Ventured to Puerto Varas and the Lakes
Sowell Family's Travels on Gijima
Skipper: Tim Sowell Admiral Tracy Crew Sean & Alex
Thu 20 May 2010 02:23
so got the family up in the hope of going to Chiloe and island of classic
Chilean experience not far away, after the moans of everyone getting up, we
wandered down the water front in the cool morning as the rest of Puerto
Montt bustled about us going to work. We arrived at the bus terminal to find
no bus, and then to find out there will not be a Chiloe tour today, so
change our plans, and we headed for Puerto Varas on the Lakes about 25 km
away. This is a town "called City of Roses" well it reminded Tracy and I
more of a town on Lake Geneva (different mountains, but buildings and
atmosphere, small but very Germanic. But the clouds were out so we could not
see over the lake to the volcanoes, but it was nice to wander round, and
absorb the atmosphere. The town is very small nestled on the side of the
lake, in what is known as the Lake District of Chile, on Saturday we will be
back here on our way across to Argentina via ferry boat and bus through
Andes mountains, should be great.
On the way home we jumped on the local mini buses and got back to Pto Montt
bus terminal buzzing with activity, as the sun broke through off the coast,
and the Navimeg ferry we had caught south was entering the bay. I have
sorted out a hire car for tomorrow to take on Chiloe Island, as we learnt
through the day that all the local buses and tours have their own different
routes and none seem to do what we want. So we have decided the car hire is
the best, this is certainly often a better way to do off the beat trips, at
your own pace, especially with the kids, we want avoid the markets, and long
delays.
One of the best things we finding both in cruising and land base travel is
the new feature from Lonely Planet Guides that you can buy and download just
selected chapters of different books, eg for this trip I have downloaded
electronic chapter versions from 3 books, everyone else we run into is
lugging around the books. But we now have the electronic versions and only
the areas we are covering, they provide the local knowledge and history and
where abouts, which we do not get in the cruising books (so if you plan
cruising you need a combination of cruising guides and Lonely Planet). In
the old days when I back packed I use to tear out the pages you wanted, as
the book is just dead weight, now I use the electronic read, or if I want
paper I print from a hotel offering free printing capability. (Just a nice
tip for what it is worth).
I am sitting on the roof of my hotel, the sun is out, I have a view over the
water to Chiloe Island, sea is calm, and even up here 16 floors I can see
the bottom, (that is clear). No boats, but the ferry is ready to load, and
the odd small fishing boat pulls in, but the birds circle huge eagle like
birds expecting to catch some scraps.
This afternoon was spent sorting the car hire (means wandering the streets
and negotiating the best car, in this case a car as there seems to be a
shortage), and then when the kids woke from afternoon naps, we did home
schooling using a new set of Kindergarten programs we have for Sean, which
he is really motivated by, and it is pushing him on numbers, adding /
subtracting, letters, and logic. It is interesting to see how well both of
them are progressing and evolving with languages(Spanish) and normal
education, but we have found that every week we need to stop for a day or
two and only do 1/2 day exploring and then have them do basic home
schooling. The ferry was good for this, and this week we will use today, and
Friday, and once you have motivation Sean just eats it up, so the ferries
and plane rides he uses them as well, combined with the reading of stories
to him, or audio books.
So they evolve on we move on.