Chiles Best

Trip Start Mar 31, 2006
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Trip End Mar 31, 2007


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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

We have just been in one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen - must be one of Chile's best: Parque Conguillio with its brooding volcano, limitless lava fields and lovely lakes ringed by snow covered mountains. We had planned on visiting it with our friends but thought it was too far away and now we feel really guilty that we did not take them there. We stayed there for four days; the first two days in a cabin on a working farm on the banks of a small river. They were still tilling their fields (extremely slowly) with yoked oxen; but they had managed to produce a female lawyer, a manager of a supermarket in Argentina and the third with his own dairy farm. The farmer had been born on the farm and if he moved any slower was going to put down roots. But it was very restful watching the oxen ploughing, chickens and chicks pecking around, cows and calves and horses - all the bits and pieces of what you imagine a farm should have; we subsequently watched many oxen (remarkably many, considering how prosperous Chile seems) and they appear to be guided by very gentle prods from a long bamboo held by a man slowly walking ahead.

The second two nights we braved the cold and camped in the park on the shore of a lovely (wind swept!) lake. On the second night we were completely on our own and as hard as we tried we could not find anyone to pay so we had two nights free (always a win for Sheila). There were lava fireplaces as well as lots of dead wood and so we had a roaring fire every night.

Volcan Llaima is over 3,000m high and last erupted in 1957 so the lava which flows round islands of trees on higher ground looks fresh and is startlingly black against the snow. The park was created mainly to protect a large stand of araucaria (monkey puzzle) trees which grow in a much more "prehistoric" fashion than the domestic ones you see in gardens. They are everywhere and when silhouetted against the blue sky with snow around their feet and then the black lava they are truly amazing. The park is large at over 60,000 hectares so has some good long hikes. The first we did was almost totally on lava with just a few mosses growing and the second was all in the araucaria forest. But the best was sitting in our campsite with a blazing fire gazing out over the lake and the cordillera of snow-covered mountains as a final back drop. We could not recommend this park more.

From there we went to another park, Nahuelbuta, in the coastal mountain range which protects another araucaria forest (with 1000+ year old trees) but a much smaller park and much less interesting and for what they provided quite expensive - Sheila did some complaining about the cost and the ranger halved it for us! The parks in Chile although protecting beautiful forest and country and having once very comprehensive infrastructure have let it go rather seriously - not a good advertisement for a tourist destination.

And then to the coast south of Concepcion where Sheila said we would be certain to find somewhere to camp or cabins to rent; we motored and motored and although the coast was lovely and we passed through many pretty fishing villages there was absolutely nowhere to stay! Seemed amazing. We asked at a gas station and the pump attendant said "nada". When we finally reached the end of the road at a little village called Bajo Rumenol we were desperate and we asked a village yokel (honestly he was definitely a "yokel") and he said camp where you like, "On the beach?" "Yes" "On the front?" "Yes". So we set up our tent right on the edge of the beach facing out on to a gorgeous little bay with boats bobbing (well thrashing about really as the wind howled the whole time we were there; we are grateful that our tent seems to thrive in gale-force winds). The main activity seemed to be seaweed collecting for which the ever-present oxen were an essential feature: they dragged the boats into the water and then pulled them out and ferried the seaweed to the drying area. If you ever need to make an ox go in reverse you take your bamboo and you beat him hard on the bridge of his nose and he rapidly retreats; he seems to bare you no grudge and will go forward again with gentle prods. Sheila was again in seventh heaven with free camping; no one bothered us and really most of the time there was no one around; one evening we completely re-arranged our living room furniture and moved our chairs up to a grassy knoll out of the wind and following the sun. Very relaxing.

Chile is still a funny mixture of the first and "other" worlds: driving down the motorway it is not uncommon to see a horse and cart coming towards you (maybe on the wrong side); the villages are full of nattily dressed men on their horses with very smart white straw hats and many fields are being tilled with oxen or horses; there is still a relaxed pace of life (although not in Santiago!) and everywhere is the Latin friendliness and casual view of rules.

From our beach "resort" we started our trek to the north as we have to meet up with Simon at 6.30am tomorrow morning (the 29th Nov). We had another night on the coast (nearly free and deserted in a beautiful cove) and a free night on the banks of a river when we were getting a little desperate as it was getting later and later.

And yesterday we arrived in the big bad city of Santiago and immediately the bad words flew thick and fast as we got totally lost on the ring roads but we did stumble over Toyota (as opposed to driving round and around trying to find it) who have ordered a new window (the one I broke when I locked the keys in the car). We are staying in a very reasonable hostel and as I write this Sheila is sitting in the kitchen chatting to other travelers. We are slightly nervous at picking up Simon as we have to make sure we find just the right surf for his highness and just the right "tipico" food in just the right lodgings; his lordship is very particular!
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