We’re absolutely loving Chile……..especially the people!   Here they actually stop their car to let you cross at a sidewalk – who knew this could be thrilling? Chile is known as the longest and narrowest country in the world (don’t think I made that up – read it somewhere!). It has a population of over 16 million, a third of whom live in Santiago. The people  are so helpful and of course we need all the help we can get especially when it comes to language and me looking at a map. Once the map comes out it seems they know I am incompetent and immediately stop and ask if they can assist – the answer is always “yes”!   The countryside is not only beautiful – it’s clean! and Chileans seem to take great pride in their country. One thing we’ve noticed over and over again is how fathers interact with their children. They are very engaged, extremely warm and affectionate and it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s a son or a daughter. Lots of hugs and kisses and actually they welcome strangers with hugs as well. When we checked into our air bnb close to Pucon we were late as we had gotten lost, not the first time I might add!   Anyway the young men who were waiting for us welcomed us with a big hug as they showed us around. We decided to just stay in because it was getting late so we ordered a pizza and when I paid the young pizza delivery guy he smiled and again another hug came my way. Now I might add it was the most expensive pizza any of us have ever had, due to delivery charges we believe, so he was probably just thrilled that I paid him without arguing about the price! I could go on and on about other hugs but suffice it to say they’re a huggable group of people and we have quite enjoyed their huggable hospitality.

We decided upon leaving Santiago that our first day would be a driving day to get some miles under our belt, meaning Jim would drive a lot and Marilyn and I would assist as much as possible with directions…….we did a pretty good job overall, I might say!  As usual we did not have a reservation since we were not sure how far we would go but were headed somewhere close to Tome(5-6 hrs away) and were hoping to stay in a hotel/cabana in a quiet area outside the city.  Well things don’t always go according to plan and we ended up on a dirt road which slowed us down a fair bit.   But on we went . through Tome and to what we thought was a very quiet beach area, the little seaside mtown of Dichato.   The place was rocking with Chileans enjoying their Sunday afternoon/evening on the beach with family and friends.   Took us a while to find a little cabana in which to stay and it was pretty meagre indeed but the owner was lovely and was in the process of cleaning it as we came through.  Once we decided we would stay she gave us some  clean sheets, meaning ‘make your own beds’ and when we asked for towels we were told you have to bring your own, no exceptions!   Paper towels were all we had so we made do, cleaned up quickly as we had just been sitting in the car all day and went for dinner as it was already close to 8pm.  Slept well that night and up for an early morning walk on the boardwalk which was absolutely peaceful, very few people in sight and just a few fishing boats on the move.  The town was pretty well demolished in the 2010 earthquake and is still rebuilding – quite a beautiful place but we were keen to move along and out of our ‘towel less’ cabana and into our next air bnb where towels are provided – lots to learn on this journey!   Accommodation has been interesting and quite varied from air bnb, cabanas, small family run hospedajes and run of the mill hotels.   Some have been absolutely fabulous and others not so much, but no major complaints overall.   Like other places we’ve been in South America, Asia and India the dogs run wild and are quite plentiful.  You can tell a ‘pet’ from a ‘homeless dog’ as they tend to be groomed and are often with their owners, sadly not unlike humans.   The street dogs, however, are usually quite mangey but very harmless and don’t bother you – they just hang around and sleep all day.  At night, however, they party and even at some of our best accommodation we’ve been awakened on several occasions by their night fights and barking – getting used to it!  The food, especially the steak, is not as good as Argentina but some of the fish has been fabulous – salmon, hake, sea bass and another white fish I cannot remember the name of.  Also Jim tried some traditional Chilean meals, notably curanto(seafood, pork and vegetables simmered for hours) and Pastel de choclo(ground meat topped with corn puree and baked in earthenware dish).    They were OK, not great so not ordering again.  We haven’t enjoyed the empanadas as much here as in Argentina but maybe we’re just tiring of  them.  Basically they don’t seem to use spices and herbs so things are a little bland for our taste although I read that this is changing due to many requests.  One night Marilyn and I shared the ribs which came with oven baked potato skins which were delicious.  The ribs, however, were actually a chunk of ham bone and very disappointing – once again, probably lost in translation!

Next stop, Pucon, which is as close to a ‘ Banff ‘ as I’ve seen – meaning it is a wonderful tourist trap!   We were a few kilometers outside the town in a great air bnb but on a very busy road so walking into town for dinner was quite difficult(that’s where we ordered the expensive pizza).  On our second night we decided  to pick up some steak and veggies and had a barbeque – excellent but we all agreed the steak was nowhere near what we experienced in Argentina but Marilyn’s salad was excellent.  It was near Pucon that we hiked our first National Parque called NP Villarica and from then on we were looking for NPs because they are fabulous.   So here’s the story in pictures as I do not want to get too ‘wordy’ and put you to sleep!

Parque Nacional Villarrica

PNV extends from south of Pucon to Chile’s border with Argentina. The Volcan Villarrica, 2847m high, is known as its crown jewel and it certainly is. This was a three hour hike up and was worth every bead of sweat!  There were major eruptions three years ago and it was smoldering very lightly when we were there……..but no eruptions, thank the Lord

Next stop Ojos del Caburgua where the waters flow underground for three miles before coming out to form the waterfall…….quite a beautiful spot!

Ojos del Caburgua

Stopped for a coffee and torta at a little place outside of Panquipulli, seemed like in the middle of nowhere but soooooo good!

The island of Chiloe was worth a visit and it was here that we had some great fish and a fabulous hike in Parque Nacional Chiloe and a few pics to try and show the beauty.  Spent three days here in Castro, about 30,000 people, and stayed in a parafito which is a house on stilts in the water – picture does not do it justice!

Walking in Nacional Parque Chiloe brings you to magnificent beaches with great surfs and wonderful forests

Jim enjoying the surf

Walking towards the beach

Parafitoes – houses on stilts! We stayed in one of these for three days and it was fabulous. Sunrise was beautiful and witnessing the full moon at night was exquisite!

Last stop on Chloe was to see the……..

Penguins! Can you see them when you enlarge the pictures – so cute and so small!

Great boat ride to see the penguins

We had a great look and a good view but the ipad doesn’t have a zoom, I don’t think!   Anyway it was a beautiful day and a super boat  ride with a very entertaining guide who was thrilled to hear we were from Canada as he lived in Banff for a while and wanted to tell us all about it…….and we wanted to listen as he could speak English!

Our very humourous Chilean penguin tour guide

Headed off the Island and back to the mainland as this is as far south as we go.   Initially we were hoping to spend some time in Patagonia but that will have to be another trip!   Stay tuned as we hear there are more magnificent parks ahead and the plan is to visit and hike our way back to Santiago!

Penguin beach