Hacienda los Lingues

This is an aficionados paradise. I highly recommend visiting Hacienda Los Lingues.

Hot Springs Termas de Cauquenes

I'm back from my trip down South. It was so beautiful. I am noticing that in the area around Santiago it is even warmer, summer has finally come! I like things in extremes, and I hope you do to. If soaking in 120-degree mineral water in Carrera Italian marble tubs is your idea of a good time, Termas de Cauquenes hot springs resort may be for you. Located in a quiet valley painted with tall, pale green cypress trees, this hotel complex set alongside the rushing Cachapoal River is less than two hours south of Santiago.

Carretera Austral in Southern Chile

This famous stretch of road, which has been dubbed "Pinochet's Folly" after the former dictator, is an adventure in and of itself. It is mostly a single lane gravel road that stretches south from Puerto Montt all the way to Cochrane, followed by Villa O'Higgins.

Reminiscent of the old Alaska-Canada Highway, it passes through the rugged wilds of Patagonia. Ancient forests line the road, with countless pristine streams and lakes to pass, most overflowing with the massive trout that has made Chilean fishing famous around the world. Ferries shuttle vehicles and passengers across the fjords and other areas where the landscape is too extreme to construct a road.

Here is a guide to navigating the Carretera Austral in southern Chile, I hope you find it helpful!

Part I - Puerto Montt to Chaitén.(205 kilometers- 123 miles)

A. Follow Ruta 5, the Pan-American Highway as it hugs the coast, heading south east from Puerto Montt. Enjoy the 20 kms of pavement before you hit the dirt road because it is the last you will see for 1000 kms outside of cities. Follow the road to Caleta Arena (46 kms from Puerto Montt), a tiny settlement dedicated to salmon farming and the northern ferry terminal. Schedules change for the ferry across to Caleta Puelche depending on demand so check at the Transmarchilay office in Puerto Montt before heading out. Though the high season schedule is: La Arena to Puelche every 2 hours starting at 07:45 (until 20:45), Puelche to La Arena every 2 hours starting at 07:00 (last ferry south at 20:00).

B. From Puelche one begins to experience the true beauty of the area. Although the area is inhabited, the drive south to the next ferry is wonderful, with steep, forest-lined mountains providing the backdrop for the ocean side communities along the road. The road enters truly wild areas as it heads inland and winds up into the mountains before descending on the beautiful little town of Rio Negro Hornopirén (104 kilometers from PM). This small town, which is where the ferry leaves for Caleta Gonzalo 4-5 hours to the south, is in one of the most beautiful settings of any place in Chile. Rising majestically behind the town is Hornopirén Volcano (1572 meters), which is the centerpiece of the densely forested National Park of the same name. The impressive panorama is completed by other massive mountains surrounding the village and the open waters of a huge island-filled bay. In town there are simple restaurants, rooms, cabins and camping available, as well as some of the finest (and least well known) fly fishing nearby.

For those with their own vehicle, I highly suggest driving south along the extremely narrow stretch of Ruta 5 until it ends before doubling back and catching the ferry. You will be on a cliff overlooking the ocean on the west and overshadowed by the huge jungle of the temperate rainforest mountains that make the area so outrageous. Waterfalls, granite rock faces, snowy peaks, giant ferns, ancient trees, glacier milk rivers; this is a wonderland. If you have good weather, I suggest getting down and dirty and taking a walk up one of the many vegetation choked canyons that lead in land. A simple 1/2 an hour walk/slog along a river under the dripping canopy will make you understand the inherent value in leaving the few ancient forests that remain in the world as they are. One need not be a tree-hugging environmentalist to be effected by the beauty.

C. The Ferry: Hornopirén to Caleta Gonzalo
Jan.2-March: once a day at 3:00 in the afternoon with Transmarchilay. If you are bringing a car, be sure to make a reservation at the office in Puerto Montt. Cost: a hefty US$17 per person and US$92 per car under 4 meters.

North from Caleta Gonzalo to Hornopirén: once a day at 09:00 in the morning. Same prices.

D. Caleta Gonzalo is the southern entrance to Parque Pumalin, the new park created by U.S. conservationist Douglas Tompkins. There are reasonably priced campgrounds, nice deluxe cabins and a cafe located next to the ferry ramp. The vast majority of the mountainous fjords of the park are inaccessible except by boat, yet one can get an inside glimpse at its treasures around Caleta Gonzalo where there is a fantastic 3 hour hike/slog through the temperate rainforest to a cascading waterfall; a scene that could easily be imagined to be Hawaii. There is also a wonderful (easy) 10 minute trail to a stand of alerces growing 12 kms south of Caleta Gonzalo. This should not be missed by anyone; the opportunity to gaze upon and walk among trees that have been living for 3000 years is truly a powerful one.

The road continues south through more beautiful scenery for 60 kms before arriving at the city of Chaiten, a sleepy, spread out community located on a large flatland on the edge of the ocean and bordered by the Patagonian mountains.

Soon I'll try to write about how to get from Chaitén to Puyuhuapi

Trauco Chile, Chiloe

There is a lot of witchcraft in the south of Chile.

Chile Earthquake, November 2007

Chile just had a major earthquake in the North, I feel sorry for all the victims! Luckily, it didn't happen in a major urban area like Santiago. The earthquake was in the north near a town called Calama. People from Antofagasta, the mining town Maria Elena, and other cities were affected too. Many people are homeless, two have died, and under 200 have been reported injured. The president visited while there were aftershocks. They said that in Santiago, La Paz (Bolivia) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) people could feel the quake. That's big! I've been traveling in the south so I didn't feel anything.

Fishing and Transportation to Patagonia, Chile

Anyone who has traveled in southern Chile knows that the best way to get around is by boat. Traveling by road south of Puerto Montt is nearly impossible because buses running south to Punta Arenas have to do go through Argentina, an exhausting 37-hour trip. Chile has yet to connect the Pan-American highway (which runs the length of the country from Peru south to Puerto Montt) to the Camino Austral (southern highway), which is still under construction. Plus, the road will never go all the way on Chilean soil because of an impassible region of ice and glaciers.

In the future, there will be more transportation options for travelers heading to far southern Chile, but currently there are basically two: flying or taking a boat. For travelers who have a tight travel schedule I would suggest flying. But for those with travel flexibility, the sea route is a great way to go.

The boat from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park, normally takes three days, and passes through an impressive area of fjords and islands similar to the Inside Passage from Vancouver to Alaska. I'd heard plenty of positive feedback about the boat journey, so I decided to get on board. On Dec. 5 my combination passenger and cargo ship left Puerto Montt a day late, after a mechanical failure with a loading elevator was repaired.

The ship roster read like a NATO roll-call. It seemed as if virtually every Western nation was represented, and because wealthy travelers are not patient with delays, the passengers were anxious to get moving. We left Puerto Montt with a picture perfect Chilean sunset.

Everything seemed pleasant and normal until the sun broke on our first morning at sea, when I awoke to the boat rocking and listing. I immediately went up on deck to escape the cramped quarters of economy class. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was one of the first passengers on deck, and was witness to one of the most disgusting processions I've ever seen. The amount of heaving and regurgitation I witnessed can only be rivaled by the annual staggering mass New Yorkers call the Saint Patrick's Day Parade.

Fortunately, many passengers came prepared for seasickness. They took motion pills and applied the latest technology, a motion sickness patch, though neither seemed to really help. Nervousness among the passengers grew when the captain informed everyone that the waves at night in the Gulfo de Penas (Gulf of Sadness, which faces the open Pacific Ocean) would be around 10 meters high (about thirty feet). To everyone's dismay, they were rolling at just 1.5 meters at the time of this announcement.

Needless to say, the night was a disaster. I would say that over 80 percent of the passengers where stricken with varying degrees of seasickness. The previous night's complaints of "When will this boat be moving!" quickly changed to "Why did I get on this boat!?" It's often said that between the southern island of Chiloe and the far end of the Gulfo de Penas the fish are very well fed, and now I now understand why.

As soon as the boat re-entered the protection of the narrows, everyone's spirits began to lift and dinner stayed down. The boat pushed on as we gently rolled through the majestic solitude of the southern fjords of Chile. We arrived in Puerto Natales only a day and a half late.

Overall I had an excellent time and was afforded the opportunity to meet and befriend several other travelers. My time on the boat was certainly memorable and I would recommend the trip as a fun, beautiful and only temporarily ugly international bonding experience. When choosing your passage to Chilean Patagonia, take the time to consider your travel schedule. If you have the time, take the boat. Remember to bring plenty of film, motion sickness remedies (in hopes they may help) and a strong set of sea-legs.

How to go: NaviMag is the only company with boat trips from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. Its ship, the Puerto Eden, departs from Puerto Montt every Monday afternoon between November and April (less often the rest of the year) and returns Thursdays from Puerto Natales. There are several different accommodation possibilities. High season rates (December 2000 to March 2001) range from US$318 for a bunk bed to US$792 for a shared double room (per person) and include all meals. NaviMag also has a luxury cruise ship, the Costa Australis, that goes from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia, on the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego Island.

Austral Adventures (www.austral-adventures.com) and Skorpio, as well as Navimag, have various inside passage trips to the Patagonia coast as far south as Lake San Rafael National Park.

Cheap Flights to Chile: Budget Airlines Reviews, Discount Tickets

Before deciding to move down here to travel and teach English, I did a lot of research on flights to Chile. At first, I didn’t think it would be that hard, but then I started finding out just how much flights to Chile really cost. You see, really inexpensive international flights can be easy to come by – if you’re flying from England to Germany. But if you are flying from Europe or the United States to Chile, it’s a whole different story. To find cheap flight tickets to Chile from Europe, the United States or Australia, you have to scout out the really good deals. I would be flying from L.A. to Santiago, and so I needed to find a definitive provider of cheap flights to Chile. Would I be able to find inexpensive international flights from the U.S. to Chile? It was time for me to find out, so I decided to get serious.

I first started looking for flights to Chile by going online and browsing the Web. Now, when looking to buy stuff online I usually look for consumer reviews of airline flights to Chile, as I know it’s a pretty good way to get the best product. But when I fly, I roll a little bit differently: I don’t care all that much about getting top comfort in the air, what’s most important to me is getting the quickest flight, and ideally the cheapest flight. So I looked for consumer reviews on airline flights to Chile, and reading all the consumer advice about cheap flights to South America was a really educational experience. I found out some really, really interesting stuff that I wouldn’t have learned if I just clicked on the first airline tickets that popped up on the screen.

So basically what I learned is that cheap flights to Chile are totally possible, all through the year. There are a lot of people who say that certain months are cheaper than others, and while there might be some fluctuation, that’s not really a major factor. What is a major factor when you are looking for the best deals on airline tickets to Chile, is knowing where to get them. Because if you subject yourself to the price fluctuations of one or two airlines, then you will miss out on the great deals on cheap airline flights to Chile that being offered by lesser known airlines.

That’s where it became invaluable to compare price reviews on flights going to Chile. What it comes down to is this: the number one mistake with people who buy tickets to fly to Chile, is that they don’t do the research. They are left with the impression that there are only a few carriers like LAN and a couple sketchy low-cost airlines. The reality is that there is an extremely competitive market for flights to South America and Chile. Sure, you won’t have as much selection as if you were flying from the U.S. to Europe, or from Asia to the United States. But you do have choices – more than you might imagine.

When I get going on something, I don’t quit. That’s just how my personality is. I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit it, but I ended up doing quite a lot of research. I looked at all the consumer ratings, reviews and advice on Chile flights, and came up with the following comparisons on which airline tickets are the cheapest.

American Airlines versus Copa Airlines
Just about the only thing that Copa Airlines and American Airlines have in common is that both of these airlines fly to Chile. The rest, they could be operating from different planets. Well, in fact, Copa Airlines is based in Panama – so every flight you take with them between the United States and Chile, or on flights from Chile to Europe or North America, will stop over in Panama. American Airlines is based in the United States, and they are often called North American Airlines, in order to be more specific. In any case, what’s most important is finding out which airline offers the lowest price tickets for Chile flights.

Normally, both of these air carriers can be considered to offer inexpensive flights to Chile, but if you are looking for the cheapest flights to Chile, then you have to watch American Airlines’ Web site like a hawk. Their rates always fluctuate, but it is there that you will find the cheapest flights to Chile – IF you find them in time, and snatch them up. Copa Airlines, on the other hand, will give you a fairly dependable list of cheap flights to Chile, but they rarely drop their fares dramatically in order to offer incredibly low discount flights. That is the domain of American Airlines. So when comparing American Airlines versus Copa Airlines, you’re best bet is to keep a close eye on American Airlines, and if nothing works out with them, you know you can get a pretty good, dependable discount rate on Chile flights .

Taca Airlines versus LAN Chile
I found a lot of consumer reviews that said if you want the most comfortable on Chile Airline flights, LAN Chile is by far the best. But if you want the lowest price on flights to South America, then Taca Airlines is the way to go. A good number of the consumer reviews said that Taca Airlines had really, really bad service, but that the low price made it worth the while. I would have to disagree. First of all, even though I don’t prioritize comfort, I found that Taca Airlines was beyond bad. Secondly, their flights weren’t the most inexpensive that I could find online, by far. If I were to match up both American Airlines and Copa Airlines versus Taca Airlines, the first two would win out by far. They are, hands down, both cheaper and more comfortable than Taca Airlines. So, it’s in that light that I am comparing Taca Airlines versus LAN Chile. LAN is oftentimes the most expensive, there is no doubt about it. But what it has going for it is by far the best airline flying to Chile. But it’s not the cheapest. The cheapest flights to Chile are either on American Airlines or Copa. If you go online and look for special promotions on airline tickets, there are sites where you can find a code and plug it in to get a discount on American Airlines flights to Chile. Those can make your cheap flight even cheaper.

So now that you know how to get cheap, inexpensive flights to Chile at discount prices, here are some links to budget airlines that offer flights to Chile, find a cheap price on a ticket to Chile today!


Lan Airlines - Flights to Chile

Copa Airlines - Flights from United States to Chile

American Airlines - Look for Discount Flights to Chile

Taca Airlines Relatively inexpensive flights to Chile - use this airline as your last resort.

If you're looking for budget airlines in Chile, as in cheap Chilean domestic flights, then here are some helpful resources for researching the best deals on airfare within Chile:

Sky Airline

Aerolineas del Sur

LAN

Browse these carriers for some really inexpensive flights.

Pichilemu Beaches in Central Chile

A sleepy coastal town of about 4,300 residents, Pichilemu transforms into a bustling summer holiday escape for many Santiago residents. Vina del Mar, this is not.

Instead, Pichilemu’s charm lies in its home style seafood restaurants, horse-drawn carriage taxis, early morning vegetable vendors selling their produce on wagons and its tranquil coastline.

While Pichilemu appears like the Chilean "campo" of the coast, it also is an internationally known surfing mecca. Year round, wet-suit-clad surfers from all parts of the world can be seen plying the waves on Pichilemu’s miles of beaches.

One can easily spend a full weekend at Pichilemu exploring and hiking its surroundings or simply sitting back and enjoying its seaside tranquillity. A friend from California described Pichilemu and its coastline as what California once was some 100 years ago.

According to several life-long Pichileminos, Pichilemu is rapidly changing. While its scenic waves are attracting an international clientele, Pichilemu also is enticing Santiaguinos looking for a laid back country alternative to Vina.
Driving into Pichilemu from San Fernando, you arrive at the principal beach, Playa Principal, along the main, tree-lined Avenida Ortuzar. As you look up into town from the beach, you can not help but notice Ross Park — an imposing, well-kept area surrounded by a colorful balustrade enclosing palm, eucalyptus, and pine trees.

To me, it looked more like an overly manicured backyard. I questioned several people and, not to my surprise, it was a backyard. A Chilean entrepreneur and a member of a prominent family, Agustin Ross Edwards, built the park to face his home, which was later converted to the century-old Hotel Ross. The current owner, a woman from Santiago, opted for this more peaceful town to raise her seven children.

The hotel now has been in her family for the last 30 years. The hotel, along with its park and now defunct casino, bear witness to a once grand past. Today, Ross Hotel show signs of many years gone by and possibly a more difficult present.
The building’s beautiful architecture with a once-inside courtyard, French windows, and hardwood floors needs much repair. But the dining room overlooking the park is impressive with high ceilings and detailed wood moldings, housing original turn of the century furniture. I can imagine Mr. Ross entertaining his guests and appreciating the park and the ocean beyond, no doubt drinking pisco sours and eating mariscos.

A similar hotel, though far better maintained and more charming, is the Chile-España Hotel, also a century old, according to its owner. The rooms lie off a lovely interior courtyard. Both hotels are located in the center of town, which only runs about four to five blocks of paved road. The rest of Pichilemu extends southwest along meandering dirt roads. This is the "campo" and tranquil beaches I speak about — cows, chickens, horses, vegetable vendors along a quiet coastline.

The beaches along this southern end of town extend for a few miles, with high cliffs and interesting rock formations, the most notable and well known being Punta de Lobos. Off the rocks of Sea Lion Point, a visitor can spot pelicans, a curious sea lion and, more likely, groups of surfers.

Few of the surfers could tell you much about Chile, but all spoke highly about the intricacies of Pichilemu’s famous surf. For me, waves are waves, some bigger, some smaller. But Punta de Lobos does offer pretty views of the coastline, the cliffs and naturally, the surfers below.

Visitors can take an interesting hike along Cerro La Cruz, tucked in the center of town and visible from Punta de Lobos. Sections of the hill are forested with pines shielding larger summer homes from the winds. At the summit — only a 15-minute walk up — the layout of the town becomes clear. It is fun to explore here as it shows both ocean views and the valley on the opposite side.

If you are feeling curious and hungry, visit the fishing and salt-producing town of Cahuil, a quick 12-kilometer drive south of Pichilemu. This time of year, you can watch the harvest of the salt ponds on the Cahuil Lagoon. Ocean water is trapped in enclosed ponds evaporating the water and leaving the crystallized salt behind.

Cahuil, though a small village, has about seven restaurants, all full for lunch. Apparently, folks from nearby towns come specifically to Cahuil to savor its local fresh seafood. We were treated to a feast of chupes de mariscos, locos, machas a la parmesana, congrio frito and a few bottles of good wine at the Marisol Restaurant.

Pichilemu can be reached either through San Fernando driving east through Santa Cruz to Pichilemu or through Melipilla-Lituenche-Lake Rapel to Pichilemu. The town is less than four hours by car, or slightly longer by bus.