Out of Patagonia

Goodbye Patagonia.

Our first ferry (a 5-hour ride from Caleta Gonzalo to Pichicolo) left right on time at 5PM.

At sunset, from our ferry

Incredibly huge ferns in Pumalin N. P.

We had secured a cabaña not far from Pichicolo, since we were not getting in until past 10PM, but finding it was quite the ordeal. The place had no signs, and it actually was set a considerable distance off the main road. We had to knock on the door of a house in no-man's-land at such a late hour to ask for directions, but the gentleman was ultra kind and told us to take the next turn. The small road he indicated was awful. Having rained all day, it was quite tortuous, unlevel, narrow, extremely rocky and muddy. We did not believe it would lead to a house, but it did, and it was the right place. There was a second home on the property, which was to be our place for the night, and it turned out to be quite decent. We had to carry our suitcases for quite a distance, in the dark, on soaked grassy ground, with three dogs escorting us; but all is well that ends well.

View from our bedroom window, this morning. It's absolutely in the middle of nowhere.

This morning, we set out at 9AM. By 10AM we had reached Puelche, where we boarded our second ferry, a much shorter ride this time, lasting only about 45 minutes.

And with that we were out of Patagonia, and back onto Chile’s mainland, heading to the yet undiscovered (for us) town of Valdivia.

There, we checked into a resort hotel, to make up for all the cabaña stays while in Patagonia. The place is lovely, overlooking the Calle-Calle River, it has a lovely garden, a massive pool, and all the amenities you would want.

View from our window in Valdivia, with limited view of the gardens

The afternoon and early evening turned out to be delightful.

Singing an Italian song in Spanish (Il cuore e' uno zingaro)

Chilean navy submarine

Puppeteering Elvis

Away from Patagonia, the sun was now shining, and along the river, several sea-lions were lounging on the sidewalks, making a display of themselves; we sat there watching them for a long time, as well as the hundreds of vultures fighting for fish remnants discarded by the few fishmongers working at the market on a Sunday.

Just chillin'

He's pondering: "Should I?"

"Hmm, let me take a closer look"

"Oh well, Oookay..."

"Hey Joe, is this how you pictured your life when you were young?" "Yeah, pretty much".

It's almost time for bed in the Southern Hemisphere.

Tomorrow, we have plans to drive up to Concepcion, a university city. We have seen so much nature lately that it’s time we get a little cityfied. Ciao for now.