Puerto Octay

Centinela Lake, Puerto Octay

 Zapato Amarillo Hostel

We said "ciao" to the mythical island of Chiloé and headed north to Chile´s lake district. Another efficient ferry crossing and limited construction aided our progress. A rural hostel near the town of Puerto Octay became our next base of operations. Comfortable lodging and delicious food made this venue a memorable one. 

Andes background

After restful sleeps in our hobbit houses, Jeremy and I rented some wheels and set out for a "nice" bicycle ride through the country. The scenery was incredible. Green pastures, a pristine lake and a snow-capped volcano. It would have been especially enjoyable from a car. While we enjoyed the landscape and detested the biking, Cindy made her first successful attempt at hitchhiking. She and a friend from the hostel thumbed a ride across the countryside to a  nearby beach.     

Volcan Osorno

Day two at yellow shoe was the search for a hiking trail that either didn´t exist or was too difficult to find. After giving a good sandblasting to the undercarriage of our rental and starting an unsuccessful hike up a private driveway, we aborted  the original mission and took the more conventional road to the ski resort of Volcan Osorno. Exorbitant rates for foreign nationals and a sketchy lift operator put us off taking the double-chair just a bit higher.      

Empanadas de Chile

The best way to start one´s day in Chile is to devour one or several delicious empanadas. It is also one of the best ways to end your day or to spend a few minutes part way through your day. While the variety of these tasty treats is boundless, you can never go wrong with the standard empanada de pino. The  most common empanada in Chile incorporates meat, onion, boiled egg and an olive (often with the pit) all stuffed into a pastry and baked.   

La cascada, Puerto Octay

The last item on our list of things to do was the hike to "La Cascada". After a short, rugged trek through dense vegetation we were rewarded with a fairly impressive waterfall of about 40 metres. The mist at the base of the falls created a double rainbow and offered a refreshing shower.      

Crater del Volcan Puyehue 

After a great three days in Puerto Octay we checked out and headed to the Puyehue National Park. Inept road construction crews slowed our progress but after a few heavy equipment evasive maneuvers we were able to continue on and eventually arrive in one piece. We hiked across the crater and scaled the steep ridge on the other side. For the most part it was just us and those pesky high altitude horseflies.  

Our view from the hostel