Chile and Patagonia

Starting December 11 through then end of December I had a whirlwind tour of all of Chile.
Starting in Valdivia I explored the city. Its a college town that is nice to walk around and has lots of parks and situated on a river.  I walked around the square and went down to the river and watched the rowers as well as the large sea lions.  Then I walked over to Isla Teja across the river and walked around the campus and parks including the botanical garden. 
Then I went to Isla Chiloe where I had an amazing time and got the chance to walk around and go scuba diving with a fisherman who was gathering seaweed that is used for cosmetics.  He was hooked up directly to a compressor and used a semidry suit.  People were also gathering this seaweed from shore.
Then from Chiloe I took the ferry to Chaiten which is an interesting town covered in ash.  I took a bus from Chaiten which stopped at the airport.  The airport uses the street as the runway and only small planes come to this airport. 
Then off to Futaleufu where I had some nice hikes around the small town.  Most people go whitewater rafting here but I decided to just head on out to Coyaique.  I spend a day walking around Coyaique and then crossed over to Los Antiquos in Argentina.  The carreterra austral was fun but busses were too unreliable.  In Los Antiquos I went to the mirador and to many different orchards where they are famous for their cherries and I bought some jams.
Next stop was El Chalten which I loved.  I did the popular route and wish I had camped in the park to see the sun rise as I saw the sun rise from the road it looked stunning but at a very far distance.  Fitz Roy is quite stunning and the park has very easy well marked trails.  From there I went to Calafate and took the bus to Perito Moreno which I found disappointing as it was so touristy and crowded and a bit of a let down after the amazing hike in El Chalten.
I finally made it to Torres Del Paine.  I hiked the famous W and thought it was an amazing hike.  Probably the best I have ever done.  The park was very well kept and the trails were easy to follow.  I hiked alone and with a pack full of my food for the hike a camping stove tent, sleeping pad, sleeping mat and clothing etc.  There were so many people on the trail I hardly felt like I was hiking alone and the scenery was stunning.  The park is setup so there are only certain areas to camp.  Some camp sites are much better than other with nice indoor cooking areas and bathrooms and other campsites were overcrowded but overall an amzing experience.
From Torres I took the famous Navimag Ferry to Puerto Montt.  I wouldnt recommend the ferry as it the weather was raining and one day most people were sea sick and the day of the glacier viewing it was foggy and raining.  But it was OK and probably faster and more convienent than taking a bus.  Then buses all the way to peru

Fruits

One of my favorite things about travelling is eating and trying local dishes or fruits I have never tried.
Here we have been eating this fruit.  I dont think its local to Chile but its very tasty fleshy orange fruit with a peel that can be eaten though some prefer it peeled. I have not idea what this fruit is but its delicious.

hike around the station

Beautiful ride from the city to hornopiren

daily view

view of village

waterfall by the cabin

sunset at the cabin with volcanic ash making it hazy so we couldnt see the fiord very well

The ash clears the next morning

view of the village (see the small colorful houses)

An alercerce tree which is endangered

we climbed a little further so we reached the snow.

sunlight peeking through clouds

Nature

The nature here is so wonderful.  I see lots of vultures and two kinds of cormorants. I even saw a beautiful falcon and lots of hummingbirds and other types of birds, one with a beautiful yellow breast.  I see sea lions and dolphins in the water almost every day.  As well as some frogs. There are lots of mussels and seaweed as well as small crabs and anenomes.

Beautiful Day!

Its a beautiful sunny day, which is so wonderful after about 5 days a torrential downpouring.  I heard that it was well more than average. 
Today I saw a pod of around 25 dolphins jumping out front today then went to see some bee boxes being maintained and split.  I even saw a swarm that was put into another box.  The beekeeper said he started with 2 families about a year ago and now has 7.  

Excursion

Nov 11 - Excursion to the Island of Liliguapi.  A small island that used to have a penguin colony a few years ago.  The penguins may have moved to a better nesting ground since dogs appeared on the island around the same time they disappeared.  We walked around for a while but didnt find any penguins but saw signs of a dog. We saw the shell of loco which is a Chilean Abalone which is possible endangered but highly prized in Japan.  The island was covered in mussels on the sea line and had little crabs and anenomes in the tidal pools.  Then walked around Hornopiren a small town.  We saw a large colony of cormorants with a rarer species some pelicans and a large sea lion colony of around 800 sea lions.  There are so many salmon farms here.  

Nov 13 - Went on a walk along the river and crossed the river in a kayak with no paddles just pulling  a rope strung across the water.  There is a tree here called tepa with fragrant leaves. Another tree here is the canelo which has berries that were used to prevent scurvy and the bark is also used as a pepper substitute.  They use mosqueta (rosehip) here to make marmelades and sweets alot. Nalca is a huge leaf and the stem can be eaten raw.  We were bitten by tabanos which are horseflys on our walk.  There are so many hummingbirds and very big turkey vultures, called jotes here. 

Hike

I am completely exhausted today.  Yesterday we went on a hike up the mountain that was supposed to take 2 hours but the trail needed cutting back since its spring that trail probably hadnt been used much over the winter. I was glad I wore pants as I had to brush small leeches on my pants which I hear are abundant here due to the large amounts of rainfall.  We left just after 6pm and made it to the top around midnight. It was beautiful and peaceful up there.   There was a large waterfall and the moon was bright enough you could see the other mountains and the sea clearly which had a beautiful glow around it in the clouds and a wonderful reflection on the sea. Some clouds moved in for a little while covering the sea the moved on.  I could only pick out Orion which was upside down.

On the walk were ornithologists and herpetologists who were studying frogs so they found a number of frogs on our walk even in the dark as it got dark before we arrived at the top.  I was amazed how they could find these small frogs only an inch or less long and well camouflaged.  We had some mate (fermented tea) and sandwiches at the top in a small hut.  Then hiked down.  We got back after 2AM.  A truly beautiful hike!  I want to do it again before I leave in the day to take some pictures.

I finally saw dolphins off the beach today. I have heard they are here all the time but today was the first day I have seen them.  There were at least 6 of them.