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CHILE: One end to the other -- Puerto Montt and Santiago |
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Photos by Jack Dodge Click thumbnails for larger photos. |
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We actually started our tour in Puerto Montt, a charming town with volcano views. It is really lovely and friendly, but a bit like visiting Colorado or New England. The heritage is German, from the mid-19th century, so it has a very un-Latin atmosphere. It is a tourist area for South Americans.
The vistas around Puerto Montt include mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, waterfalls (Petrohue Falls shown above). |
We had told the agent that we didn't want to spend time in cities, but we may have missed Santiago's charms, seen here from San Cristabol Hill. A city tour is a must, and next time we'd spend more time there. |
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| PLANNING : Look closely at a map, you'll see that
Chile is 3,000 long, as long as the U.S. is wide, so be realistic about
what you can do in the time you have. We spent a lot of time in the at
the Arturo Merino Benitez airport in Santiago, but it was the best way
to see what we wanted. We had said we wanted to see nature, not cities.
Chile does not emphasize its archaeological sites. Recognize that Chile is a worldly, sophisticated country and, esp. if one spoke Spanish, one could travel quite comfortably on one's own. However, the sites are far about and there appears to be little in the way of tourist facilities in-between. We chose three areas to visit, but there are others that looked interesting, such as the colorful, more rustic Isla de Chloe (if we'd known more about it, we may have chosen it over the Puerto Montt area) or the Wine Country. In spite of their rocky political history, Chileans we met gave the impression of being sure of themselves and the future of their country. Even the drivers seemed saner than others we've seen in Latin countries. The fabulous Easter Island (Isla de Pasqua or Rapa Nui) belongs to Chile, but is about 5 hours flight out to sea. If you've wanted to see the mysterious "giant heads," flying from Santiago is a good chance to do so. Give yourself at least three nights there. We'd suggest as many as five nights. |
| GROUP VS. INDIVIDUAL TRAVEL: You may have already
noticed, if you're inundated with group travel brochures, Chile is
virtually absent from them. We ended up having the advantages of a group
tour with the joyous freedom of being on a private trip. Once we had a rough idea what we wanted to see we contacted about three firms that offered trips to Chile on-line. One was Mila Tours, out of a suburb of Chicago, which we had seen advertised for years in Audubon and similar magazines. Mila, which specializes in Latin America, came back quickly with a proposed itinerary and, I believe, an estimated price. It was by far the most professional response. (NOTE: Don't be discouraged by their web site, which has a lot of problems.) They worked mainly through Cocha Turismo in Chile. We had English-speaking guides meet us and get us to and from airports at every stop. One could book directly with them, but I think Mila was a better choice, which gave us some special insights and selected add-ons. Between the two of them, things went virtually without a hitch. By the way, we met very few American tourists but many British visitors. |
| LODGING: The Explora Lodges in
Torres del Paine park and near San Pedro de Atacama are very, very
expensive. We stayed at the one in Torres del Paine because it was part
of the tour. I doubt we'd have been as extravagant if we'd done it on
our own. Each day there were planned trips and you took your choice. All
food, wine, drinks were included and top-notch. There are other hotels
in the park, so you may wish to inquire about them. In San Pedro de Atacama, we stayed at the Hotel Terrantai. Done in the local style, it helped make one feel part of the small village, which is used to tourists, but still has that great feel of the "real" Andes. We fell in love with the Jose Noguiera in Punta Areanas, in spite of the tiny, but adequately supplied, double room. The main reasons were the restaurant, the wonderful staff and the beautiful old wooden furniture in the public areas. |
| FOOD: If you like fresh fish, you'll be in heaven in Chile. With its thousands of miles of coast, no place is far from a fresh catch. Be sure to try the Conger eel (actually a type of fish) in butter and garlic sauce. One disappointment was the scarcity of traditional foods. We never did see Pastel del Choclo (a corn and chicken casserole we'd fallen in love with on Easter Island). The cities have many sandwich and snack shops, including some U.S. names. Our final meal in Chle was at a Ruby Tuesday's. |
WE SUGGEST:
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CHALLENGES:
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