Our first two weeks in Chile were a little frantic as we stayed in 6 different places. The big surprise was that we suddenly couldn’t speak Spanish! Right away, we wondered if we had taken a flight to Brazil by mistake – the people might as well have been speaking Portuguese! We learned that Chileans speak very quickly, use a lot of slang and don’t finish their words. Numbers were even a problem – “vente-ocho-mil” (28,000) becomes “venochmil” in Chilean. So, we scrapped our plans to study Spanish in Chile!We rented a car that allowed us to visit many spots off the foreign tourist track. After three relaxing days on the beaches at Vina Del Mar (Chilean Jersey shore), we headed into wine country. We had two vastly different experiences: the first in a grand estate straight from a European bike tour brochure; and the second in a small family run vineyard producing wine for export to Switzerland. Aside from the mosquitoes, which rivaled anything we had ever seen in Minnesota, we had a pleasant few days walking among the vineyards and visiting an area very reminiscent of Napa.
Next as we headed towards the Lake District in search of outdoor adventure, big mountains and active volcanoes — the rain hit. We spent the next week in a mix of mist, monsoon rains, mud and a little misery. After one rainy night at a rundown hot springs hotel in a stunning canyon, we drove through the Conguillo National Park, stopping to hike and see the “Mother Tree”, an 1,800 year old Auracaria tree. The trip became a 4×4 trail ride, although we stayed on the main road in our Nissan sedan rental car. We forded more than a few streams and tried to avoid oncoming traffic on the single-lane, rutted, muddy roads. Great parks, marginal “roads”.
Pucon is the summer vacation capital of Chile and we tried to explore the area in pouring rain. Even our trip to the volcanic caves turned out to be a rain day as the cave ceiling is porous and it pretty much “rains” in the caves. Finally on our last full day in Pucon, the weather broke and we got a glimpse of why it is a popular summer destination. The town was bustling, the lake was inviting and we saw the huge, active volcano that looms over the town for the first time!
After the numerous cultural experiences and the range of living conditions in Peru, Chile felt much more like a US summer vacation. The overall standard of living appears much higher and we mostly encountered domestic Chilean tourists on their own holidays. Up next – we fly to Punta Arenas, the most southern town in Chile, where we will board a ship for a four-night expedition to see whales and travel through the Patagonian fjords.