Out of the city and into the countryside - Southern Chile

Since my last posting on the eight of March Sophie and I parted ways and she headed off to begin her program at the University in Valparaiso. I flew south from Santiago to Temuco, Chile where I began exploring the regions known as the Lake District and the Northern Patagonia of Chile and Argentina. As an experienced traveler, Soph has been the ideal companion (she has been to many more countries than me) with her street savvy and her good command of Espanol. Now as I venture on my own I’ll be forced to improve my Spanish communication skills, because in Chile unlike Peru and Ecuador, there are not that many people who speak English…gringo solo this could be trouble!

My friend Jack Trout and his gracious Chilean wife Carola, picked me up at the airport and brought me to their home in Los Lagos which is located about 250 miles south of Concepcion (about the same distance as from SF to Mt. Shasta) the epicenter of the recent earthquake. It is a small town with a population of twelve to thirteen thousand people and is near numerous rivers and volcanoes.

For you children of the sixties....What album cover does this picture remind you of?

On our way home from the airport we stopped in the volcano-active town of Pucon for some tacos.

Yes, even though Chile is mostly a meat and potatoes type of cuisine this place had great tacos. Admittedly, not quite what we find in the Mission, but nevertheless quite good. This was my initial introduction to Kuntsman cerveza, my favorite Chilean beer.

My friend Pat, from Fresno, CA came here for two weeks to fish and ‘hang out’ and I so enjoy his company and camaraderie. Having been friends since fifth grade he is like a brother to me. Here we are enjoying a pisco sour the national drink of Chile.

This establishment in Los Lagos serves as the bar/disco/restaurant/internet cafe all-in-one. It is where the locals go for food, spirits and communication with the world at large. In this part of Chile very few families have internet in their home.

The timing of everything in the southern hemisphere is different as they do not have daylight savings time and it’s not even fully daylight until well after eight o’clock in the morning. Everything is on a different schedule as many businesses close for lunch/siesta from 1:00pm to 3:00pm and stay open until 7:00 or 8:00pm. They tell me that on the weekends the bars/night clubs stay open until 7:00am. Down here we eat dinner at ten o’clock and I often stay up until one or two o’clock in the morning and sleep until nine or ten. At home I usually fall asleep before the eleven o’clock news, not sure where the energy comes but I’m still going strong at that time in this part of the world.

Now it's time to get out our fishing rods and do a little angling...