Week 37: Chiloe Island, La Ensenada, Valparaiso; Chile
Monday 9/26: 

We woke up a bit later than planned, ate cereal for breakfast, and then packed our bags. The weather was a bit rainy so we decided to wait it out. However the rain got worse and the kind hostel owner called to the other side of the island. It was raining there as well and bad conditions for camping. So we decided to stay another night in a cozy room rather than camping in the rain. The hostel owner shared his lunch of meat and beets with us. It was delicious. Eventually we wandered through the rain down to town. We visited the famous church which is made almost entirely from wood. The museum was closed and we couldn’t find anything else to do. So we bought some deserts and found a collectivo (shared taxi) which took us up the long hill near our hostel. We bought a few grocery items and then stayed in our hostel for the rest of the night. I made spiral noodles with tomato sauce for dinner and it was excellent. We watched some tv together and then headed to bed. 

9/27:

The next morning we decided against camping. Sarahi wasn’t feeling the best and we were worried about mud or more rain. So we hopped on a bus and crossed the island in an hour and a half arriving at Chonchi. We entered the national park and hiked for a bit but weren’t super impressed. There’s a beautiful beach to the north of the park but 20 kilometers one way makes for a long day and we didn’t arrive until noon. And we had heard of the Muele de las Almas (point of souls I think) and decided to head there. It’s at least 15 kilometers south of the park and there’s no public transport. So we sat by the road hitchhiking, because without a lift we could never walk the whole way and back before the last bus back to our room. Eventually we did get a lift but only for a couple miles. Then we set off on a long hike and realized we did not have enough time to walk there and back before the last bus or even darkness. Luckily a nice Chilean couple picked us up and we all went to the Muele de las Almas together. From the parking lot it was still a 45 minute steep hike in mud but the views were great. Eventually we reached the destination, took a bunch of pictures, ate a picnic, and rested before heading back. We set off walking down the road again and after several miles the same nice couple picked us up! They really saved us twice. They drove us to northern part of the 20 km long and very wide beach. It was beautiful but super windy. In the end the Chileans drove us the whole way back to Castro, where our hostels were. We returned to the hostel and found out that the following day the fisherman/ entire island were blockading the island in protest against government management of fishing areas. Because there are no bridges we were stranded, possibly for days. Luckily the blockade did not begin until 9 am, meaning we could get up at 5 am and make it on a ferry in time. We decided to have one more seafood dinner and went to a nice restaurant on the coast. I had a whole roasted congrio (conger eel) which is delicious and one of the highlights of Chiloe. But Sarahi had 24 oysters au gratin that were so amazing! It was a meal we will never forget. After dinner we hiked the long way back up the hill and were soon in bed after walking over 14 miles in the day. 

9/28:

We woke up at 5:30 in the freezing cold long before the sunrise. We quickly packed any loose items and set off on the long hilly walk to the center of town. We caught the last bus we could and have never been so grateful for a seat on a bus. We fell asleep as the sun rose and then saw the fisherman blockade beginning as our ferry was the last to cross. We arrived in Puerto Montt an hour later and took a quick bus to Puerto Varas. We bought some groceries and then took another bus around the massive lake to a small town on the far side called La Ensenada. This town is surrounded by three volcanos and borders a lake you can barely see the other side of. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We camped essentially on the beach and just at the base of volcano Osorno. It was 75 and sunny and I quickly changed into shorts and a tank top, then of course went barefoot on the sand. The campsite was pretty cheap, had bathrooms with hot water, electricity, a light in the campsite, and even wifi! Not to mention that we were the only campers and the view was incredible! We were in heaven. I swam in the freezing cold lake. We relaxed on the beach and played cards. We drank cheap wine and walked around the tiny town. Then we had the most amazing sunset of our lives. You can look at the pics and judge for yourself! We took hundreds of pictures. For dinner we reheated leftover pasta and sauce and grilled a couple sausages. Though we bought a cooking pot finally, we had no utensils so I had to carve sporks out of driftwood. It was a delicious meal. I drank more wine and fell asleep after one episode of Sarahi’s favorite show Once Upon a Time. 

9/29:

The forecast called for rain so after a breakfast of scrambled eggs, tea, and coffee, we packed up our campsite. After relaxing a bit we rented kayaks to take on the lake. It started sprinkling right as we set off but then stopped and the weather was cloudy but nice for several more hours. We kayaked for about two hours and it was spectacular! The water is blue but extremely clear and there was almost no wind so reflections of mountains on the lake were amazing! We saw a couple fish and several birds, as well as some sort of lake oysters. We returned the kayaks and the owner of the campsite told us about a whitewater rafting trip that afternoon with two open spots. He offered a good price so we said yes. We ate crackers and pate (imagine puréed hot dogs in a can, it’s an Argentinian thing but it’s not for us) and rested until it was time to leave for rafting. The other two rafters were a young couple from Belgium. It was their first time rafting and Sarahi’s second. The river was the same color as the lake and just as cold. It offered beautiful views and solid class three rapids. But the water was freezing, the wet suits did not keep us warm and by the end it was rainy and windy. We were soaked already from the huge waves but we were a bit relieved when it was over. We went back to our campsite for hot showers and fresh clothes. We waited for an hour in cold rain for a bus and headed back to Puerto Varas with our new Belgian friends. We hoped for a night bus to Santiago and arrived at the bus station at 8:55. We were on the bus to Santiago by nine and sound asleep shortly after. It was an amazing time and I will forever miss La Ensenada. 

9/30:

We arrived in Santiago at about 9 am and were on a bus to Valparaiso by 10. We arrived at the Pacific coast again at noon. We walked two blocks to a hostel that luckily had two spots for us. Little did we know but a music festival “Mil Tambores” (thousand drums) was in town for the weekend. There was barely a single room available in the whole city, but we found one slightly overpriced room for the next two nights. Our hostel was on the second floor over a meat shop and there were fruit and veggie stands everywhere. It made the hostel stinky and loud in the mornings but allowed for great eating! After showering and shaving we found lunch nearby and then walked down to the beach. The “beach” was actually huge boulders along the ocean but we watched the sea lion colony just off shore. Sarahi dropped her glasses and they fell down among the massive boulders. We figured they were gone but I managed to climb underneath a few of the boulders and by some miracle found the glasses! We left the “beach” after another hour or two and headed to our hostel. We bought some strawberries for $1 per kilo and snacked. We relaxed at the hostel for awhile and made some new friends. We all hung out for awhile and then Sarahi and I walked to a food truck for some good sandwiches. We went to bed shortly after. 

10/1:

After a decent breakfast I hung out with my new friends and then we packed up our bags. We walked to the market and bought quite a bit of vegetables and fruit, like 10 pounds for $4-5! We also found some great ceviche to go. Our hostel was full so we tried to take an Uber which never arrived. We walked to where we might find a taxi and eventually took a collectivo, which is a complicated shared taxi system based on zones that we can’t seem to figure out. We arrived at a house owned by a nice old lady who loved to talk. We had a nice big room with a comfy bed. We ate ceviche and fruit. Sarahi stayed in for some r&r while I went on a hike. I attempted to go to the beach (an actual but tiny beach) but it was closed. So I walked to the top of one of the many hills in Valparaiso. The view over the harbor was nice. I returned to our place and we bought some groceries. We cooked squash stuffed with cheese, ham, and more. It was great but took a long time to cook. We watched Netflix and drank some wine. We went out to near the center of town and checked out a three story bar with two live bands. One was good the other was bad. It was fun but the party didn’t start until at least 1 am and we were too tired to continue for long. We took a bus close to our place and walked back. 

10/2: 

We slept in after our late night. The woman of the house made us breakfast. Then we made some great sandwiches with tomatoes and avocados for the road. We walked down to the nearby road where the all day parade of the festival was taking place. We were surprised to see many women with pretty much nothing but body paint dancing in the parade. There were hundreds of groups and thousands of members of the parade. The street on both sides was packed with people. It was an awesome time and we stayed until the parade ended around eight. We enjoyed our sandwiches and some beer and bought some fries. We took pictures of the sunset and then headed back to our place. I ate leftover sandwiches, we watched more Netflix, and went to bed.

 
It was an amazing week! One of my favorites. We saw so many different landscapes and types of people. We moved around a lot and did quite a bit but it was all worth it! If you ever go to Chile definitely check out La Ensenada! Chiloe Island is amazing as well.