Our last few days in Puerto Varas, Chile

This post is a bit out of order as Carol has already posted from Quito Ecuador - but I wanted to get a few more of my photos up from our last few days in Puerto Varas, Chile - John

We nicknamed our rental car the "S-Box" -lots of dusty, rutty, dirty miles

More hiking at the lake

Last night (of our stay in Southern Chile) we went to a bossa nova concert at Teatro del Lagos in Frutillar.

Beautiful view over the lake

Band performing with lake behind

Last dinner in Puerto Varas

Saying goodbye to the chickens

Hasta la vista, Chile and Hola, Ecuador

We were sad to say goodbye to our friends in Puerto Varas. I looked out the window about an hour before we left to see Allison saying goodbye to the dogs. We went outside and said goodbye to Pam and Maria and the chickens and the dogs again. We had a wonderful time there and will never forget it!

Goodbye to the pups

With Maria

Here are a few other photos from Tuipanes and Puerto Varas that I like but didn't post earlier:

The beach at Tulipanes

Juggling practice on the lawn

There are exercise stations all along the waterfront

Chair stacking victory

 From Puerto Varas we drove to the airport in Puerto Montt to start a long day of travel. We flew to Santiago then to Guayaquil, Ecuador and finally to Quito. We tried our hardest to wait up for the Commons Henna family but in the end we had to go to bed and meet them at breakfast instead. We are so glad to have friends with us (hint, hint to anyone still thinking of hopping in for some of our trip!). We had a really fun day exploring Quito. I really knew nothing about the city before we got here and there was a lot to discover. I won't bore you with too many details but a few interesting notes are that the city sits at an elevation of about 9,000 feet, it's nestled into mountains (including one huge, active volcano), and many of the colonial buildings have survived because the materials used (bamboo, adobe and animal excrement) are flexible enough to survive the many earthquakes that have occurred here. We also visited the equator.

The cloudy sky was a good backdrop for churches

No photos allowed inside but this is a peek
at the FOUR TONS of gold leaf used inside

Quito's original plaza with a statue of the virgin
Mary in the middle and another of Mary
visible in the distance

Guards at the presidential palace

I really like guards who aren't supposed to move

Everywhere, dogs. I want to take them home

Chiloé penguins and more in PV

Dinner in town on Monday night.

Pre "penguin excursion" exercises on the beach!

Boats on the beach

Penguins!

Today (Wednesday) almost perfect weather for a lazy day around our cabin.  Allison and Carol started the day with an early morning yoga class in town.  And Cameron spent some time in the yard practicing his juggling.

Teatro del Lago and Chiloé

A little math on the patio. Allison's expression is a
clear indication that I'm "so weird" for taking this photo

Every time we sit on the patio (which is every day) we have visitors. We love having dogs to keep us company. John has made an extra-special friend. This is one of my favorite places on the planet.

John and Brownie

On Monday (January 16) we went back to Frutillar to see the Teatro del Lago. We drove through town a couple of days earlier and wanted to get a closer look at the Teatro and the town of Frutillar.

The theater sits on the lake. Osorno and Calbuco are visible when it's not cloudy

The theater opened in 2010 after 12 years of construction, to the tune of $44 million.  Year round, there are performers of all varieties. Though we are here too early for the yearly classical music festival that happens in late January, we were able to get tickets to a bossa nova show that is happening tomorrow night. We're so glad we will get to see a performance in this beautiful space!

Main hall

While we were on the tour, we got to see a choir rehearsing. The ages of the kids in the choir ranged from about four or five to teenage. Their conductor was visiting from the United States and spoke only English. Through pantomime and a lot of laughter, the kids seemed to know what he was asking them for as they worked on a song that was in German.

With my limited Spanish, I was able to understand from the tour guide that their choir programs have reached tens of thousands of kids in the area and that many adults are now singing in choirs as well, inspired by the theater and the opportunity to rehearse and perform in a venue of this caliber.

Yesterday (Tuesday, January 16) we drove to the island of Chiloé. It's a beautiful island (archipelago, really) that has an interesting history including industrious indigenous people, Spanish conquistadors, Jesuit missionaries, French whalers and the production of railroad ties for the whole South American continent. The island is big and we didn't get to see the whole thing, but what we did see were the penguins! There are three islands just off the northern coast of Chiloé near Puñihuil where Magellanic and Humboldt penguins live together in a mixed colony, the only one of its kind.

The road dead-ends on the beach and cars drive
across the beach to park for the penguin tour

The penguins live on those islands

Trailhead up from Puñhuil beach

We arrived on the beach and booked a time for our boat ride out to see the penguins. We had a couple of hours before we could go, so we explored a little. We found a hiking trail just above the beach. After walking up stairs that were inside of a tunnel of plants and trees, we came out on a road higher up on the mountain that was flanked by fields where cattle and sheep grazed. It was nice to have time to wander.

After we walked, we hopped in a boat to head out to see the penguins. My battery died, so I have no photos from this part. John managed to get a few, so he'll post again soon with some of his photos.

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read and comment! It's so nice to hear from you.

At home and around Llanquihue

Our host here at Tulipanes, Pam, seems always to be there when we need her. Whether it's adding some of our scraps to the compost, gathering eggs for our breakfast or produce for lunch. The dogs are always available when we might have a few leftovers!

On a beautiful sunny day, we were able to drive all the way around Lago Llanquihue. On the way up to Lago Todos los Santos, we stopped at several points on the Petrohué river. Our favorite was at a rapids area called La Maquina.  The water was a beautiful sky blue color, the river about 50 yards across.

John and Cameron at La Maquina

When we got to the lake, we parked and walked over to the boat area. We boarded a small boat and went out for a short tour around the lake. We could see three volcanoes: Osorno, Puntiagudo and Calbuco.

La Maquina

John, Cameron and Puntiagudo above

Calbuco erupted in 2014. The rocks and ash that the volcano released were heavy and damaged many homes, though no one was injured.

Calbuco volcano, from high on the base of Osorno

That's Puntiagudo just under the flag

We may have a few duplicate photos

We were able to  drive up the Orsono volcano to the base of the ski area. We opted to hike rather than riding the chair lift. It was like being on another planet.

Hiking trail up Osorno. The Andes mountains are in the distance, Argentina is on the other side

On the way down. Lago Llanquihue in the foreground, the Pacific Ocean beyond

Ski lodge with Osorno summit and chair lift behind

Selfie toward the ocean. If you look close, you can see the cone of Osorno reflected in my glasses