My New Favorite Place

By William on Tue, Oct 28th 08 at 09:26AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Southern Chile.

I absolutely love it.

And we're not even to the good stuff yet.

I was impressed by Puerto Montt when I first saw it. A town about the size of Lexington on a bay of the Pacific Ocean. The bay is beautiful and blue. It's not a fishing port, so there are almost no boats in sight except the Navimag tour boat which goes out a couple times a week.

In the distance above the skyline of the city are the snowcapped peaks of distant mountains, the start of Patagonia, reminding me of the adventure soon to come.

The public transportation continues to impress. On Sunday we caught a nice little bus to the town of Puerto Varas a half hour away. The ticket was roughly a dollar.

Puerto Varas is officially my favorite city we have found on the trip. It is a small town of roughly 50,000 people located on the southern tip of the picturesque Lake Llanquihue. There are two massive snow capped volcanoes dominating the opposite shore of the lake and the water is crystal clear.

After eating our lunch on the little peninsula by the town square we decided to go rent a kayak to take out on the lake. We rented one for an hour, but it ended up being 30 minutes of struggling to not flip over followed by 30 minutes of enjoyable kayaking, once we finally got the hang of it. I don't know if the kayak was lousy or it's just totally different in a 2 person kayak, but I've never had that much trouble keeping a kayak upright.

Later we watched katakers who actually know what they're doing, and wind surfers ride the breeze into the distance. Hanging out in that town I felt like I could spend a long time living there. It's in a beautiful location, the people are friendly, and it's just a bus ride away from some of the most awesome mountains in the world. Kayaking, climbing, backpacking, fishing, all within easy reach. It feels like the kind of place I'm meant to be.

Of course, I've only seen a tiny fraction of the world at this point, so I'm sure it won't be the last place I find where I want to stay, but it certainly seems perfect to me now.

« Take a Bus in Chile

To the Mountains »

Comments

Ryan wrote on October 28th 08 at 09:37AM

The more and more I read from you and Sam about Chile it really does sound like a great place to visit, I must add Chile to my list of places to go visit for sure!

Daniel wrote on October 28th 08 at 09:40AM

And after living there for a year, you'd be fluent too!

Scott wrote on October 28th 08 at 09:44AM

I just made chili the other night for dinner! I put a some green and red peppers in it, too. It was delicious!

... but somehow, I think my chili doesn't quite stack up to your Chile.

David P wrote on October 28th 08 at 05:34PM

Hey William- great to hear you found a place that feels like home. I'm excited to hear about your adventures here...make it count!

Bruce in Spain wrote on October 30th 08 at 10:46PM

I'm surprised that the treatment of Americans is so friendly in Chile. Apparently then, it's only their government that has a problem with the US, much like Venezuela and Bolivia these days. I must say that the Chilenos I've met visiting in Spain where I have lived for almost 16 years now have been as warm, friendly and "human" as one could want. Their pronunciation of Spanish is so different from here that it seems to be almost a dialect! Don't you and Sam often have difficulty understanding them? Which of you two speaks Spanish better?

SammyK wrote on October 31st 08 at 03:19PM

@Bruce in Spain: Yeah, all the Chileans we've met - in big cities and little towns as well have been super friendly. Most of them are really interested in learning something about our culture in the States.

And yes, they certainly have a unique dialect. I speak conversational Spanish and it is very hard for me to understand Chileans at times. I learned Spanish in Guatemala, so Chilean Spanish is like a different language to me. My main difficulty has been understanding older people. However, I'm getting better at understanding them. I just need to live here for a few months! :)

Hey - we'll be in Spain in several months. Let me know if you want to meet up somewhere.

abby kunes(aunt) wrote on November 6th 08 at 12:04PM

William and Sam We have a couple in our church that lived in Spain for 10 years as workers of Campus Crusade. They said if you need contacts or families to stay with let me know as they can help out. love your stories,videos, and photos. Great job, Always praying for your safety through your adventures. Abby