Off to the Lake District of Chile and to view the glaciers of Patagonia
Nov 12, 1999

Hola todos, We hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend and got at least one day off from work.

We just returned from a three days at the coast, taking a break from our adventures in a holiday-weekend beach town called Isla Negra. The town has the museum and home of Pablo Neruda, the famous Chilean poet and eccentric. Quite interesting and beautiful.

Santiago is beautiful (mostly because of the fact that we haven't seen any of the so called smog that usually blankets the city). There are numerous city parks, museums and statues. We visited a very old winery, Viña Cousiño Macul, close to the heart of the city. Wine is super cheap here and very good.

The residents of Santiago and most of Chile, are very friendly and very nice dressers, lots of Spanish and European influence, much different than the poorer countries to the north.

We are enjoying the big supermarkets and endless choices while shopping. Plus a travel agent that is helpful, we changed our flight out of Buenos Aires to Dec. 11, allowing us more time in Chile.

Lately we've been staying in hostels/homes where we can cook. It's been fun to make pasta with other travelers, instead of eating out like usual, though we don't miss washing dishes.

The weather here is quite warm, strange to be in the southern hemisphere, and have the days long and sunny in November. There are lots of Christmas decorations and Santas basking in the sun of store windows and buildings.

Tonight we take an 11 hour night bus to Pucon in the lake district. It is a big adventure hiking, trekking, volcano climbing town on Lago Villarrica and next to Volcan Villarica. The volcano is an easy day hike, but it is currently erupting, so we are not sure as to how close we can get.

We will spend 10 days around the lake district and the folklore and densely forested island of Chiloe, before getting a 4 day ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, past icebergs and fjords and the wonders of Patagonia. It is suppose to look similar to Alaska and we are looking forward to hiking in Torres del Paine national park and Fitz Roy in Argentina.

We will then visit the most southern island, Tierra del Fuego, before returning north and eventually up to Buenos Aires for our new December, 11 flight to Auckland, New Zealand.

Lots to due and see in the next month. Thanks again for your great updates, hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey day. We will miss cooking and enjoying our annual meal with our friends, however.

Love,
Linda and Mike

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