Over the many months that we have been traveling we have stayed in hotels, hostels, dorm rooms, apartments, tents and houses. Some of our favorite accommodations, however, have been whe we have chosen to stay with a family. Occasionally this is with friends living in South America and occasionally it is through AirBnB. In the case of Puerto Montt we decided to stay in the house of a retired couple whose daughter-in-law had set them up on AirBnB. We spent four nights with Carlos and Rosario and they treated us like family. They loved to sit down on the couch and chat, they constantly tried to feed us or bring us tea or coffee. They took us grocery shopping and invited us to participate in family dinners with their extended family that lived in town. Two of their relatives were also in town, visiting from Santiago. This was fortunate for us as they had planned several excursions during their stay and were perfectly happy to let us tag along.
One of the days we took a tour of Chiloe, an island just off the coast from Puerto Montt. We all piled onto a bus that drove to the dock, the bus then borded a ferry that took us across the Canal de Chacao to the island. We spent the next 10 hours driving around to many of the cultural and historical sites of Chiloe. We visited the small towns of Ancud, Dalcahue, and Castro passing through churches and markets. We toured the old fort of San Antonio, and walked along the coast to take photos of the colorful houses set up on stilts. The most unusual part of our day was visiting a mythological park that was filled with stuffed animals and paper mache creatures serving as props to explain some of the legends of the area.
At the end of the day we headed back across the island of Chiloe to get to the ferry that would return us to Puerto Montt. On the ferry Kevin was lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins who decided to accompany our boat, flipping as they came out of the water and a couple of seals playing in the distance.
Puerto Montt, itself, was not a very exciting city but it was a great place to use as a base for other excursions. The one highlight is that it had a long coastline, which gave us us ample space to go for a long walk along the water.
On our final full day in Puerto Montt we decided to visit a couple of the nearby lakes. We initially took a bus to Puerto Varas a quaint, touristy town about 20 minutes north of Puerto Montt. We walked around for a while, admiring the lake and volcano that created a picturesque backdrop for the town.
From Puerto Varas we hopped on another local bus that drove us out to a waterfall (Saltos del Petrohue) a few kilometers from Petrohue Lake. There was a short, well maintained trail that stretched from the road to the waterfall. From there we hiked around the forest a bit visiting a few other ponds and viewpoints of the river.
Lake Petrohue was a large lake with a coarse sand beach. There were a few hotels, water sports shops, a museum, and a snack shop along the edge of the lake. We took a little while to explore the surrounding area and grab a bite to eat before heading out. Our bus ride between the waterfall and the lake had afforded us glimpses of the river as it wound its way towards the lake. We decided to walk back along the road to spend more time admiring the river. We were rewarded with beautiful views of the river, but we failed to realize when we set out that walking along a dirt road meant that every passing vehicle kicked up large quantities of dust, making it difficult to breath or see until things settled. After walking for about an hour every part of us was completely covered in a layer of dirt.
We picked up another bus on the side of the road that drove us back to Puerto Varas. We got in a little bit before sunset and decided to wander down the promenade around the lake and around town before trying to find a bus back to Puerto Montt. Sometimes, regardless of being able to speak Spanish, it is very difficult to figure out where to find a bus that is actually going to our desired destination. We waited at one bus stop for a while, with several people assuring us that we could find the correct bus at this stop. After failing to have any luck we were directed to another stop a couple blocks away. At this stop we did indeed encounter buses that went to Puerto Montt. Unfortunately, they were so full that the drivers didn’t stop to take on any more passengers. We then walked back to the first bus stop before deciding to try to follow the bus route backwards to see if we could find a stop that would allow us to get on the bus. In the end it took a while but we eventually made it back to Puerto Montt.
Tomorrow we leave to make our way back to the Lake District of Argentina. We hope to pass a few more lakes on our way.