Puertos

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BellaVista Hotel

Nelson Garcia Ranch

Rodeo

Jan. 12, 2009-Puerto Montt

Sunglasses live yet another day, suitcase not so much. I got a cheap duffel at Bed, Bath, & Beyond before we left and even used a 20% off coupon. It lost a wheel. At least schlepping luggage is included in the tour.

We flew from Santiago to Puerto Montt this morning. It was only 1 1/2 hours but we got a snack box with cookies, peanuts, & crackers. LAN Chile rocks! We also got sterophonic babies crying. They were really little and I'm sure their ears were hurting. I played peek-a-boo with the one in front of us and that helped.

Security was a pleasure in Santiago. We didn't have to remove our shoes, unpack computers, or show quart bags. Tom and Linda from Texas travel with an external defibrillator and didn't even have to open it up. Needing to travel with that thing and doing it anyway is so gutsy.

This area is the last continental port in Chile before the land mass dissipates into fjords, islands, and ice fields. It’s the northern gate to Chilean Patagonia and Lake District sitting at the same latitude as New Zealand. The rainfall averages 1800 millimeters (you figure it out) a year which allows for the nickname Town of Roses or Garden of Chile. The roses are beautiful and the hydrangeas are plentiful but they're not artfully planted and give a helter-skelter scattered rather than lush impression. Settled by Germans in the 1800's they left their mark on the signature oval-shingled buildings. Religious freedom was the rule here and even slavery, banned in 1815, wasn't "useful" to their economy. Most slaves went to work in mines to the North or went into the army to fight Spain in place of wealthy landowners sons. Yellow fever killed the rest.

Puerto Varis

We were met by Raphaele, our local guide of Italian descent, and went immediately to the Bellavista Hotel in Puerto Varis. The hotel itself is small, rustic, modest, charming, and our rooms overlook Lake Llanquihue (yahn-kee-wee). It's 400 square miles and goes to a depth of 1,000 feet. Looming over the lake are the Andes. Now, these are real Andes. They're snow covered and boast two of the sixty-five volcanoes in this region. One peak is more beautiful than the other when visible. The usual cloud cover was absent today so we got up close and personal with our mountain vista.

The town of Puerto Varis is only 30,000 strong and caters to tourism. Our lunch consisted of the best empanadas I've eaten and David tried an hamata. It looked like a tamale and indeed tasted like one. Fernando, our tour director, is still with us and I joked that some men have a girl in every port. He has a dog in every town. Today was not the first time one singled him out for attention and affection with no expectation of food. They must recognize him and he responds in kind.

Ranchero

Late afternoon we boarded our bus for a ride to the Garcia family ranch. Raphaele pointed out the many gorse bushes that plague the countryside. They came with the Germans who used them as hedgerows but they proliferated beyond expectation. Evidently they're capable of spontaneous combustion in the hot season due to a turpentine-like sap. Fires can rage out of control. They're impossible to eradicate. I mentioned that perhaps the real burning bush Moses saw was here and he received the Ten Commandments in the Andes not on Sinai.

Rodeo is the second most popular sport after soccer in Chile and the Garcia family is the best of the 3500 teams who compete. Each family has its own colors the huasa (Chilean cowboys) wear proudly woven into their ponchos. Chilean horses (descended from Andalusians) are used. The rules are totally different than our rodeo. There’s no roping, hence saddles have no horn. There’s cutting and herding steer and riding patterns like figure eights.

We ate dinner at the ranch and finally had beef, well some did. I opted for veggies. Dessert was flan. The wine was freely poured and we enjoyed the local white. Tomorrow it's back to fish. This time it's salmon. They raise it here and I saw a sign advertising items made of salmon leather. I never heard of that and will investigate. We're here one more day and then were promised an arduous adventure including crossing the Andes, riding on three lakes, and four buses. We'll have to rest up for it.

Toby