Off to a bright and early start. I got up at 5 AM this morning and began getting ready. I showered, packed up the rest of my things, ate breakfast and was ready to go at 6 AM. Marshall arrived at 6:30. We were waiting when he arrived, threw his stuff in the back of the truck and got on the road. It was too early for me to really realize what was going on, but once I woke up, the scenery was amazing. I was really dreading the 12 hour drive that they had warned me of so I had planned to sleep as much as I could. Sleep was near impossible. I did fall asleep a couple of times but awoke shortly after to another photo opportunity. We saw all kinds of things. The first major town we drove through, Nacimiento, was home to the largest paper mill in Chile. All of its residents were either workers at the mill or family of a worker. The most amazing part of this town was the logs that were piled all around the mill. The piles of logs made the machines moving them look much like matchbox cars. The number of trees that had to be cut down to supply this factory must have cleared multiple forests. while it was quite amazing it was also quite sad. It really makes you think twice about the paper that you so quickly take for granted.
A little further up the road was the small town of Angol. Ivan had some work the he needed to do in this area so we dropped him off at one of the local businesses and took off to explore. The first stop was the plaza. In Chile all of the towns have a central plaza, Angol was a little different, we were told. This plaza was not round like all the others and it was not the central point of the town. The next stop was a little pottery store that was closed the first time we stopped, so we went on to a park that had a small museum, a hostel, and a garden store. Walking through the museum we saw many things that displayed the native Chilean culture from the plants and animals to burial rituals and ancient tools. It was quite interesting to talk to Pancho and Odaly about their land and family history. We also had a lot of fun with the fact that the founder of the museum was a Michigan State Alumni. Go BUCKS!!! Oh and another thing, the guys name was Lytle. It’s kind of a small world sometimes.
After Angol it was a long drive only stopping once for gas and a bathroom break. Along the way we traveled through the mountains, the woods and many other types of scenery. One thing that was pointed out to us many times were the many volcanoes that were along the way. I had no idea that there were so many volcanoes in Chile. While most of them are not active we passed several along the way that are active, and one that is erupting. The large number of volcanoes in Chile are due to the tectonic plates that cause all the earthquakes in Chile.
After a 7 hour driving marathon we finally stopped in a small city named, Llanquihue. This city was settled by Germans and over half of the population are German. It was a very interesting city because nothing here was like anything else in Chile except for the fact that everyone was speaking Spanish. The buildings were different, the houses were different, the people looked different, and even the streets were different. One the that was absolutely beautiful about this city was the fact that it was right on the banks of lake Llanquihue, a huge beautiful lake surrounded by mountains (we were parked in a garage while here so I was unable to get any good pictures). We got some last minute supplies for the weekend and it was back on the road. Next stop, Puerto Montt, the location of the ferry to the Island of Chiloe.
The ferry was a lot of fun, but it was cold and quick. We got on the boat a little late so the sun was not as warm as it had been all day plus we were about 12 hours south of where we started (We are in the southern hemisphere so going south takes you further from the Equator and it gets colder). We decided that this drive would have been equivalent to driving from Florida to Kentucky in the States. I was amazed at how blue the water was, the beaches were gravel not sand, and there were cliffs everywhere (Another product of the tectonic plates). I was really hoping to see some cool wildlife, but only saw what we think were sea lions on in the distance, we were also a little distracted by the views of the island and the ferry approached its dock.
So now we are finally on the island but our trip is not over yet, we still have two more hours. This surprises me because as Marshall and I are following along on our map we see that we only have like 80 more kilometers and the average speed to this point has been about 100 km/hour, you do the math. About 2 more kilometers down the road we found out why it was going to take two more hours, the road went from pavement to gravel/dirt. Our velocity dropped drastically. Two brain rattling hours later, we had just missed hitting 2 cows, 1 bull, a horse and buggy, and almost filled our memory cards, but we had arrived which was great because we were just in time for dinner. The feast had begun, the rest of the weekend would be spent full. It is rude to refuse food or drink and my Abuelos offer A LOT of food and drink. I knew I was in for quite the experience when the first things they told us were how to turn on the hot water and not to flush toilet paper. Marshall and I had our own house so we parted from the rest of the family and watched a movie before going to bed.
I really like my family, but Pancho is quite the character. I could write another whole blog entry just on him, in fact I may do that some other time. I think he may have driven me crazy if it were just he and I, thank God Marshall came along.
