Puerto Varas

We take the 2 hour flight from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt. From there it is a thirty minute drive to Puerto Varas. To be honest we did not put a lot of research into this part of the trip. We regarded it as very much a stop off for some R&R but I have to say Swoop Patagonia have come up trumps. The hotel – Cabaña Del Lago -is wonderful. It is built in an alpine style and set on a hillside overlooking the bay.

Our room has a large picture window with super views by day and night.

Puerto Varas is within the Chilean Lake District and set on the shores of Lake Llanquihue facing the 2650m snowy peak of Osorno Volcano. It has been dubbed Chile’s ‘City of Roses’, and was settled by German immigrants in the 1850s. Each family was given 70 acres of land but this was not the gift it seemed. They would have had a very hard time indeed. The area was densely forested so needed to be cleared by hand with axes. It took two generations to fully establish a comfortable settlement here. As a result you could mistakenly think you were in a lakeside resort in the Black Forest.

We have three nights here so decide to take it easy on our first day. We eat in the hotel and have an early night. Next day we wait in reception for our guide, who will be taking us to the Alerces Andino National Park, which is comprised mostly of dense temperate rainforest. One in three species here is found nowhere else.

The alerce is a tree which grows up to 60m high and lives for several thousand years. Alerce wood is both water and insect-resistant, which made it a prized commodity for construction and ship-building. Heavy logging led to the trees becoming endangered until the alerce was declared a national monument in the 1970s. They can be seen in several parks around the Chilean Lake District, but Alerce Andino has the greatest concentration of alerce forest, which covers almost half its area.

We have a leisurely walk, so have time to observe and talk about the varied flora and fauna.

There are other larger trees here too.

This is a beautiful place and all the time we can hear the gurgle of water as we walk along beside the river – the Rio Chaico, which every so often affords us tranquil scenes…

and a rather lovely waterfall…

After the falls, there seems to be a never ending series of stairs. We eventually make it to the top, with a few breathers on the way, and arrive at what is thought to be the oldest Alerce tree at 3000 years old. It is quite something and very similar to the giant redwoods that we saw in California in the summer.

Then it is back the way we came. Our guide Manuela is wonderful company and a wealth of knowledge about the history of Chile, as well as the plants and birds that we encounter. She has brought us salads for lunch which are excellent. We sit in a picnic area where we watch caracaras and a black-headed thrush.

As we walk back to the car there are a pair of Patagonian foxes. They are pretty relaxed and I manage to follow them on foot and get relatively close.

On the way back to Puerto Varas we see hundreds of brightly coloured beehives. This is obviously important business here.

Manuela recommends a restaurant to us – La Vinoteca and kindly books us a table. It is only a short stroll from the hotel and is a total delight. The view, food, staff are all quite excellent. The patron is charming and clearly loves wine. He has a large wine shop attached to the restaurant. He is therefore very knowledgeable and we drink some rather nice Chilean wines. As we leave there is a super view of Osorno Volcano and looking for all the world like Mt Fuji!

Next day we explore the town a little. It is summer break and this is very much a holiday resort where the wealthy from Santiago come to relax. We sit in the square, where a local band are performing. They are very good and we enjoy their Chilean music.

It is pretty windy and we hope the balloon seller has attached the balloons securely to herself.

We wanted to find somewhere authentic for lunch but were having very little success when we suddenly saw a tiny, but beautiful garden tucked into a corner behind some rather unassuming restaurants. We take a look and have found another gem. What a perfect spot for an Aperol spritz and avocado stuffed with king crab. Yum. Oh we might have had some white wine too!

We have loved our time here. It was exactly the break we needed after the full on action and physical exertion of the puma tracking. We finish off the day by returning to La Vinoteca. It was so good last night. “If it isn’t broken, don’t mend it.”