Volcanos, hot springs, markets and islands

We spent a couple of days in picturesque Puerto Varas, located on a mountain lake with a view of the almost perfectly conical Osorno Volcano.

The beach in Puerto Varas

Museo Pablo Fierro

Osorno with sailboat

We had this magnificent volcano in view most of our time in town, so on our second day, we obviously had to pay it a visit. After the one-hour drive to the base of the ski area (yes, amazingly you can ski here in winter) we took chairlifts to a final altitude of 1670 m. As is the tendency on the top, it was very cold and windy, totally different than the parking lot where we had striped down to t-shirts in the nearly 30°C heat.

A complete contrast to the windy, other-worldly mountaintop, afterwards we drove to a secluded spot on a nearby river. A tiny, local boat took us across, and after a short hike through the forest we came to the natural hot springs where we had a dip. This area is so secluded that only locals know about it and we plan to keep their secret safe (sorry TripAdvisor). Thanks to Julie for finding out about this amazing spot.

Crossing the river

Grilling by the river

Hot springs by the river

On our way to the Chiloé Archipelago we stopped at the Angelmó market near Puerto Montt. The market is fairly sizable with 100s of little artisanal shops focused on leather and home-made woolen goods, as well as a food market that sells freshly caught seafood.

After the market, we continued our drive and boarded the ferry to Chiloé Island. There we stopped in the town of Castro with its classic palafitas (houses on stilts) and wooden church (the churches on the island are collectively a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

The next day, we visited Chiloé National Park on the Pacific coast where we got to see the natural landscape of the island, including marshland, rainforest and dunes. We were very impressed by these dense, untouched areas as much of the rest of Chiloé has been cleared for agriculture and livestock. Another main “industry” of the island is wool and we saw countless local wool shops in all of the small towns selling everything from socks and gloves, to sweaters and ponchos. Alex’s mom and Julie both found some great items.