boats » Roaming Ryan

Colorful boats in Ancud, Chile

Ancud and Chiloé Island are absolutely verdant so it is no surprise that they get about 300 rainy days each year. Our first full day in Ancud was just that. Somewhere between a drizzle and a mist. The good news is that it was light enough to be tolerable for some sightseeing around town.

Wooden models of the UNESCO churches

One of the priciple attractions on Chiloé are the UNESCO listed wooden churches that dot the island. There is a nice little museum in Ancud that discusses the very clever carpentry techniques that were devised to build these impressive structures. Another draw of the island is the scenic coastline that is dotted with colorful houses.

Since we only had two full days on Chiloé, we once again opted to rent a car to see some of the surrounding countryside. Seeing the island using public transportation is certainly doable but it takes a bit more time. We picked up another Chevy Corsa (the budget car of choice in S. America I am learning) from a local rental argency for about 50USD for 24-hours which included a generous 450km. Our little hatchback included my newly-appreciated feature: power steering!

Pink fog as the sun sets

Despite the setting sun, we decided to make a dash for the Faro Corona (lighthouse) at the end of the Lacuy Peninsula west of town. We made it there about 30 minutes after sunset and found ourselves in front of a closed gate at a dead end in the road. A guy in a naval uniform came out and told us that the visitor center had closed a few hours earlier and that we should come back the next day. Bummer, we thought.

Just as we were about the jump in the car for the hour drive back to town, his commander leaned out the window of one of the buildings and shouted something along the lines of “oh, just let them in!” A short while later one of the officers was giving us a private tour of the facility. It was foggy and drizzly but that made the lighthouse even more spectacular.

We learned that the lighthouses are staffed by naval officers who are on a four month rotation. The man showed us photos of some extremely remote lighthouses where he had been stationed in the past. One of them was perched on a jagged rocky island somewhere in the middle of nowhere, only accessible by boat then helicopter. What a crazy place to live! In addition to maintaining the lighthouse and fog horns, the officers are also responsible for tracking ships once they depart for the open ocean. If they don’t come back on schedule then help will be sent.

Ancud, Chiloé Island, Chile
Colorful boats in Ancud, Chile	Penguina by the sea				The sun sets on our first day in Ancud
	Amy enjoying the view from the sunroom at the hostel.	Wooden models of the UNESCO churches		Some crazy carpentry
A kingfisher	Man gathering seaweed. He said it was for use on your hair or scalp.	Steamer ducks and gulls	Lawn mowers	Pile of sleepy dogs

	On the way to Lacuy Peninsula	Pink fog as the sun sets		Xenon lightbulb for the lighthouse

4-lane highways. Welcome to Chile!

The day after our trip to El Bolsón it was time for us to cross the Andes to a new country for the both of us – Chile! One of the classic ways to cross is the famous “cruce de lagos” which is a full day of switching between buses and boats as you trace your way across the mountain range. Unfortunately, this trip is quite expensive and from what we read the quality of the experience is highly weather dependent. To save some precious pesos we bought a Bariloche to Puerto Montt bus ticket for about 30USD each from the ever-present Via Bariloche.

A foggy morning at the top of Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass.

I had visions in my mind of a harrowing 14,000ft mountain pass on a gravel road but in reality the Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass is pretty tame: below 1300 meters and beautiful tarmac the whole way. About an hour of the journey is spent on border formalities and most of that was on the Chilean side. Chile is very protective of their agriculture and import bans on fruits, vegetables and animal products are strictly-enforced. At the border they completely unloaded the bus and ran all the bags through the xray. Meanwhile they have a working dog sniffing the ins and outs of the bus. It was impressively thorough, I have to say.

Our bus on our boat.

Within thirty minutes of our arrival in Puerto Montt we were already on another bus headed south to Ancud on Chiloé Island. The total journey (8 USD) takes about three hours and maybe 30 minutes of this are spent on a drive-on, drive-off ferry. Cruz del Sur, the bus company, also operates the ferries so the timing is nicely orcestrated and wait times are minimal. The water crossing was smooth and we even managed to spot a few penguins. We pulled into Ancud around 5PM and made our way to an excellent hostel (Hostal Mundo Nuevo) on the waterfront that was to be our home for the next three nights.

Dinner at the hostel.

Bariloche to Chiloé Island
A foggy morning at the top of Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass.	Amy crashed out on the bus to Puerto Montt.	4-lane highways. Welcome to Chile!	Our bus on our boat.		Penguins!
Pulling in to port on Chiloé	Hostal Mundo Nuevo – a wonderful waterfront hostel in Ancud	Dinner at the hostel.

After a brief one-night stay in Bariloche to get our bearings we rented a newish base-model Chevy Corsa. When I say base-model, I mean it. No aire acondicionado, no power locks, no power windows and, best of all, no power steering. Good times! On the plus side, it did have a Sony radio that could receive AM, FM and shortwave. Renting cars in Argentina is pretty easy with a US drivers license though you do have to be cautious of the prices. They may be higher than advertised (~10%) if you aren’t paying cash.

Setting out from Bariloche we followed the famous Siete Lagos drive to San Martín de los Andes. The drive is less than 200km but it took us a good six hours. Part of this was due to the fact that you have to stop every 5-10 minutes to enjoy the views. Another reason was the condition of the dirt road which comprises about one third of the route. We had to be cautious with our vehicle’s generous 8 inches of ground clearance through areas where there was construction. The great thing is that there were very few other cars out that day. Based on the number of companies hocking tours of the route, I gather that the road is packed with tour buses in high-season.

Along the way we quickly lost track of the number of lakes we had seen or their names so I’m not even going to try to reconstruct that for you. I think the photos below will give you the general idea though.

In the next few days I will be posting more about our time in San Martín de los Andes including my special birthday dinner. We are back in Bariloche now but will be saying goodbye to Argentina tomorrow as we plan to take a morning bus across the Andes to Puerto Montt in Chile. After a hopefully brief connection we will be off to the town of Ancud on Isla Chiloé.

Siete Lagos Drive
Ruta 231 heading north out of Bariloche	Our base model Chevy. Stick shift with no power steering.


		A lizard!

Rise and shine! 7AM departure

Each night at Bahia Bustamante, the staff goes over the planned excursions for the next day. They tailor the schedule each day based on weather conditions and the guests’ interests. As luck would have it, conditions were looking to be perfect for a boat trip to the nearby islands early the next morning. We were told to be in front of the village cantine at 7AM.

We met with one other couple and our guide and then climbed into a well-used Land Rover for the short drive to the boat. Matias, whose grandfather founded the village, was already there prepping the boat for departure. We grabbed some life vests and off we went.

The winds were calm that morning so we had a very smooth ride out on the Caleta Malaespina. We visited a total of four or five islands during the three hour trip and saw a huge variety of birds as well as many lobos marinos (sea lions).

The Magellanic penguins were definitely a highlight even though we only were able to see adults. The juveniles left for the open ocean a few weeks ago. It was also fun to watch the sea lion pups chasing each other around both on land and sea while their mothers slept lazily nearby. Below are many more pictures from the boat excursion.

Bahía Bustamante – Day 2 (Boat Excursion)
Rise and shine! 7AM departure		Sunrise as we made our way out on the Caleta Malaspina
			Magallenic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus)

				Steamer ducks and a lone penguino	Either a juvenil or a molting adult
Lobos marinos (sea lions)	Two females have a conversation.
	The king of the island. Adult male sea lion.	It was quite entertaining to see him scratching himself like a dog.
Apparently the sea lions leave the birds alone.					Imeperial Comorants (white necks) and Black Neck Comorants