CHILE…SURPRISES AT EVERY TURN…Copyright by Geof Prigge
geofprigge@yahoo.com.au
www.geofprigge.com
Pre-historic cacti, seaweed along the rocks, seagulls larger than life, surging swell, fine white sandy beaches…this is Isla Damas on Chile’s coast in the Coquimbo region.
This wonderful sanctuary off the mid Chilean coast is one of three islands known locally as Tres Islas…Isla Choros, Isla Damas and Isla Gaviota, and the area is home not only to a vast array of cacti, some with spectacular and delicate flowers, but also to sea-lions, cormorants, bottle-nosed dolphins and Humboldt penguins. For 5000 pesos (about $US10) you can go by fishing boat to all three islands and spot an amazing variety of these and more.
There’s no human habitation apart from the odd camper to disturb the tranquillity…and remote, that’s not the word for it. The closest city of La Serena is 123km away and the final 45 kilometres is a rough winding dirt road.
The village that you reach before embarking on the fishing boats that take you out to the islands has no mobile phone service, no internet and no paved roads. It is however a delightfully dusty fishing village called Punta De Choros on the southern extremity of the Atacama Desert. There’s an array of cabanas to choose from, and some even offer hot water. The pick is Las Ananucas Amarilis owned by Juan and Sylvia…tel: 09-447 5200.
There are a couple of shops for provisions, but there’s not a lot on offer, except the beautiful peace and quiet.
Offshore, the underwater visibility is crystal clear. You can witness sea lions and dolphins performing antics above and below the surface. Just lean out over the side of the boat and you can witness all sorts of surprises, the antics of the dolphins being the favourite for most visitors.
Chile offers this sort of experience regularly, the tranquillity of nature that is. The country is long and narrow, but varied in the extreme. From warm sub-tropical beaches to inland deserts, spectacular mountains and glaciers at the bottom of the world, Chile offers the visitor a different adventure at every turn.
To give a few examples, consider this. The island of Isla Magdalena is a short boat trip from Punta Arenas. The town itself is fascinating in that it attracts all sorts of people. It’s quite an eclectic bunch of folk who congregate down here from adventure freaks and research scientists, to trekkers and wilderness aficionados to general tourists, cruise ship junkies and mountain bikers.
Accommodation is varied as always but Hospedaje Gloria at 1174 Mejicana Tel: 227678 and email: yoya_h@hotmail.com at 6000 pesos per person, is a better deal than many around town. 9000 pesos though gets you a bit more value, the best in this range being La Estancia at 765 O’Higgins Ave. right in the heart of town Tel: 056-61 249130. Email: carmenalecl@yahoo.com
Apart from a visit to the island where it’s possible to meet a few thousand Humboldt penguins in an afternoon, you can also choose almost any adventure you can think of, and go and do it. This is the southern-most inhabited area in the world, and the departure point for Antarctic expeditions. So it’s a hub for south-bound expeditions of all sorts. As well, it’s only a few hours drive from Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, the departure point for trekking into the Patagonian mountains. There’s very little accommodation available inside the park, so most people choose to stay in Puerto Natales at either or both ends of a trip into the park itself. One of the friendliest is Sutherland Residencial Lodging at Barros Arana 155. Tel: 410359. The owner Margarita is lovely. She suggested dinner at the Restaurant Espanol around the corner on Avenue Magdalena and the meal we had was superb, a steak that was cooked to perfection. The owner told us that the cows eat only grass and breathe the best air in the world. No chemicals are used during their life.
The park itself is 100km away. Once there you should spend several days either trekking or simply walking whenever you can. There are waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, spectacular scenery and glaciers galore. The three hour boat journey to and from the glacier we visited was spectacular every minute of the trip. The highlight was the fantastic blues of the glacier itself. We were all treated to scotch on the rocks and whisky sours with 5 million year old ice. The ice looked so clear and perfect…and after 4 of them we were all quite merry as we chugged away across the lake.
From Punta Arenas we flew north, our next stop being Petrohue. We stayed in a hostel that was pretty rough…a sort of annexe to the main house which was the residence for the camping ground. At 18000 pesos a night for a double with ensuite, it was certainly not cheap. The location however was great.
After settling in, we went back across to the other side of the waterway to see what was happening with tours etc, and as luck would have it, a boat trip around the lake and to the nearby island was leaving within minutes, so we joined in and went. It was well worth it. This lake with the imposing volcanoes is quite dramatic. It’s very special to see a snow-capped volcano rising out of a lake. The boat trip took half an hour and we had a great guide by the name of Christian Ruz Parga, who told us that the park is one of the oldest in the country, being gazetted in 1926. It’s 250,000ha in size, and there are 3 volcanoes here, one extinct at 2460m, another whose last activity was in 1830, and finally one at 2015m which erupted in quite spectacular fashion in 1961. The highest mountain in the area is 3500m and has 7 glaciers, 4 on the Argentinean side and 3 here. The colour of the lake is due to the minerals from these glaciers as they melt. Salmon and trout are the prominent species.
After 30 mins we arrived at the island, pulled into the private wharf and walked throughout the island for about an hour. Purchased by a Swiss family in 1906, they truly found paradise. Thousand year old trees, beautiful beaches and an inland lake make a perfect setting. The original circular house still stands. The plan was to have it rotating, but the cost was too high to do so. They do however have a hydro-electric system where the fall of the water from the underground spring after it rises, is used to supply electricity for the homestead. It was all quite impressive.
After our tour and more information from Christian on the flora and fauna of the island, we headed back and boarded the boat. The wind had come up and a few white horses made the scene even more dramatic. Our night at the rustic hostel was great with the moon shining upon the waters of the lake and shadows of volcanoes changing by the minute.
We left late the next morning and ventured to remote Peulla, staying in the upstairs loft in the home of the Martinez family. Each day we were able to find new and interesting places to stay and people to share a meal with. This family was not too well off and jumped at the opportunity of having paying guests. Senora Martinez cooked a delicious meal for us and the children enjoyed practising their English. We used this as a base for our horse-riding adventures, but found time for swims and walks to waterfalls and simply relaxing too.
Next on our itinerary was Ensenada, one of the most beautiful places imaginable. The scenery was like this…to the west it was all lake, as far as the eye could see and big enough to create the illusion that it’s the sea. The setting sun turns whatever clouds are on the horizon to liquid gold. To the south east is the volcano called Volcan Osorno, with snow all year round. The forests are everywhere, with just the small spread-out village along the shores of the lake. Over a dozen lakes and lagoons of various sizes are sprinkled amongst the forests and are mostly linked by roads except for the inaccessible ones that you can only get to by 4WD or horse. All of them are within an afternoon’s drive or boat ride. The blues of the lakes, fjords and the sky are amazing. Near to where we stayed was also a green lagoon known as Laguna Verde. Its deep emerald colour was wild. There were lots of rafting possibilities with grade 3 and 4 drops, but the most impressive thing of all was that you could ski within a thirty minute drive from the main lake and watch people sailing as you carved turns on the hillside of a volcano that last erupted in1961, thus making it far from extinct. It’s active and ready to go off whenever Mother Nature feels like it. From skiing and mountain-climbing to white-water rafting, horse riding and windsurfing, to mountain-biking, kite-surfing and sailing, there is all this and lots more to do here…and much of it all year round! It’s an extremely impressive environment.
We stayed at Hospedaje La Arena with the Luckeheide family and the email address is nic_luck@hotmail.com
This is the area in which Douglas Tompkins of Esprit fame has called home. He uses a nearby village (Ralun) as a base to fight the Chilean government on environmental issues. Some years ago he sold off 75% of his company specifically to buy 275,000ha of rainforest in the Valley of the Rio Gonzalo and has plans to protect the area ad infinitum.
Our next stop was Chonchi and we stayed at the Hospedaje Esmeralda on the waterfront, which at low tide was a bit drab. High tide always improves things and it was no exception in Chonchi. We had what was known as the Fisherman’s Room and it was a bit like being aboard an old sailing ship. The cost was 12000 pesos a night for the room. Tel (65) 671328 and email is: carlosgrady@hotmail.com The Canadian owner of the place, Carl Grady, is quite eccentric and has lots of stories to share. The town was very sleepy until 15 years ago when the salmon industry kicked in. Until then most of the townsfolk didn’t even own a pair of shoes, but now, they are quite affluent in a Chilean sort of way. The church was the brightest building in town being several shades of blue, but inside, the majority of the roof was supported by rough tree trunks as a temporary measure to ensure it stays standing. Many of the other buildings are still of timber construction and a bit rough around the edges.
There was still plenty more in our two month holiday in and around Chile. Next stop was Cucao, a delightful little coastal village on the Lago Cucao where the River Cole Cole enters. The best accommodation was a new hostel…the Parador Darwin, which is owned and operated by a German woman by the name of Susi from Freiburg and her Chilean husband Rolando, an artist and photographer. Their place is fantastic. Situated a few metres past the new bridge, they offer large private rooms with shared bath in a delightful garden setting. Her restaurant at the garden entrance serves beaut goulash and home-made cakes. We discovered this hostel after hearing melodic jazz music coming from the place on our return from a walk through the national park (Parque Nacional Chiloe) and along the beach. Her website is www.cucao.cl and tel: 0056-97999923 and 98840702. The National Park camping area is far better than most we’d seen in Chile in that each site offers privacy with trees everywhere.
Our final stop in this section of the trip before returning to Santiago and venturing on to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) was Pisco Elqui, (renamed after the alcoholic beverage they produce here). Our accommodation was more up-market than usual at the El Tesoro de Elqui for 28000 pesos a night including breakfast, more than double the normal rate we’d been paying, but there was a pool there and the whole place is built in an impressive oasis. Their email address is: info@tesoro-elqui.cl and website: www.tesoro-elqui.cl tel: (56) 51-451069. The sunsets through the hills were magic every day. Long shadows blanketed the town as each night arrived. We’d come because it was a UFO spotting area. Whether any had been seen over the years or it was the effect of the local Pisco is anyone’s guess, but this remote Chilean town was the perfect conclusion to our holiday before heading back to the capital and across the Pacific.
