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Hola!
It's mid-wintertime in Chile. The ski season is at its peak and a zillion grapevines gather energy for future vintages. Yet when it's cold in the central and southern regions of the country, it remains balmy, even warm in the north. Such is the delightful diversity of Chile. Meanwhile, North America basks through the lazy days summer and vacation time. When you can carve out a moment, let us hear from you. Tell us what you like or don't like about ¡Bienvenidos a Chile!, what we should keep, what we should add, what we should delete. We write for you; we want you enjoy what you read. Our addresses and telephone numbers are below.
Bienvenidos a Chile!
Issue 6 /
July 2005
Some Like It Hot - El Norte Grande
Chile's northernmost realm is known as El Norte Grande, a vast region of delicious contrast. There are urban centers full of life and promise as well as dozens of abandoned oficinas, the ghost towns of the nitrate industry that supported Chile in the early 20th century, flourishing in a climate of near zero rainfall. Not far away, the mists of the camachaca materialize mysteriously over the Pacific, creating mini rainforests and enabling the fragile growths on the lomas and subsistence agriculture along the terraces of the Andean precordillera. Here the indigenous Aymara live off the land and tend their herds of gentle llamas and alpacas not far from silent archeological revelation, giant drawings on rockfaces and sandy surfaces created by their ancestors. - Or were they?
Long stretches of the northern third of Chile's Pacific coastline are virtually inaccessible, while to the east, well-maintained highways snake in and out of oxygen-starved Andean highlands, linking Chile with Argentina and Bolivia to the east and with Peru to the north, all early warring nations. Here, too, volcanic cones punctuate these heights along the remote borders with these neighbors, relations now as peaceful as they might be in today's volatile world, some towering over the flat altiplano, itself at over 4000 msnm (13,120 ft. above sea level).
 http://www.sanpedroatacama.com |
Despite its vast swaths of nothingness, el Norte Grande is one of Chile's most alluring leisure travel destinations, including the wildly constrasting Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos, flatlands of scattered shallow, saline pools, and the Parque Nacional Lauca, cold, clear lakelands high in the northeastern corner of Chile. The region's principal cities are Antofagasta, Iquique and Arica, all three ocean ports of note. Its secondary cities are inland Calama and oceanside Tocopilla. The former is renowned for its neighboring Chuquicamata copper mine - and as a gateway to the oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama and the adjacent Salar de Atacama. |
The Desierto de Atacama occupies the southern sector of El Norte Grande, a region of which most was long part of Bolivia and Peru, carved away from them by the four long years of the War of the Pacific (1879-83). Difficult to delineate precisely, the Atacama, comprised of barren pampas and stark sierras, reaches across the region from south of Antofagasta to the Pampa de Tamarugal.
"The Atacama makes Death Valley look like a zoo set in a botanical garden. . During a month at one site, a list was compiled of animals seen. The list consisted of one bird and one butterfly, both transients . There were also 'a few flies'. . [from] observations of Clement W. Meighan, an archaeologist who has done fieldwork in the Atacama." ( Road Fever, Tim Cahill, Vintage Books, NY, 1991)
An important turn-of-the-last-century rest stop for Argentinian cattle being driven to the nitrate oficinas to the west, the oasis pueblo of San Pedro de Atacama (103 km/61 mi. southeast of Calama), small though it is, has emerged as a major Chilean leisure travel destination. Seven dusty, crooked calles define eight irregular blocks of predominantly brown single-story adobe buildings, an ages old church and a modern museum. It is unofficially the archaeological capital of Chile.
". San Pedro de Atacama.crossroads of the civilizations of the Andes where cultures and stories have been traded, first by the Atacameños and then by the Inca and later by so many others, the Spanish intent on their gold and the merchants from Bolivia and the cattle drivers from Argentina bring meat to the salitreras, all of them passing through this oasis, . on their way to somewhere else." (Desert Memories, Ariel Dorfman, National Geographic Society, Wash., D.C., 2004)
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While so far San Pedro retains its scruffy charm, tour operators of every ilk vie for attention with signage in half a dozen languages. There seems to be a restaurant on every other corner and, as is to be expected, hostales and residenciales abound, but there are a few fine, first-class accommodations as well. Between the bus terminal cluster and the central Plaza de Armas, a paseo artesanal (artisan alleyway) occupies the full length of one street, covered like a souk and closed to vehicular traffic. The renowned Atacama notwithstanding, el Norte Grande is the part of Chile least familiar not only to visitors but to Chileans themselves. It is perhaps Chile's most austere, uninviting region, yet traversing even only parts of it is adventure travel at its most wondrous. |
Our skiing odyssey concludes.
Osorno, over 900 km (540 mi.) south of Santiago (and 108 km/65 mi. north of Puerto Montt), was founded in the mid-16th century as San Mateo de Osorno, but this Spanish outpost was overcome by the Mapuche barely fifty years later. Two centuries passed before the site, apparently forgotten, was re-discovered and a new settlement begun on its ruins. As the 19th century began, neither colonial Spain nor newly independent Chile could contain the Mapuche and Osorno struggled to endure until the German immigration of the mid-1800s.
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Less than 80 km (48 mi.) to the east of Osorno, one of Chile's most popular and well-administered Parques Nacionales, Puyehue. Created in 1941, it is part of a vast uninterrupted natural terrain encompassing the PN Vicente Perez Rosales to the south and the huge Parque Argentino Nahuel Huapi on the other side of the border that includes Argentina's renowned San Carlos de Bariloche ski resort. Of the two principal volcanos within PN Puyehue -- Volcán Puyehue (2240 msnm, 7347 ft.) and Volcán Casablanca (or Antillanca, "Jewel of the Sun", 1990 msnm, 6527 ft.) - the Centro de Esqui Antillanca operates on the latter. www.conaf.cl (Spanish only) |
 TERMAS PUYEHUE HOTEL & SPA TERMAL |
The venerable Termas de Puyehue Hotel & Spa (www.puyehue.cl) is located just outside the western entrance to PN Puyehue. Located in the midst of a luxuriant native forest in the Andes Mountains, Puyehue was founded in 1908 and in the 1940s a magnificent hotel was built in typical southern style next to the thermal springs. Passengers traveled to the springs by coach, horseback and steam ship to enjoy the waters known for their therapeutic benefits. Today, having grown in harmony with the surroundings, conserving the warmth and hospitality for which the region is revered, the hotel can welcome up to 320 guests and boasts its own landing strip and state-of-the-art communications.
Termas Puyehue has become one of the most popular thermal spas in Chile, complemented by a variety of activities providing unique opportunities for exploring the natural wonders of the area.
Today, surrounded by the same view, lakes and mountains, Hotel Termas Puyehue has become one of the most popular thermal spas in Chile. In a natural and gracious atmosphere our spa and hotel services are complemented by a variety of activities providing unique opportunities for exploring the natural wonders of the area.
With a capacity for 320 guests, our own landing strip and state of the art communications, Termas Puyehue has developed in harmony with the surroundings, conserving the warmth and hospitality of a thermal paradise.
A little farther south, some 30 km (18 mi.) east of Puerto Octay (55 km/33 mi. north of Puerto Montt) along the well-paved route skirting the northern shoreline of Lago Llanquihue, an unpaved road darts off eastward for 20 km (18 mi.) to the Refugio de Esqui La Picada , a rustic little retreat in the shadow of Volcán Osorno (2652 msnm/8700 ft.). This is the domain of the ski-bum Club Andino de Puerto Octay.
The city of Puerto Montt is 1024 km (614 mi.) south of Santiago. One of Chile 's major ports, it stretches along an arc of the northern rim of the Seno de Reloncaví with its narrow outlet into the Golfo de Ancud, separating the mainland from Isla Chiloé. Puerto Montt suggests photogenic charm and quintessential "picturesqueness", a great port town to poke around. Virtually all international cruise ships circumnavigating South America stop here.
 View of the Strait of Magellan from Cerro Mirador Ski Center at Punta Arenas www.gochile.cl |
Some 600 km (360 mi.) south of Puerto Montt, an archetypal modern frontier outpost, Coihaique is the last community of any consequence in Chile's southern frontier before the mainland farther south begins to crumble into a maze of sounds and straits, channels and fjords. With its eclectic collection of accommodations, eateries and welcoming enterprises such as cyber-cafes, vehicle rental firms and shops, Cohaique is a quintessential adventure travel base accustomed to visitors both Chilean and foreign, its residents eminently hospitable, eager to help and inform. Among Chile's least-visited ski sites, the Centro de Esqui El Fraile, about 30 km (18 mi.) southeast of Coihaique, overlooks pocket-size Monumento Natural Dos Lagunas, comprising Lagos Frío and Pólux. |
Finally, huddled against the Straits of Magellan, 3090 km (1854 mi.) south of Santiago, Punta Arenas, capital city of the XII Región de Magallanes y de Antártica Chilena since 1974, is Chile's - and the world's - southernmost city, Argentina's Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego's hamlet of Porvenir and tiny Puerto Williams farther south on Isla Navarino notwithstanding. Established only 150 years ago, Punta Arenas emerged as a critical port for vessels having to round the tip of the South American continent prior to the opening of the Panama Canal.
Reserva Nacional Magallanes (13.5 thousand hectares/32.4 thousand acres, altitudes to 650 msnm/2130 ft.), its western portal barely ten km (six mi.) from Punta Arenas, is home to Centro de Esqui Cerro Mirador, several of its ten slopes affording jaw-dropping vistas over the Straits of Magellan.
Here our skiing odyssey that began on the outskirts of
Santiago far to the north must end. Beyond the Straits stretches South
America's largest island, vast wind-ravaged Tierra del Fuego, shared with
Argentina, and beyond there, Antarctica.
www.gochile.cl
"A Day Without Wine
Is A Day Without Sunshine" III
Valle Aconcague, Valle Casablanca, and Valle San
Antonio --- V Región Valparaíso
This is the next in our series introducing you to each of Chile 's 13 wine regions, with a closer look at the wines produced in each as well at other leisure travel opportunities among them. This month we look at three regions in the northern and western environs of Santiago .
Valle Aconcagua reaches northeastward from the outskirts of Viña del Mar (about 90 km/54 mi. west of Santiago ) into the Andean foothills. Bisected by the Panamericana, it is readily accessible from Santiago. Long known for its agricultural tradition, Valle Aconcagua yields produce such as avocado and the native Chilean fruits, chirimoya (chee-ree-MOY'-ah) and lúcuma (LOO'-koo-mah) . The former is a "custard apple" that Sara Wheeler, in her epic, "Travels in a Thin Country", describes as tasting like "pears and honey". The latter might be described as an "egg-fruit", its flavor reminiscent of butterscotch. It is readily available fresh, canned or as a common ice cream flavor.
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This relatively small wine region covers just over 1000 hectares (2400 acres) and produces prized Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Of note: Chile 's first recorded vintage was produced here in 1551. www.aconcaguavinos.cl(Spanish only, audio) Officially designated a viticultural area in May of 1995, considerably larger Valle Casablanca, with 3830 hectares (9200 acres), is one of Chile's newest wine regions, located astride the highway connecting Santiago with Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. Characteristic early morning fog and breezes off the Pacific that cool the valley every afternoon create an ideal environment for crisp, fruity Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs, representing 70% of the region's production. www.casablancavalley.cl Smallest of Chile 's wine regions, Valle
San Antonio covers just 289 hectares (694 acres) only 14
kilometers (eight miles) from the Pacific coastline. Although only a
few harvests have been marketed to date, this region's whites -
Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc - have attracted highly favorable
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A Closer Look
The Valle Aconcaqua region includes t he family of Errázuriz labels that include Arboleda, first released in 1999; Caliterra ( calidad de la tierra, land quality); Viñedo Chadwick, its name rooted in a millennium of Anglo-Scottish history; Seña, ostensibly Chile's first "luxury" wine; and its signature Errázuriz.
Indómita (RV) www.indomita.cl (audio), in the eyes of many Chile 's most visually stunning facilities, is just one of the lovely viñas in the Valle Casablanca.
Valle San Antonio , with several labels fast gaining renown, is not yet included among the Rutas del Vino.
How to Visit
Eight Rutas del Vino (Wine Circuits) meander among six lush river valleys. Four of these routes are in the central region, dominating the country's enviable agricultural industry. Three of the routes are to the south of Santiago , one is to the north. Member viñas are designated "RV" above. Wine Circuit office, weekdays (72) 522 085 or 522 096
Keep in mind that not all viñas in each region are included in their region's Rutas del Vino. Of those viñas not on a Ruta del Vino, some welcome visitors; others, for whatever reason, do not. Furthermore, the eight Rutas del Vino do not cover all twelve wine regions.
Exploring Valles Aconcagua, Casablanca , and San Antonio
Not quite a destination onto itself in the Valley Aconcagua, the barely 200-year-old town of Los Andes (78 km/47 mi.) north of Santiago) , gateway to the famed ski resort of Portillo, merits a little time, as does San Felipe , another 18 km (11 mi.) northwest.
In keeping with the Chilean propensity for preservation of its past, there are two small museums in Los Andes, the Museo Arqueológico and the Museo Antiguo Monasterio del Espíritu Santo, once a Carmelite convent. The former offers a look at the town's Incan roots, as well as quick insight into its post-colonial eras through dozens of photos of townsfolk. Among the town's unsung attractions is the Cerámica Artistica Los Andes (CALA). Working quietly in a bright studio, highly skilled artisans create an impressive variety of items that are distributed to retail outlets in Santiago and elsewhere, but are also for sale on site.
San Felipe's central Plaza de Armas is one of the area's prettiest, notably photogenic with good light.
The towns of Curacaví and Casablanca , both located just off the Santiago-Valparaíso highway, offer additional glimpses of Chile 's colonial past.
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Among the more unusual attractions in this region - indeed, anywhere in Chile - is Puro Caballo , a huaso training facility, opened in mid-2003 with comfortable, covered viewing stands for the public and a restaurant. The huaso is a Chilean "cowboy" - or, more accurately, a "ranch hand" or farm worker on horseback. (The Argentine southern Chilean gaucho is a closer counterpart to the North American cowboy.) The huaso 's horse, the Criollo Chileno, is a carefully bred strain, stocky, strong, fast, and nimble, able to turn or stop on a peso. Located about 17 km (ten mi.) off the highway, south of Casablanca , Puro Caballo is Chile 's "finishing school" for rodeo-bound huasos. www.purocaballo.cl |
Directly south of Valparaíso, best accessible by a circuitous route via Casablanca, is a 30-odd kilometer-long string of balnearios, fishing villages turned oceanside resort towns, many with appealing protected beaches. Cartagena, at the western end of the Valle San Antonio, is among those upper-crust holiday destinations that lost their appeal as the region north of Valparaíso boomed. It remains a pocket of faded elegance, with a "certain charm", and, of course, "real" people.
So far in ¡Bienvenidos a Chile!, we've shied discretely from the "s" word. No, not that "s" word; the "s" as in "pesos" and "dollars ", "ATMs " and "plastic": shopping. Clearly, we're not suggesting that you visit Chile specifically to shop, but we are recommending some time allocated to quality shopping.
Indeed, Chile is a great country for non-shoppers because what is offered is unique. Clothing items of uncommon wool - alpaca, llama, vicuña - are worth seeking out, as are those of well-crafted leather. Considering the diversity of Chile 's indigenous and European heritage, styles are delightfully distinctive. Jewelry of silver is everywhere, the intricate designs of the Amerindian Mapuche evident in much of the finer works.
Throughout the country, in addition to traditional shopping districts and most probably a handicraft market, cities and towns large and small have a mercado central selling everything from jewelry to fish and many have weekend-only mercados, like community-wide "garage sales" or "flea markets", often held in plazas or parks. Besides the possibility of finding that elusive fuel pump for your 1948 Citroën 2CV, these are great locales to meet and mingle with Chileans from every walk of life. Indeed, shopping in Chile should be part of the travel adventure.
Santiago has shopping districts for visitors - and residents - on a budget as well for those who eye and buy with wanton abandon. Most retail commerce is aimed at residents; "touristy" commerce is limited to a few mercados de artesanía (handicraft markets). The delightful exception is Los Dominicos. www.pueblitolosdominicos.com
 www.virtualtourist.com |
At the crest of a gentle slope on the eastern outskirts of Santiago , twin copper-clad bell towers rise above the adobe walls of a converted Dominican monastery. Clustered on its grounds to one side and behind is a remarkable collection of stalls and stores selling quality artensanía from all over Chile as well as fine items handcrafted on site. There is artwork of every description, many types of pottery, worked leather and wood carvings, woven wall hangings, and a broad range of fine jewelry. There are small, unobstrusive restaurants, and often "street" entertainment with music, even impromptu theater. More expensive than other mercados of its genre, prices by and large fairly reflect the quality of the workmanship. Los Dominicos is not a tourist trap. Santiaguinos shop here routinely and on weekends, it can be crowded. |
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The July issue of Smithsonian Magazine, the esteemed monthly journal published by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington , D.C. , includes an in-depth look at "The Real-Life Robinson Crusoe", penned by an ancestor, Bruce Selcraig. Writer Selcraig offers superb insight into the truth behind Daniel Defoe's seminal novel, "The Life and Strange Surprizing (sic) Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner", carefully untangling fact from fiction, history from legend. The real mariner, Alexander Selkirk, was indeed marooned - voluntarily! - on the 40-square-mile speck of an island in the southern Pacific, some 400 miles off the coast of central Chile, in 1704. |
 www.smithsonianmag.si.edu |
Three small airlines serve Isla Robinson Crusoe (formerly Isla Juan Fernandez), two from Santiago's principal international airport, and a third from its municipal airport. The three-hour flights by propeller-driven aircraft are daily from December through February. Flights in March and in November are not as regular and leisure travel between April and October is not recommended due to predominantly inclement weather. Accommodations - cabañas, hostales, pensiones - are modest but comfortable, and facilities are surprisingly modern.
 Chiloe Church |
Greetings from South America 's second largest
island, Chiloé! This is one of the many wooden churches built by the
Jesuits as far back as the mid-18th century. Besides serving as
sanctuaries, they were the hostals for the roving missionary teams
as well as for fishemen and sailors and their families seeking
temporary shelter. Many were built near the coastlines. It's amazing
that they have survived so long! --- Charlie & Joan |
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Ah, salsa! The little container of colorful salsa appearing on every restaurant table throughout Chile is pebre (PAY'-bray), actually a pre-meal dip for breads. Spicy and stimulating, its essential ingredient is hot green pepper, but it is concocted with wide regional variation. The most traditional combinations include tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro, all finely chopped, mixed with lemon juice and vegetable oil, then salted. Sometimes it is creamy, the result of adding mayonnaise. Chile 's most ubiquitous salsa, however, is based on ají (ah-HEE'), a small pepper, green or red. It is often on the table in small bottle with containers of other condiments like mayonnaise and ketchup. Use sparingly! |
 Pebre |
altiplano (ahl-tee-PLAH'-noh) . high plains, roughly 4000 msnm
cabalgata (kah-bahl-GAH'-tah) . trek on horseback
camachaca (cah-mahn-CHAH'-cah) . precipitive fog, heavy mist,
blocked from eastward migration by mountains, a southern Pacific Ocean
phenomenon
loma (LOH'-mah) . small hill
msnm . metros
sobre nivel mar, meters about sea level
oficina
(off-ee-SEE'-nah) . nitrate mining town (lit. "office")
pampa
(PAHM'-pah) .vast desert
precordillera
(pray-cohr-dee-YAY'-rah) . foothills, lower reaches of a mountain
range
salar (sah-LAHR') .salt flat
salitre, salitrera
(sah- LEE'-tray , sah-lee-TRAY'-rah) nitrate, nitrate mining site
sierra (see-YEHR'-rah) .mountain range
fruta (FROO'-tah) . fruit
frambuesa
(fram-BUAY'-sah) . strawberry
limón
(lee-MOHN') . lemon
manzana (mahn-ZAH'-nah) .
apple
naranja (nah-RAHN'-hah) . orange
piña
(PEEN'-yah) . pineapple
pomelo (poh-MAY'-loh) .
grapefruit
uva (OO'-vah) . grape
Note: only bananas and piñas are imported into Chile.
modismos (moh-DEEZ'-mohz) para
Julio . slang for July:
Ches (CHAYZ) .
Argentinians
Cholos (CHOH'-lohz) . Bolivians, Peruvians
(Caution: Cholo is also derogatory slang for Amerindians.)
Gabachos (gah-BAH'-choz) . French
Gringos
(GREEN'-gohs) . Americans, British
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Assumption Day , 15 August, is an officially observed holiday.
11 de Septiembre is the date (in 1973) of the overthrow of Salvador Allende, observed during the Pinochet regime, no longer observed as a holiday, but "reserved" as a day of quiet remembrance.
Fiestas Patrias , 18-19
September
Chile 's Independence Day, 18 September, and Army Day, 19
September, are officially observed holidays. Celebrations abound
throughout the country.
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Al Cine (At the Movies) - El Leyton
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Fishermen and best friends, Leyton and Modesto, enjoy their lives working in the small port of La Caleta in Chile. Leyton enjoys the attention he gets from the women in town who he feels are being neglected by their husbands. Because of this, he is equally the most loved and hated man in town. Modesto, who mostly keeps to himself, in a surprise move, suddenly marries the beautiful Marta who shares his quiet personality. Behind the back, Leyton begins harassing Marta and they ultimately end up having an affair without Modesto 's knowledge. Soon, the road traveled by Leyton and Marta end up altering the lives of everyone in La Caleta. With Siboney Lo, Best Actress, Miami Hispanic Film Festival 2003, and Luis Wigdorsky, Best Supporting Actor, Cartagena 2003. |
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There are travel publications and then there are publications that enhance travel. Here's our recommended Book of the Month: Desert Memories - Journeys Through the Chilean North, Ariel Dorfman, National Geographic Society, Wash., D.C., 2004 "Rarely has a desert been so filled with life as the one Ariel Dorfman depicts in this remarkable trek through Chile 's Norte Grande - a treeless, waterless landscape dotted with the ruins of once-flourishing mining towns where mineral wealth built fortunes a century ago. With the eloquence that has won him enormous acclaim as a poet, novelist, and playwright, Dorfman interweaves personal reminiscence and family tradition with a larger chronicle of a colorful, isolated world that has all but disappeared. this thoughtful, evocative book offers proof on every page that although trees may be few and far between, el Norte Grande sinks deep roots in the traveler's soul." (Dust jacket, Desert Memories) |
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If you look even remotely like the
picture in your passport,
you probably need a trip.
---
Anon.---
Chile and its people look forward to welcoming you today to the wonders of their yesterdays, to the excitement of their tomorrows.
Archeology. Astronomy. Birding. Indigenous People Visiting. Wine Circuit Touring. Golfing. Tennis. Hot Spring Soaking. Spas. Fjord Cruising. Yacht Sailing. Air Touring. Hot Air Ballooning. Mountain Biking. Climbing. Hiking. Trekking. Mountaineering. Canoeing. Kayaking. Whitewater Rafting. Diving. Paragliding. Skiing. Heliskiing. Camping. Fishing. Horseback Riding.
Chile has it all!
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Chile
(Chilean Tourism Promotion Corporation)
1732
Massachusetts Avenue NW 20036
Washington DC
1 866 YES CHILE (937
2445)
www.visitchile.org
ofitur@embassyofchile.org
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