Ecodislandia

I apologize for the delay in posing the rest of our adventures in the South. There was so much I could write about it was a bit overwhelming to sit down and begin!

I believe I left off last time just before we got onto the bus towards the Andes, and Parque Huilo-Huilo. Well, traveling to the park was rather uneventful, and we spent most of the time wiping fog from the window so we could see the towns and countryside through the continuous rain. The bus dropped us off right at the driveway of a cluster of cabanas, “Patagonia Mawida,” which were tucked into the forest edge along the upper banks of an astoundingly beautiful river. Not quite the rugged beauty of a remote volcano, where we had been expecting to hike that week, but neither of us had any complaints. The photos will describe it much better than I can.

The enchanting “bosques”, or forests, formed the thread connecting our adventures here. As I’d mentioned earlier, the towns and farms in this region of Chile resemble the Pacific Northwest. But the forests are something else all together. Imagine a place similar to the temperate rainforests of the Olympic peninsula, dripping with moss and lichens, which has been sucked into an old German storybook. Complete with illuminated letters. Perhaps it was more entrancing with the intermittent rain and near-total absence of other tourists, but I kept being awed by its grandeur and mystery.

In our three days we were able to explore these forests, the rivers, and the astounding waterfalls both on foot and from one of the glacially-carved lakes which give this region its name. The highlights included a full afternoon hiking, bird-watching, and bushwhacking in the park (technically you are supposed to pay a guide, but we picked up an adorable dog at the entrance, named him Guia, and paid him in Salami at lunch…so we weren’t really poaching the trail, right?), as well as a second afternoon aboard a barge to traverse across Lago Pirehueco. You can see more in the photos.

So, you might be wondering why I titled this post “Ecodislandia”? Again, I’ll have to point you to the web-album so you can fully understand. But to whet your curiosity, I’ll tell you that this private reserve, covering roughly 250,000 acres of mostly-native forest, was set up for high-end tourism (and of course, conservation).

Proper guests (we were NOT proper guests) can stay at either Magic-Mountain Hotel, aptly described by Lonely Planet as “Frodo-Approved” or next door at Bao-Bab Hotel and Spa, which is supposed to resemble an inverted treehouse (I think?). Or if you can’t quite afford those lush digs, as they cost roughly $900 for a minimum of three nights, you can stay in the tree-houses located over the Ciervos (deer) pens. There is a daily feeding of the Jabali (wild-boars), mini-golf, canopy zip-lines, horseback riding, kayaking, trips to hot-springs, ethno-tourism excursions, and more. You get the picture. A true Disneyland for Ecotourists.You can check out more here.

As always, there is so much more I could write about, but if you’ve made it this far I’m impressed. One last note before I sign off – we had our first fall weather yesterday, and when the clouds cleared away we looked towards the mountains…..and saw…..Snow! Winter is a-coming.

*Anna 5 ***Zack 13