Today turned out to be a very exciting and interesting day –
- we got to meet Jaime, who is going to be taking us to Machu Picchu in March… and if you didn’t hear me going ‘SQUEE!’ really loud just then, you mustn’t have been paying attention these last 18 months!
- we got our first glimpses of the amazing landscapes of Patagonia – absolutely amazing, and
- I managed to catch up with everyone in my family back home today which makes for a very good day indeed!
Started out with another ‘hurry up and wait’ tender process. We were all marshalled together to all be on the same tender and even though we were all up and at ‘em very early, another hour wait for a tender. Oh well, we sat and chatted and were off as soon as may be. Jaime met us at the port, and greeted me like an old friend – big hugs and kisses on both cheeks… we have been emailing back and forth since last March about all these tours, and yes, I felt like I was greeting someone I knew quite well, rather than meeting him of the first time!
Our bus driver Pedro showed us to our lovely modern bus and we were off and away from Puerto Montt, heading for our first destination – the Vincent Perez Rosales National Park. On the way, Jaime gave us a fantastic commentary on the history and geography of the area… Puerto Montt was named for the President of Chile from 1851 to 1861, Manuel Montt. Nearby Puerto Varas, Jaime’s home town, was named for his second in command, Antonio Varas, who was his Interior Minister at that time. It is most famous for its beautiful Patagonian scenery, its glacial and volcanic geography, its location nestled in the Andes Mountain range and its unique blend of Spanish, German and indigenous South American Indian cultures.
Oh, and it’s two enormous active but currently dormant volcanoes, that dominate the horizons – Volcán Calbuco and Volcán Osorno.
We made our way to the Petrohue Falls (smoky falls) which are really a large set of glacial rapids that the Petrohue River tumbles picturesquely towards the Todos los Santos Lake (All Saints Lake, found on All Saints Day apparently). The waterfall is inside the V.Perez Rosales Nation Park, and is caused by the glacial erosion through the basaltic lava (andesite) stemming form the Orsono Volcano… which itself sits between the Todos los Santos and Llanquihue Lakes. These lakes were originally one large lake until Orsono erupted and divided it into two large seperate freshwater lakes. The rocks surrounding the waterfalls look all smooth and polished compared to other surrounding rocks, and this is due to the water carrying a great deal of sand and silt, which erodes the basaltic lava rock quite readily.
At the lookouts near the falls, the views of the volcano range from positively breathtaking to, ‘what volcano?’, due to low clouds and heavy weather. We were fortunate enough to be here on a beautiful clear day with visibility for miles. Many, many photos later…
Petrohue River/Rapids
Volcanic ash – above; volcanic rubble – below
Nearby, Jaime took us on a short nature walk to a little visited local spot which he liked to call his “little piece of paradise”. We walked through some dense rainforest on a sandy little track that was made of dense volcanic sand that crunches underfoot. Stopping to look at a large cliff of rocks that was once magma, but now covered in lichens and mosses, and seeing a fracture right through it caused by more recent volcanic activity. We also got a lesson on the local myrtle trees… some of which are green and covered in mosses and lichen, and some of which are orange. The orange trees, are cold – I mean, really cold to touch. These orange trunked myrtle trees only grow in areas with LOTS of water, and their trunks are constantly drawing up water from the ground – which around here is glacially cold. During hot weather, locals like to sit with these cold trees in the shade and cool down.
The entire area here was covered volcanic ash when the Calbulco Volcano erupted in 2015 with little warning. A large eruption column, visible from space, went into the atmosphere and the enormous ash cloud shut down airports. As far away as Puerto Varas (49kms away), roads were covered with fine volcanic ash up to two metres deep. The closer areas to the eruption were covered in what looks like volcanic sand, and closer still, what looks like small rubble. (The picture below of the eruption was borrowed from Wikipedia – I can’t imagine what it would be like living next to a time bomb like this).
(pic above from Wikipedia)
After this we went for a short drive to the Emerald Lake, or Lago Esmerelda. While the earlier waters of the Petrohue River were a deep beautiful green from the clear glacial water, here the completely different, but equally vibrant green colour of the water is coming from a natural algae. Unfortunately the lake, which we would call a billabong at the moment, is cut off from the main Lago Llanquihue, and it is getting stagnant, and another reddish algae or moss appears to be taking over the lake. Jaime was talking with the National Park Ranger and it seems they are digging out the sandbar separating the lake and the billabong every morning, but they are fighting an uphill battle as holiday makers and kids seem to think it is fun to build the sand dam back into place. A working bee of some sort is planned to come break it down properly, as no machinery can be brought in to do the job.
After our visit to the lake, we stopped in at a local cafeteria for a quick bite to eat. We saw some llamas here that the owner kept for his wife to spin and knit into scarves and hats to sell to the tourists, and we all stopped for a bite to eat. We were warned that the sandwiches were large and that two people could share, but it turns out that one sandwich could probably feed four! Salmon is another big industry here, so we took the opportunity to try a salmon sandwich which was more like a salmon cob loaf!
View from lunch:
The next stop was the beautiful little township of Puerta Varas, also known as “La chided de las rosas” or “the city of roses”. And covered in roses it is… with the rich volcanic soil and the cool temperatures and full sun, roses seem to grow everywhere. We were informed that picking the roses is not allowed, and will attract a fine from the police – except on Valentine’s Day, where each man is allowed to pick a rose for his lover. I asked Jaime ‘but what if you have more than one lover?’ And he cheekily replied, that you will need to go back and get a second one later.
Puerto Varas is well known for its charming traditional German architecture. The area, is also known as the “Llanquihue Lake Colonisation Territory”, due to it being largely settled by German immigrants, who were enticed to the region in the 19C with promises of land – one piece of land for each man, and an additional piece of land for each of his sons, up to four pieces of land per family. Houses are built using alerce wood and fashioned with tools brought over from Europe with the original 19thC immigrants, so they are not surprisingly all built in a decidedly Bavarian/alpine style. If you didn’t know any better, and didn’t turn around to look at the enormous lake and huge volcanos behind you, you could easily believe yourself in Germany somewhere! We had an opportunity to check out some of the handicraft shops, though being a Sunday, meant that many stores were closed and thus our credit cards were safe!
We had a lovely wander around the town, so many quaint pubs and restaurants, before heading back to Puerto Montt. It was now getting to late afternoon, the hottest part of the day and all the locals were flooding to the ‘beaches’ of the lake and the harbour for a swim in the freezing cold waters. They looked like they were having fun – but I think when you are from Queensland, that sort of swimming is for ‘other’ people!
We said our good-byes to Jaime, with hugs and a fond ‘See you in Ecuador!’… Tomorrow : Chacbuco, which apparently is a real place and not just a swift spiritual kick to the head!