Sarah and I went to Valdivia, the city of Kuntsmann Beer! Our stay was long enough to see the sites but too short to satiate our thirst for Kuntsmann Amber Draught, i.e. from Monday, the 12th, through Thursday, the 15th.
Some basic facts:
Valdivia is an old Spanish town founded in 1552. It was founded by the man, Pedro de Valdivia, who also established such cities as Santiago, La Serena and Concepción as well as other towns that just don't have good chambers of historical commerce.
Valdivia is on the confluence of 3 rivers: Río Calle Calle, Río Cruces and Río Cau Cau.
Valdivia was a re-supply stop for the Spanish as they rounded the tip of South America and made their way up to Lima, the seat of Spanish power back in the Colonial heyday.
Valdivia (and the surrounding area) has been abandoned several times over the course of its history because the Mapuche would swoop in and sack the settlements. In 1599 the Mapuche scared the living daylights out of everyone so badly that the Spanish abandoned the area for roughly 50 years. Note that the Mapuche did not scare the Dutch as they immediately came into the area after the Spanish left only later to be thrown back out by the Spanish, and on and on the colonial game of world domination ping pong went for centuries.
Valdivia (the capturing of it from the Spanish) was critical to the success of the Chilean Independence movement in the 1820s.
Valdivia was settled by a number of German immigrants after Chilean independence.
Valdivia (and the surrounding area) was flattened by a 10 meter high tidal wave in 1960 following the area’s biggest earthquake. Many of the city’s old buildings were destroyed.
Valdivia is 118 minutes from Temuco by bus. (i.e. the length of Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom)
Pedro de Valdivia died in 1553 at the hands of the Mapuche leader, Lautaro. There are a few versions of how he died. Your options: A) he was forced to swallow molten gold; B) he was lanced to death by a group of warriors; C) answer B plus his heart was ripped out; D) answer A, B or C plus he was decapitated and his head was used as a futbol! I am not sure what the correct answer is, but in reading about options B and C, the notoriety of Valdivia for its beef tartar takes on a whole new dimension.
The next four posts and pictures are our impressions. Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Valdivia
Mercado Fluvial
The Mercado Fluvial is so named because it sits above the banks of the Río Valdivia in downtown Valdivia. Río Valdivia is the name that the river takes on at the confluence of 3 rivers: Río Calle Calle, Río Cau Cau and Río Cruces. The market has both seafood and vegetable vendors with the fish mongers’ stalls backing up to the river.
Everyday the vendors lay out their fresh fish and seafood from the previous night’s catch. They have salmon, tuna, squid, mussels, calms, congrio, barracuda, sea urchins and more depending on the season. The market closes down by 2 pm, so all the fun happens in the mornings, as this is the time when the locals come to get their fixings for the daily meal.
This market has many excellent attributes – fresh fish, constant demonstrations on how to gut and filet a fish, and frequent sea lion feedings. Yes, this market can boast multiple feedings per hour and not just to the sea lions. The fish salesmen toss scraps to the dozens of pelicans, kelp gulls, laughing gulls, and cormorants that all hang out at the rear of the fish stalls.
Over the course of the 3 mornings that I went to the market, I think I saw more wildlife than I saw humans. On our last day in town, I asked one of the women vendors why the fish butcher working for her was not giving any of the congrio heads to the sea lions. She told me that the sea lions only like to eat salmon, barracuda and tuna. She mentioned that the sea lions had been behind the market for 10 years or so, and she doesn’t think they head out to sea much these days as they get all of their food here at the backside of the market.
This market has to be one of the best “live entertainment” markets in the world, but in terms of pound for pound food consumed, I think Madison’s Farmer’s Market still reigns supreme given the voluminous amounts of doughnuts, danishes, jerky and cheese curds sold every Saturday back in the homeland. (If only Chilean dairy farmers made Cheese Curds, my life would be complete!)
The seafood vendors gutting their fish.
On the left, Pelican and Kelp Gull above the market.
On the right, a Caracar waiting for some fish scraps.
Which one would you like at home?
Before feeding: Both sit patiently, only one keeps his mouth open.
During the feeding: Both are non-complaining recipients of scraps.
After the feeding: Neither refuses the “hose down” cleaning style.
Santuario de la Naturaleza Río Cruces
The Santuario de la Naturaleza Río Cruces is a wide swath of wetlands and water and as such is only accessible by boat. It was created by the tidal wave of 1960 that raised the river level several meters. I wanted to go check out the bird scene in the Sanctuary so on Tuesday morning I went to find out how often the boat tours run. Within minutes I found out that since it was November (i.e. not tourist high season), the boats only run on weekends. I was out of luck unless I wanted to rent a boat at roughly 10,000 pesos per hour. While I was asking the woman at the tourist office how long it would take to complete a tour of the Sanctuary, if per chance I wanted to pay the hourly rate, a man waiting in line piped up and asked if a boat could leave right now.
This outspoken and boisterous Chilean (I immediately sensed he was not one of the German locals) soon took control of the negotiations and offered to split the cost of the boat rental, along with his friend. “You see,” he said, “my friend and I are from Santiago, and we are here making a documentary film and we want to get out on the boat to take some shots. We would love to split the cost, that is if you want to go.” Within seconds I went from a ‘what if’ line of questioning to a ‘which boat are we taking’ line of questioning. A French woman in her 60s was in the office at the same time and said that she would like to join us as well as she was only in town for a few days and wanted to see the Sanctuary.
20 minutes into the boat ride the rain began and it continued for about an hour as we chugged up the Río Cruces. There were dozens of black-necked swans, cormorants and laughing gulls, and we saw a few sea lions from time to time. As you can see in the photos, trees cover the slopes leading to the water and the large areas of cattails and deep marsh act as great habitat for waterfowl and shore birds. I was told though that an Italian logging company had purchased a lot of the land upstream and that there was growing concern that the area wasn’t as protected or as rich in wildlife diversity as it once.
We stopped at a small community upstream called Punacapa, where we disembarked and took a short walk. Up the road from the river was an old yellow church and a giant cypress tree. The air and surrounding woods had a feel of the northwest. After wandering around the church, one of the Chileans went in search of some Chicha, a Chilean homebrew made with Apples and Pears. He asked if I wanted to join him in his quest and I agreed. Even though I had had only bread and cheese for breakfast and was growing hungry, I knew well enough that you never pass up good Chicha. After a few minutes we found a small tavern type place and tasted both the Chicha and the hard cider. We opted for the cider, bought the bottle and had an afternoon drink before getting back on the boat.
On the way back to Valdivia the sky cleared a bit and we saw a couple of yellow-winged blackbirds land on reeds on the river shore. Once we docked and paid our captain, we all headed to one of the seafood restaurants just next to the Mercado Fluvial. We had appetizers of shrimp and cheese empanadas, fried congrio, seafood stew, salad and a bottle of wine. To top off the lunch, the waitress gave us all a small shot of Manzanilla, a liquor made of chamomile. It went down smooth and sweet!
Diego and Francisco, my new Chilean friends from Santiago, offered to take us, the French woman and me, to the Spanish forts the next morning if we were interested. We agreed to the idea and wished each other good afternoons as we parted ways for the day. With a solid buzz working through my blood, I decided it would be best to try and find some coffee. I came up empty handed on the coffee and had to settle for tea and a slice of ‘pie de limon con frambueza’. (See the Café Haussman post for more details.)
Five views of the Santuario.
Above, our boat.
On the left, the old, yellow church.
Spanish Coastal Forts
The Spanish built a number of forts at the mouth of the Río Valdivia and the Pacific. Two of the main ones are in the towns of Niebla and Corral. 1667 is the year given for the beginning of the construction. Not much stands today except for the stone walls. The fort of Niebla, also known as Castillo de la Pura y Limpia Concepción de Montfort de Lemus, sits high on the bluff overlooking the river and the ocean, while the fort in Corral, Castillo de San Luís de Alba de Almargos, sits across the mouth of the river 10 meters or so above the water.
The 20 or so kilometer road from Valdivia to Niebla lies alongside the river with its numerous islands and gentle morning currents. Once we reached the mouth of the river, it was easy to see why so many pirates liked this part of Chile, not to mention the Spanish and the Dutch. The area provides easy access to the ocean and safe harbor for ships.
At the Niebla fort there is a small museum that has old maps, documents and displays of life at the fort. One of the wall maps has a grid with the range of the cannons. The Spanish built a dozen or more forts of various sizes throughout the greater Valdivia area. The ones positioned at the mouth of the river had complete coverage of the river should they need to blast a ship with cannon shot.
One of the Chileans told me that pirates loved to hide out on the islands of the Río Valdivia and that the Spanish did everything in their power to stop them, sometimes with very little success. Francis Drake was an especially notorious pirate who is said to have made alliances with the Mapuche against the Spanish. I would not be surprised, as I have read that further north, Drake, among others, sacked so many coastal settlements and communities and brought such havoc where ever they went that the mere utterance of “Englishman” was enough to strike fear into the hearts of some Chileans on the coast through the 19th century.
After visiting Niebla, we took a water taxi across the river to Corral. The fort at Corral is a few meters above sea level and when the tidal wave of 1960 struck, it covered the entire fort and is said to have carried many of the forts cannons miles inland. This fort had less information about its history and seems to stand as a monument for what once was.
The mouth of Río Valdivia. You can just see Volcán Villarica in the far background.
Café Haussmann
Every so often, a person is lucky enough to find a small, hole in the wall kind of eating establishment that specializes in one or two dishes that are so incredibly good that customers have to wait 20 minutes or more for a seat. The U. City Grill in St. Louis, Pasqual’s in Santa Fe, Dragon Fly in Taos, The Pearl Oyster Bar in N.Y., The Red Iguana in Salt Lake City, and Sophia’s in Madison are all such establishments that we have come to know and love. (Sadly, another, Pane, Vino, Dulce in Minneapolis has gone out of business.)
We have added one more name to our list: Café Haussmann of Valdivia. It is a nondescript store front bar in downtown Valdivia, and everything about it speaks of a local watering hole where more than just the locals come to swill a half liter of beer. It has a one-page menu, a tap for 3 kinds of Kunstmann beer, 4 booths and 8 stools at the counter for a total of 24 seats (28 if you squeeze tight).
On our first visit (Monday evening) we stopped in for beer and admired the wide array of fine pies in the dessert cooler. We quickly saw that “Crudos” and “Tartaros” are the food items to order. On my second visit (Tuesday afternoon), I learned that the "Pie de Limón con Frambuesa” is a force of nature. I ordered it with a cup of tea not realizing what I was in for after my seafood feast with the Chilenos and Frenchwoman. The base layer is a breaded pie crust. Next comes a layer of lemon custard filling topped with a layer of raspberry sauce which in turn is topped with one of the top 5 meringues I have ever tasted – a light crunch on top with a smooth, silky, sugary sweet, creamy underbelly! After one bite I was in heaven, and I thought how am I ever going to convey this to another human? So I took a photo! After 3 bites, keep in my I had eaten a giant lunch, I had to stop, check my pulse and assure myself that it was okay to pace myself while eating this slice of heaven. With each forkful I contemplated the following string of questions: “What if meringue is the white light of death? Would it be this good? Could it be better?”
My third visit (Wednesday afternoon) came on the heals of the visit to the Spanish forts, and I was in the wake of the Chilenos, French woman and Mexican woman. Since it was close to 4 pm, I had thought of heading back to the bed and breakfast, but the Chilenos insisted I join them. Luckily for me, I finally relented and joined them. I had figured that I knew all about Café Haussmann having been there the day before, but I was wrong. I didn't get to know the real Café Haussmann until this visit with the Chilenos, and I rationalized my participation with the fact that we had had a small lunch that day in Corral. (I just want to stop for a minute and give a traveling tip to anyone reading this blog: If you are in a foreign country and happen to find yourself with some locals and they suggest you join them for a beer, never, ever, ever, never say no. I thought about it but was glad I didn't turn them down.) The five of us lucked into a half empty Café and grabbed 5 stools. We promptly ordered 5 Kuntsmann beers and an order of Tartaros.
Crudos and Tartaros are the two forms of beef tartar served at Café Hausmann. Crudos is a beef tartar that comes already prepared for you on a slice of toast and topped with onions while Tartaros is a complete plate of minced onions, diced hot peppers, a pickle relish, and a mound of beef tartar topped with a cracked raw egg. The toast comes separately on another plate. On the table or counter are jars of mustard, relish, hot peppers, salt and pepper. Orders of both Crudos and Tartaros include small mountains of lemons and a small bowl of a creamy, mayonaisey, oniony, tartar sauce.
On the right, the famous Haussmann tartar, ready to eat.
One of our Chileno hosts prepared the beef tartar, mixing in the onions, diced peppers, salt, pepper, lemon juice and raw egg. Once he completed the mix, our other Chileno host put a couple of tablespoonfuls onto each of our plates. The toast came out next and we doctored up our slices of toast topped with raw beef goodness. We ate, we drank, we laughed and we watched the stream of orders of both Crudos and Tartaros continue to come out of the kitchen for both tables in the café and customers who has ordered take-out. I had such a good time that I asked the waitress to take our photo. (All the others had had the presence of mind to ask the waitress to take our photos before we started drinking.)
My fourth visit (Thursday at Lunch time) to Café Haussmann came on our last day in Valdivia. Sarah had not been back since our first beer, so when we met up after her morning conference sessions and I suggested Café Haussmann, she readily agreed. We walked in about 20 minutes before the major lunch rush arrived. We still had to wait for 10 minutes, but that didn’t matter. We got a booth and opted to order the Crudos and beer. Now that I was an expert on how to eat the tartar covered toast, I showed Sarah one possible way to add on the toppings. We prepared our slices and dug in. Each bite was delicious, and we polished our order off within minutes. We then split a hamburger (mistake, should have ordered more Crudos!) and since we still had some room, we decided to order a walnut cake with a sizable whipped-cream filled center and two cups of tea.We watched the constant flow of customers come in, elbow themselves onto a counter stool or order a plate of tartar to go, and head out again only to have their place filled with another customer or two. After we drained our cups of tea and licked clean the plate of any remaining whipped cream, we made our way out the door. And as I stopped to take a picture of old Café Haussmann, a couple walked by with a book in their hands and they were discussing where they might eat lunch. (I know this because they spoke English.) And they walked past us by 15 yards or so and stopped to deliberate. As Sarah and I caught up to where they were standing on the sidewalk, I could hear them continue to talk about where they might eat. I wanted to interrupt their conversation, grab them by the elbows, escort them back to the front door of Haussmann, tell them what to order and bid them a heavenly experience. But I didn't, reflecting that some places are best discovered on your own. And we continued past them letting their karma be the impetus that may deliver them to Café Haussmann’s front door.
Below, views of the walnut whipped cream filled pie.
Friday, November 16, 2007
A Journey Among the Lakes
On Saturday November 4th, our friends, Jay and Alyse, came down to Temuco. If you recall from the Santiago post, they were the Californians whom we bonded with at the Eco Hostel. They arrived early in the morning, and we headed back to the apartment for coffee, tea and a large mid western breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs with tomato, avocado, onions, garlic and cheese and bread, butter and jam with brownies for desert. Looking back, I think we used their visit as an excuse to make this big Saturday feast.
We hung around the apartment, excited with the reality of house guests here in Chile and chatted about traveling in South America. After a couple of hours and lots of laughs, I gave them a walking tour of Temuco. We made a giant loop starting out with a pass by the futbal stadium, then over to Jumbo, down Alemania (a main drag of speeding collectivos, micro buses and college students), took a turn up the most colorful street in Temuco and then down the Balmaceda (a tree lined parkway) to the rural bus stand and the large outdoor market. We wandered through the market looking at all the vegetable sellers, butchers and fish salesmen, and then we made our way back to the central plaza and a stop in for an afternoon café at our favorite Temuco coffee shop. Afterwards we made our way back home for a late lunch of empanadas and Austral beer.
After more laughs we took a late siesta, and close to 5:30 we made our way to the German Becker Futbal Stadium to root on Team Temuco as they battled against Team Iquique (city where the recent earthquake hit in Northern Chile). The weather was cool but the sun was shinning and the stands were packed. Our view was pretty good but since we did not arrive early we had to settle for seats close to the security fence (all the seats are general admission by section). Yes, that is right, the stadiums here have security fences, not so much to protect the fans from injury or harm from a stray ball but more to protect the players and especially the referees on the field from the fans!
It was a game to remember as Temuco scored on a penalty kick to lead 1-0, and the fans went crazy – almost on the level of World Series crazy for ball clubs fans back in the US. The most die-hard fans are called “Los Devotos” and are referred to as “Fanáticos” and they are fanatics for sure. After scoring the goal one of them lit something that must have been a cross between a smoke bomb and a tear gas canister. Whatever it was, it smoked for a solid 10 minutes, most of which time it just created a giant cloud of smoke in their own seating section. At one point, one of the fanatics had the presence of mind (or was it health?) to throw the canister over the security fence onto the track near the field. The wind was blowing in such a direction that the futbal players looked as if they were playing the game in a mist of light fog. Finally, as the smoke bomb began to die out, the police were kind enough to go pick it up.
The celebrations were only to last 15 minutes as Iquique came back to score and tied up the game. For some reason, the player who scored came to the sidelines by our seats and gesticulated and motioned to the fans in our section in such a way as to say all of the following sentiments within 5 seconds, “I just scored a goal against your team! What do you think of me now? Do you think we suck? Do you want a piece of me? I am standing right here if you do!”
His teammates came over to congratulate him (read jump on top of him and hug him) and then ran back together to midfield. The player must have seen something flash in the stands because the second he turned on his heal toward midfield, a coke bottle (plastic) landed right where he was standing. This was followed by more coke bottles and other items fans use to show disgust and hatred for the opponents.
The game continued with more dramatics, diving trips, players falling down, Temuco team members trying to step on Iquique players and general mayhem on the field. There must have been 8 fouls in the last 10 minutes and as the game came to a close with a tie, the stadium erupted with disgust. The Iquique players left the field without shaking hands, and the refs were in danger of losing their lives. How do we know it was this extreme? Well, by the mere fact that more than the usual 8 policemen were needed on the field to help escort the refs back to the locker room. That’s right, it is normal for the refs to be escorted on and off the field with 8 policemen. On that particular night, I think an extra 6 came out to lend their support while up to another dozen were around other parts of the field.
We made our way back home and had wine and guacamole and chips before heading to bed.
On Sunday we woke up and headed to the rental car company, where we experienced what had to be the world’s longest rental car check out. I think it took a solid 45 minutes to go over the agreement of the rental, give our passport numbers, provide our addresses, run the credit card and walk through the items in the car that we were responsible for. Did you know, for instance, that a cigarette ashtray holder is worth 80,000 pesos (roughly 160 USD)? And not only that expensive but that it is a very desirable piece of equipment and a target for thieves? We gladly handed it over to Andrés, our rental agent, along with the cigarette lighter just in case our car was broken into out on the road.
We left Temuco around noon, and our first stop was Pucón. We stopped for lunch and landed at an outdoor bar that had one of Chile’s best ají spreads for the bread. (Ají spreads are ubiquitous and are like a salsa and are most often consumed with the pre-meal bread.) We learned the spread was a secret recipe and we guessed that the secret ingredient was salt, as it also had to be one of the saltiest spreads we have eaten as well. Jay had Salmon, Alyse had a Churrasco (meat sliced like Carne Asada) sandwich and Sarah and I had burgers. The portions were enormous with the burgers being a good 6 inches in diameter.
After lunch we rolled out of our chairs, too full to even think of eating any ice cream, one of our goals for the stop in Pucón. Jay and Alyse went on a hunt for new shoes and Sarah and I took a short walk to the beach. We met back up and decided to buy some provisions for dinner, just in case we landed somewhere where we had to cook. We hit the road by 5, heading south back through Villarrica, past Lican Ray and along Lago Calafquen to Coñaripe. Coñaripe marks the end of the paved road and the beginning of gravel. We wanted to find a place near some hot springs so decided to head to Liquiñe for the night, which was 25 kilometers past Coñaripe.
On a map 25 km seems close, but on a gravel road, the distance of 3 kilometers seems like a trek. Dusk was quickly upon us by the time we reached Liquiñe and as luck would have it we drove up to the local termas (read free) and asked if there were any cabañas for rent for the night. We found a man who had just such a place. It had a fireplace, a kitchen, a great view of the valley pastures and could sleep up to 11 people. We unloaded the car happy with our luck. Sarah and I took a dip in the termas, which was a disappointing lukewarm, while Jay and Alyse went to search for ice for pisco sours. That night we had a modest feast of soup, crackers and cheese along with a bottle of wine and a round of Pisco Sours with fresh lime juice and powdered sugar (a key ingredient to any pisco lovers out there). Needless to say the piscos gave all of us a buzz like no other! The fire and the rocking chairs and comfy couch along with the drinks and hot soup made it an evening to remember.
View from our house looking out into the Liquiñe Valley.
Liquiñe is a small one road town in the valley of the Rio Liquiñe, which runs alongside the road to the north. On Monday we decided to take a walk along the river and found a path that went on for maybe 2 kilometers. We had to ford a rushing creek with water cold enough to numb the feet and give the legs a red tint. Along the way we caught numerous glimpses of the river, clear as the sky. We spied a pair of torrent ducks, a male and female, and watched them feed in the river, perch themselves on a rock and ride the current.
We headed back to town thinking we could get some lunch at a restaurant but finally realized that we would be making more soup and cheese sandwiches with boiled eggs when all the buildings advertising food had locked doors with no answer. After lunch we packed up and headed back to Villarrica to drop Sarah off for a bus back to Temuco. (She had to head back to work.) Jay found some shoes at the local Rockport store. Afterwards we found some ice cream, and then we headed back south to Lican Ray.
Clockwise from upper left: Rental House in Liquiñe, Paul in party mode, the rental car, Paul and Sarah on the shores of Rio Liquiñe, Jay and Alyse on Rio Liquiñe, Short movie of the river, View of Volcán Choshuenco, Boats on Rio Liquiñe, and Our coffee table!
One of the fun things about traveling in Chile during the off-season is the lack of other tourists. This little fun fact also happens to be one of the most difficult things about traveling during the off-season. Lican Ray is a town built for tourists with more houses devoted to the cabaña rental guild than there are residents in the town to fill them. What we didn’t realize until an hour and a half before dark on Monday night was the fact that 99% of these cabañas are closed up for 10 months of the year. As you may have guessed, November is not one of the 2 months of operation.
After trying 3 places and finding them deserted we stopped to ask a woman at a “tourist office” (read internet café for youth playing games like Grand Theft Auto) if there was any place open for the night. She raised her eyes and asked, “To sleep? I don’t think so…” The woman made a few calls to no avail and just as we were about to
give up and try and sleep on the beach, a man inside the shop told us that “El Conquistador” was open. He showed us the way and we ended up getting a cabaña that was large enough to sleep a family of 8.(<- Sunset in Lican Ray.)
We were told that one restaurant in town was open and made reservations for 9 o’clock, not because they were full, but because we needed to make sure they didn’t close the kitchen before we arrived to eat. I had a Lomo a lo Pobre ,which is Chilean for heart-attack on a plate, 300 grams of steak tenderloin topped with two fried eggs, a healthy portion of grilled onions and fried potatoes. Jay had Cazuela ala turkey and Alyse had Cazuela ala beef. Cazuela is the most common Chilean soup made with pumpkin squash, potato, a choice of meat, onions and herbs. It was a great meal replete with a waiter that regaled us with a short history of Lican Ray including stories of lava flows from nearby Volcán Villarrica. It wasn’t until after he talked to us about all the art in the restaurant and we were on our way home to el conquistador that we realized we weren’t sure if he had told us the lava flow had come within 2 kilometers of destroying the town, or if it was 2 kilometers wide or if we could see the remnants of the flow 2 kilometers outside of town. All that we knew for certain was that a lava flow occurred and it was nearby and 2 kilometers was pivotal to a story line. We just couldn’t pinpoint what that story was: either it was a huge flow, or it had come close by the town or it was a total near death experience for town and everyone in the town. What we did verify amongst ourselves on our walk home was that the flow had occurred sometime in the past 20 years.
The next morning I woke early to go birding by the beach and see some early morning light. Later that morning Jay, Alyse and I went for a walk around a small peninsula between the two main beaches of the town enjoying the late morning warm sun and the calm waters of Lago Calafquen.
Two views of the islands in Lago Calafquen just off the small peninsula in Lican Ray.
On the left, a morning shot near dawn and the one on the right was taken around noon.
Mid day we made our way south to Panguipulli and ate on the beachfront of Lago Panguipulli, a long sliver of a lake that near the base of Volcán Choshuenco. (See photo on the left.) It is also one of the three lake routes you can take if you want to cross the border with Argentina via boat. We watched the waterfowl and took in the mountains to the east. Volcán Choshuenco is another snow-capped peak sitting at the edge of yet another lake. It was great having a laid back lunch with the sun and the view. As if you hadn’t realized by now, the entire stretch of the Lake District has lakes like Panguipulli with mountains and volcanoes looming large over the water. The most dramatic are Volcán Osorno, Volcán Puyehue, Volcán Villarrica, Volcán Llaima and Volcán Choshuenco.After lunch we made our way back to the Pan American Highway, Route 5, and headed south. We got off at Osorno and headed to Lago Puyehue, where there is a very large and very popular national park also by the name of Puyehue. We made it to Agua Calientes, the main entrance of the park, by 5:30 and inquired about rooms. They only had one cabaña left which was a bit pricey even though it included the price of admission for the termas. While we debated what to do, we heard that there was a Refugio up the road at the base of the ski area, Antillanca, with a room at half the price. We opted head to higher elevations and try our luck there.
We arrived finding that there were plenty of rooms available and we got a room with 3 bunk beds and arranged to have dinner at 9 that night. The Refugio was deserted, and Jay kept remarking that it reminded him of the hotel in “The Shining”. Everything we had read about Refugios in Chile instilled the notion of a rustic lodge / log cabin type house in the woods. We figured that some were no more than bunks in a ranger station, and if you were lucky there would be a fireplace or a toilet. So, we weren’t quite prepared for the fact that this Refugio had over 30 sleeping rooms spread out over 3 floors, a full service restaurant, sitting areas for drinks and cards and reading, a pool and a gift shop. Not to mention the ski slopes behind it on the mountain. We willingly cast out our misperceptions after walking through this Refugio as it had a character and history all its own. Not to mention that it was at the base of a very cool mountain area including fumadores in the summer time.
After dropping our bags in our rooms we decided to go for a walk. I was thinking that a walk would mean an amble along the road, i.e. dry. Jay said that he was thinking we should go up the hill, i.e. a hike in snow. When I realized that he wasn’t joking, I put on all the layers I had and pulled on some wool socks. We headed to the back of the Refugio where the ski slopes were, and Jay was pretty certain that since it was so cold in the mountains the snow would be well packed. For the most part it was, we didn’t sink down to our knees or anything, but about 1/3 of the way up our shoes were wet. We were sinking in a bit more than we had anticipated.Our goal was to hike up to the top of the first lift to a little shed that was on what we later learned to be the first ridge. A little more than halfway up we were getting cold, it looked like the tops of the peaks had some white out type conditions and our feet were wet. We kept pushing on for no other reason than to say we made it to the little hut.
Clockwise from upper left: View looking back to Lago Puyehue from halfway up the slope, Alyse and I walking up the slope, Arriving at the hut, Looking back down to the Refugio from the hut, Looking up the slopes from the Refugio, Jay and Alyse (center photo).
By the time we reached the little hut, an old ski bar, I could feel water in my shoes, the sun had pretty much set and it was starting to drizzle. We knew we had a solid 20 minutes or so to get down before nightfall, but the clouds looked as if they were lowering quickly, so we took a couple of pictures and turned around to walk down. Alyse had the smart idea of getting down as quickly as possible, which meant a pace similar to a run. I joked with Jay that he owed me a new pair of shoes from the Rockport store in Villarrica for this silly adventure. About halfway down, Jay bee-lined down the rest of the slope. It was getting cold but the view was great and it was fun to be on snow, even though it was so wet. Close to the Refugio, I heard a Chilean White-crested Elaenia call out. I stopped to listen for more calls. After all, how often will I be birding in the snow on a mountain in Chile?
As we stumbled into the Refugio wanting nothing more than to take off our wet shoes and socks and change into dry clothes, a figure came out of the darkness. I was startled by who turned out to be our hostess/waitress for dinner. She quickly informed us that the restaurant closed in 10 minutes at 9 o’clock. And she was very eager to know what we wanted to eat. We asked for soup and she sternly replied that they were not offering soup and that our options were steak, chicken or pork. We ordered one of each and told her we would be right in.
Dinner was fantastic. However, we had an easier time making it up the ski slope and back than we did endearing ourselves to this hostess. Our first sin was that we were so late to dinner. Being the 3 of the total 5 guests in the Refugio, she couldn’t close the doors on us, but she made it known that we had wasted her time. Our second sin was the wine. As she was bringing out our plates and silverware while the meat was cooking in the kitchen, we had a bottle of wine on the table that was leftover from Monday night. Before opening it and drinking it in the restaurant, we figured it would be best to ask for permission. She gave us permission but with an exasperated eye roll. Our third sin really set her over the top and caused a reaction that can’t be written here for it is too foul. But it would translate into something like, “Holy _______ ____! What the ____ ____ have you done?!” (Treat this as you would any ad lib for sailors.)It went something like this. We had wet shoes – soaking wet shoes better describes them – and our socks were wet through and through. Since it was after 9 pm, the heaters were not on. We had the fireplace next to our table and there was wood burning. So we had jerry rigged Alyse’s shoes to hang above the fire and we had 2 or 3 pairs of socks hanging to catch some of the heat. Well, in Chile, the idea of a burning fire entails a piece of wood with embers under it and a soft glow. The emphasis is on 1 piece of wood and soft glow. The idea of a fire for someone from the United States is roaring fire. Emphasis is roaring and FIRE, i.e. multiple pieces of wood, a roar of flames and the crackle of the wood. Jay had stoked the embers and added a few pieces of wood and stacked them in such a way that the flames licked every inch of the wood.
Three quarters through dinner, our hostess came out to ask how our food was. We said it was great. She smiled and before she headed back to the kitchen, she turned to see how the fire was and out came the reaction, “Holy _______ ____! What the ____ ____ have you done?!” (Remember: sailor style ad lib). She stood dead in her tracks and did not say another word. She just shook her head and walked back to the bar to tally our bill. We of course laughed once she made her way back to the kitchen and joked that she added an extra 1000 pesos for the wine and an extra 3000 plus for the fire. I felt bad for a minute but then had another gulp of wine and ate another piece of steak.
5 minutes late our hostess cum waitress came out with her cash box and told us she was heading to bed and asked us if we would turn the lights out on our way out. She showed us where the switch was and we said goodnight and thanks for the great food! Before leaving she made sure she communicated clearly that tomorrow’s breakfast would be at 8:30. When she was confident that we understood her, she left for the night.
On Wednesday morning I woke an hour before breakfast to take a walk and get in a little birding. I stayed on the road this time as my shoes were still soaked (they didn’t fully dry until Thursday afternoon) and only had my Chacos. The walk was fun as I saw and heard a few Black-chinned Siskins but the most exciting part was seeing the flock of Austral Parakeets. I never imagined that I would see a flock of parakeets on a mountain slope. The calls, the rustle of the small flock and the bright green were quite a contrast to what I normally associate with snowy alpine settings.
We had a typical Chilean breakfast of tea and coffee with bread, butter and jam, cheese and ham. We packed up our stuff and went a few kilometers down the road to a trail and decided to take a morning walk. The trail was mostly down and thankfully not too muddy as Alyse and I had only our sandals. The highlight of the walk for me was hearing the explosive call of the Chucau Tapaculo, a small bird that hides in the bushes and has a song similar to Fozzie Bear’s laugh. (This is not a joke.) We also were lucky enough to see a pair of Patagonian sierra finches foraging in a clearing on the trail.After an hour or more we headed back to the car and drove back down to Agua Calientes. Realizing that we didn’t really need to be in Puerto Montt until 6 or 7, we decided to pay the 2000 pesos and enjoy the hot springs. We couldn’t have made a wiser choice, as the water was terrific, a nice 40 or 42 degrees Celsius. The large pool was situated just next to the river. The sky was a clear blue and the sound of the river and the glimmer of the light off the water and the rocks made me reminisce of the San Juan raft trip with Sarah’s family and Sulphur Creek and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River up in Idaho near Stanley. Nothing could have been more idyllic than steaming away in these hot waters and day dreaming during a warm spring day, especially after the previous evenings foray up the snowy slopes of Antillanca.
Our drive south to Puerto Montt took us past the remote Lago Rupanco, which was a beautiful drive on a not too often used gravel road. We stopped in Puerto Octay for gas and then in Frutillar for Once (tea and cake). In Puerto Montt we found an out of the way guest house on one of the bluffs overlooking the bay in the Angelmó. Jay and Alyse’s plane left early the next morning, so we had an early dinner of seafood and said our goodbyes.
I headed back to Temuco the next day on Route 5, which was an easy drive, but it was not nearly as fun as the journey through the back roads of the Lake District with Jay and Alyse. That being said, it was great to pull into Temuco and have a late lunch with Sarah before turning the rental back in to Andrés.Puerto Montt at low tide.
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Extra Pictures:
Clockwise from the top right: Old Photo of an early Antillanca ski club, restaurant at Antillanca, Club Andino Flag (founders of Antillanca), Sitting Room at the Refugio Antillanca, Morning Light on the ski slope, Southern View of Volcán Villarica, Alpine Lake in Parque Puyehue, Woods on the ski slope, View of Volcán Casablanca in Parque Puyehue, Rio Liquiñe, Sheep in Liquiñe, Rio Chanleufu near Agua Calientes, View of Lago Puyehue from the park, and original ski skins at Antillanca.
