Three Months in Chile

Isabel and I spent three months in Chile from mid-March until mid-June. This trip was followed by a couple of weeks in northern Argentina. We had visited the country before but not this area (Jujuy).

We flew from San Jose, Costa Rica through Panamá, then onward to Santiago, Chile. Of course, Santiago was a highlight but there were many other surprising highlights throughout the trip.

On our first visit to Santiago, we stayed in a couple of apartments with excellent views.

The Andes of course to the west. Visible from almost anywhere in Chile and certainly from Santiago.

Gran Torre Santiago is the tallest building in Chile and sits right in the middle of Santiago. A dizzying height if you stand at the bottom and look up toward the top.

On our first visit to the city, we visited some of the more impressive sights. Sadly as with the indigenous in many Central and South American countries, these groups were driven to virtual extinction by the Spanish conquerors.

After Santiago, we flew south to Puerto Montt. From there we rented a car and drove to Isla Chloé. We hoped to see some penguins here but the weather did not favor us on that quest. Our time was short so we had to move on.

To get to Isla Chiloé, we rented a car in Puerto Montt. We drove from there to the ferry which crossed a short inlet with us and our vehicle. Isa on the ferry.

Puerto Montt is located about halfway down the skinny country of Chile. From there, we began our bus rides to the north spending a few nights in smaller towns and cities along the way.

Our first top to the north was in Puerto Varas at the southern end of the Lakes Region. We liked this small city sitting on the edge of a beautiful lake, Lago Llanquihue. Easily could have spent more time here, but we needed to keep moving to the north.

Our next stop was Valdivia, another small city which we liked. Valdivia has a couple of rivers running through it and is very near the Pacific Coast. Valdivia is a standout in Chile as the home of one of the favorite beers brewed in the country, Kunstmann. They produce a wide variety of beers from light to dark and, naturally, we had to try a few. Unfortunately, I must have accidentally deleted the photos of the restaurant and of us trying the beers.

Here is a photo of the museum.

From Valdivia we pursued our journey to the north continuing to move through the Lakes Region and a tad more inland. The two towns of Villarica and Pucón are at each southern corner of Lake Villarica. We enjoyed walking the steets of the two town. The Villarica Volano is visible from the towns along with a few other volcanoes toward the Andes.

Villarica Volcano

Volcán Villarica

That concludes this post with more to follow soon. Sorry if there is a duplication of notifications, but I cannot tell if the automatic notifications are going out. Consequently, I send a notice to each person who has signed up for them.