Living on road time

Extending into the remote southern end of Chile, Route 7, the Carretera Austral, is a 1240 km road through national parks, lakes, mountains and glaciers of rural Patagonia.

Continue reading “Driving the Carretera Austral, Chile”

For our first two days in Argentina, we stayed in San Martin de Los Andes. In town, the spacious campground had large trees, beautiful rose bushes, and wifi if you sat near reception.

Continue reading “A Taste of Argentina”

Although we stayed in Llanquihue, we really enjoyed a day in the town of Frullilar further north along the lake. A resort town with a German flair.

Continue reading “Adiós Amigos. Hola Argentina”

Our good friends Krys and Merv arrived in  Chile after a tiring  journey. Having left home at noon on Tuesday, they landed in Puerto Montt at 7 pm on Thursday. Their first flight, out of Winnipeg, was delayed which caused them to miss the next 2 flights. They were forced to reschedule everything using cell phones while sitting at the airport. The joys of travel. Continue reading “Puerto Montt – Hornopirén – Puerto Varas, Chile”

In the southern end of this long slender country, you come to the end of the road several times. This week we arrived at two of these points, at Puerto Montt on the mainland, and again on Chiloé Island.

It was raining the day we drove into Puerto Montt, Chile’s most southern city on the mainland. After months of sun we had begun to believe that it never rained here. But one morning we woke up to rain and cold. The temperature had dipped to 5C overnight. Not great camping weather. Continue reading “Puerto Montt and Isla Grande de Chiloé”

Draining the peaks of Parque Nacional Villarrica, the Rio Trancuro gains water and speed, as it rushes toward Lake Villarrica. For locals and vacationers, the river becomes a whitewater playground. We found a campsite right on the bank where we could watch rafters start their journey down the lower part, or finish their journey from the upper more turbulent water.

Continue reading “The Rio Trancura and a Mapuche Costumbrista, Chile”

This southern part of Chile, north of Patagonia, has 3 regions or districts. Los Ríos, Lakes District and Araucania. Covered with thick ancient forests, snow capped volcanoes, countless rivers and large pristine lakes, these regions offer a hiking and camping paradise with adventure opportunities galore.

Continue reading “Pucón and the district of Araucania, Chile”

We had a great time travelling with Brett. He is enamoured with anything that moves, like birds or lizards, and most things that grow. Trees, flowers or cacti. He loves food and volcanos. His list of “want to see” was “everything”.

Continue reading “North and south of Santiago, Chile”

 

We hoped our son Brett could meet us in January for a week or so. But our plans kept changing. For awhile, we discussed meeting in Quito and going to the Galapagos. But the logistics of timing return flights to Quito, from 2 different countries, and then on to the Galapagos islands made planning difficult. It was easier for us if he flew to Santiago. Except the riots were still ongoing. Then the arson that destroyed many homes in Valparaíso. We listened to the news, and spent hours on google. After a lot of discussion we decided on meeting him at the Santiago airport. Coming from the north we could get to the airport without having to go very far into the City.

 Dash in, pick him up, and dash out. Continue reading “The Northern Coast of Chile with a Visitor”

In the end, we had a large group for Christmas dinner. Over 30 campers from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Switzerland, Germany, USA, Britain, NZ and us from Canada. We made at least 60 meat and vegetables kabobs, grilled over charcoal along with steak and Mediterranean rubbed chicken. All kinds of salads and deserts including a NZ trifle. Later, the Swiss family grilled whole bananas filled with chocolate. Eaten with a spoon right out of the skin. Delicious!
Continue reading “New Years in Chile”