Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Southern Streets

The view from the streets of southern Chile

Villarica


Achao



Ancud


Castro


Pucón


Temuco


The Road to Junín

Sights along the roads to and from Junín de Los Andes, Argentina





Vulcán Lanín


These are "descansos". Souls who die on the highway may rest in them, on their final journey.





In an araucaria (monkey puzzle tree) forest near Vulcán Lanín.




Oceanviews

Views of the Pacific ocean, from Isla Chiloé, Chile.

From the men's room of the ferry from Puerto Montt to Isla Chiloé


Sea lions following the ferry to Isla Quinchao


From the market in Achao...

...and on the beach


The Bay of Ancud




Palafitos in Castro


(Feb. 6, 7, & 8, 2007)

Lagos y Ríos

Some beautiful lakes and rivers in and around the south-central Andes.

Lago Calafquén

(On the beach in Lican Ray, Chile)

Lago Quillelhue

(On the road to the Argentine border & Junín de Los Andes)

Lago Lácar

(From the cliffs near San Martín de Los Andes, Argentina)

Río Chimehuin
(At the park in Junín de Los Andes, Argentina)




(Feb. 1 & 2, 2007)

Monday, September 14, 2009

Temuco

The capital of the Araucanía Region of Chile

La Plaza de Armas...




Street scenes...




(From Temuco, Chile - January, 2007)

Traveler's Tribute



(Airport art in Santiago Airport, Chile - 2/10/2007)

Window Seat

Volcán El Palomo, Chile


Volcán Descabezado Grande, Chile


(On a flight from Santiago to Temuco, Chile - 2/10/2007)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The De-urbanization of Nr. 2 Delicias

A little Photoshop fun with an old house in Achao, Chile...

First, the original:


Now, without the obstructions of modern life:


Did I miss a spot?

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Congordito

I read Condorito comics to practice my Spanish and have some laughs. He's like a Chilean version of Donald Duck, except he also smokes, drinks, chases women; and of course, he only speaks Chilean Spanish. I shopped the cover of his 1st edition (1955) as a joke to share with friends (way) down south. I put a lot of hours into this thing, so I thought I might as well share it with some more northerly Americans too.



Some of the gags might need a little explanation . . . Gordito means “rather fat” or “little fat guy” . . . LAN is the Chilean national airlines . . . The tree on the tee is an araucaria. It's on a lot of Chilean tourist goods . . . and . . . My camera was snatched on my last visit!

Here's the original cover...

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Chile - February 2008

Again, Glowby and Chispa united in Chile for 2 wonderful weeks of vacation. And again, we encountered beautiful weather, scenery, and people; and countless moments of unforgettable fun and relaxation.

Sadly, in the final hours of our trip, my camera was stolen, and with it about 200 pictures of our adventures. So now, I am also a thief. I stole most of this post's pictures from other vacationers who posted their pictures in Google Earth.

If you recognize a picture here as yours, I will remove it if you ask. But I ask for your sympathy with this. (BTW: OUR weather was MUCH nicer, MY pictures were MUCH better, and I fixed your tilted horizons!)

Happily, Chispa took a few excellent shots. Enjoy!


THE BIG PICTURE

Here's a satellite's-eye view of the area we toured...




HORNOPIREN
Where the Rio Negro meets the ocean, on a bay within a bay within a bay, and deeply sheltered by islands and mist-shrouded mountains of rain-forests, is Hornopiren. It's a cool and serene sanctuary for man and beast.


The fastest way to Hornopiren is by ferry. We drove the road to it 3 times! (We had to return to Puerto Montt for more gas.)


The ferry ride was beautiful!


We had amazing views from our cabin! It's typically rainy here, but we had only 1 day of it ... all day. But it was a glorious day!

(Photo by Chispa!)

Usually, it looked more like this...

The Rio Negro rushes noisily into the bay for much of the day, except when the incoming tides almost halted it.

We saw a couple of Andean condors on a huge rock near this place. One of them posed for us, with his great wings opening (while he took a shit!)


We toured a private park at the edge of town that was still being built.


This water wheel rests within the park's jungle, with no apparent source to make it turn.


(Photo by Chispa!)

Our guide led us up a trail through the ferns, along railings of rope stretched between mossy trees, to this lookout.


(Photos by Chispa!)

Hornopiren's central plaza...

...it's a short walk to this little park on the shore

See the horses? Animals roamed freely all around the town: horses, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats. Outside, we all shared the streets, sidewalks, parks, beaches, and especially the plains of lush grass where the ocean's tides met the river.


It's fun to dream!

(Vende = for sale)


FRUTILLAR ALTO

We returned to Temuco from Hornopiren via scenic overland roads, bordered by blackberry vines and seaside salmon farms. We arrived in Frutillar Alto for Valentine's Day. ("El dia de los enamorados"/"The day of the Lovers")





QUEULE

Before I arrived, I had already admired the view . . .


It is a very quiet town...

...except on Saturday night, with music and dance at that college down there


We enjoyed lots of fresh fish - right off the boats...

...and some perfectly delicious meals by family in town!

We walked the hot sand and icy water of this beautiful beach


To get to the other, very secluded beach, you must take a 2-car ferry...


...to this!




VALDIVIA

On the way back to Temuco from Queule, we lunched in Valdivia, and walked around a bit. The market was quite amazing.


These sea lions waited for hand-outs. Sometimes they competed with the sea gulls for food.


There is a nice little park near the bridge to the island



ICALMA

By a fluke, we again found a perfect place in Icalma ... with clear views of mountain forests, Lake Icalma's beach, and the moon! (Its full eclipse happened there - on Chispa's birthday!)



Happily, Chispa took a few beautiful pictures here




We rode horses into the mountains, up to the border with Argentina (the yellow line on the satellite photo)


The mountains were covered with magnificent araucaria trees. Here's one on the road into town...


This road led to a peninsula on the lake


Sunset from Icalma's beach