt something in the wine tour! We also went to a seafood place Buenos Brassas where we sampled the Garden of the Sea platter. Mostly delicious but a few odds bits of seafood such as barnacles! We also spent plenty of time in the lounge of our old ski chalet style hotel (Cabanas Del Lago.) There we could be lazy and still have a full view of the lake.
Finally, on our last morning before our flight, I really enjoyed going myself to a 90 minutes yoga class, following in Kristen’s footsteps who had done it a couple of days back. The studio was small and beautiful with both hindu statues and Jesus and Mary. The teacher and his wife were so sweet and there were only 5 people in the class. Yoga class is Spanish is a good activity as the language is no problem.. a sun salutation is understandable anywhere. The class details are 65/2712550 and http://www.anjaliyoga.cl.
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