International Destinations

Natural beauty among the charms of Southern Chile

By Colin F. Smith

Anyone who hasn't been in the Chilean forest doesn't know this planet, wrote the Nobel-prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda.

As an ardent Chilean patriot Neruda may have been overstating the case, but a trek in the fragrant, silent, tangled forest, as he described it, reveals its glories.

Preceded by our yellow-slickered guide slashing at intrusive vegetation with his trusty machete we made our way through the dripping rainforest along a sometimes steep and slippery trail, wading through shallow, fast-flowing streams, and crossing a swaying suspension bridge. Surrounding us were cypress, six-foot ferns, laurel, cinnamon trees, the delicate pink copihue- national flower of Chile – and, the stars of the show, 1,000 to 2,000 year-old alerce trees

The alerce, called the giant larch in English, is said to be the second longest-living tree in the world, with individuals reaching an age of greater than 4,000 years. It grows slowly and develops a distinctive look – a trunk bare of branches for most of its length and with a crown of foliage, a grey surface concealing a reddish-hued wood similar to cedar.

During the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries the alerce forests of southern Chile were heavily logged for this valuable wood, rot-resistant and excellent for building, and the tree was known as green gold.

It was in danger of disappearing when the Chilean government passed a law to protect it and set up the 98,000-acre Alerce Andino National Park which includes some of the best surviving stands of Alerce forest.

The park's minimal facilities include two campsites and four basic shelters. Its elusive wildlife includes puma or cougar and tiny pudu deer.

Adjacent to the park is another large tract of land that serves as a private alerce sanctuary and in which is situated the Alerce Mountain Lodge.

It was from the Alerce that I and others staying there headed off on our excursion into what is sometimes referred to as the cold jungle. We had been walking through the forest for two hours when we arrived back at the the lodge, a rustic-looking two-story structure with an exterior of unfinished grey timber and shingles.

We went inside, taking off the rubber boots provided by the management for the walk, and settled into the lounge, to take advantage of the fire burning in a large boiler that in the old days provided power for logging equipment.

With its polished wood interior, cowhides on the floor, artwork celebrating the huaso, the Chilean cowboy and general air of frontier elegance the Alerce was the perfect image of a cattle baron's luxurious mountain retreat, which indeed is what it was.

The isolated lodge is reached by the coastal highway from the city of Puerto Montt, 36 kilometres out, then a steep, rough single-lane road that twists its way up into the mountains for more than an hour, climbing 260 feet. Personnel from the lodge ferry guests in and out in a fleet of radio-equipped four-wheel-drive pick-up trucks.

Guests are accommodated in rooms in the main lodge, as well as in nearby cabins, all heated by wood-burning stoves. Activities include a variety of treks and horseback riding, and there are a jacuzzi and sauna to relax in afterward.

The Alerce pays attention to its cuisine. At lunch following the walk we enjoyed empanaditas de mariscos, savoury pasties or turnovers, containing mixed shellfish, and pailla, a seafood soup with vegetables, accompanied by excellent Chilean wine – a pleasant end to the visit.
My stay at Alerce Mountain Lodge came as the culmination of recent visit to Chile that took me to some of its more southern regions.

I had arrived in Santiago, the capital, several days earlier after a long trip from Edmonton via Los Angeles, where I caught a flight on Lanchile, the country's major airline. After a brief look at the city and overnighting there, I boarded another flight which took me a thousand kilometres further south to the city of Puerto Montt.

The geography of Chile can fairly be described as unique. It stretches more than 4,000 kilometres from its northern border with Peru to the southern tip of South America, while it is only some 175 kilometres wide, with the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Andes Mountains on the east.

The country is divided into twelve numbered administrative units starting in the north. Puerto Montt is the capital of Chile's tenth region. As well as being a commercial and fishing port and supply centre for the important salmon farming industry, the city is the tourist hub of this region which is known for its beautiful lakes and snow-capped volcanoes, along with lush forests.

Many of the houses which line its streets are sided with brightly painted wooden shingles, said to have been introduced by Germans who the Chilean government encouraged to settle in this area in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Puerto Montt also has a reputation as one of the best places in Chile for eating seafood, a great quantity and diversity of which is brought in by the fishermen of the area. Located in the port district of Angelmo is a market where the catch of fish and shellfish is on display, including strands of dried mussels, and seaweed such as kelp, sold coiled up like fire hose, and used in the area's original cuisine.

Near the market are numerous small fish restaurants which are popular. Seafood was also on the menu at the elegant Canta Luna restaurant, across from the beach in the Pelluco neighbourhood, where I enjoyed an excellent lunch of ceviche (assorted seafood marinated in lime juice) and sea bass with caper butter sauce.

The city is a jumping off point for a variety of trips, including the ferry trip to Puerto Natales in the far south as well as cruises along the coast of Chilean Patagonia offered by Cruceros Maritimos Skorpios.

The company has three ships, the Skorpios I, II and III which sail about 450 kilometres south from Puerto Montt to the San Rafael Lagoon, where an arm of a major glacier meets the sea.

I was booked on a cruise on the most luxurious of the three, the Skorpios III, a 70-metre vessel with a capacity of 110 passengers, built in Puerto Montt in 1995.

"This is a small boat with a big heart," said Captain Luis Kochifas. Cruceros Maritimos Skorpios is a family operation founded by the captain's father Constantino, who started out as a fisherman with only a fourth grade education and built up this and three other companies involved in cargo shipping, salmon farms and shipyards A brother also captains one of the vessels and a sister is first mate on the Skorpios II.

In 1976 Constantino Kochifas began taking passengers down the coast to the San Rafael Lagoon to view the glacier in the 14-person MV Mimi. In 1978 he built the Skorpios I, which was followed in 1988 by the Skorpios II, and in 1995 by the Skorpios III.

The Skorpios III was well-appointed, with good-sized cabins decorated with lots of polished wood and large beds, and pleasant public areas, including two lounges.

The quality of the food and service are a major point of pride on the Skorpios. The four meals a day served included a buffet breakfast, four-course lunches and dinners with unlimited wines and liqueurs, plus, at 5 p.m., tea, featuring buns and cold-cuts plus an assortment of pastries. Lunch was between one and two, with dinner at eight. Meals focused on seafood, though there were alternatives for non-fish lovers, plus traditional Chilean specialties. The waiters were efficient and amiable. Drinks in the bars were also complimentary and unlimited.

The Skorpios III departed Puerto Montt on Saturday morning, and passengers were welcomed shortly after cocktails, notably the famous pisco sour. The ship sailed through the Gulf of Ancud, continuing all that day. In the evening the introductory dinner took place. Passengers were mainly from Latin America, and included a large group of enthusiastic Venezuelans, while there were also couples from the U.K. and Switzerland.

Next day, proceeding through the Moraleda Channel the ship passed by a rock shelf where a colony of sea lions flopped, diving in and clambering out of the water. In the late morning, the ship docked at the small fishing village of Puerto Aguirre, where passengers were greeted by a small horde of children eager to escort them.

A climb up the steep path to the top of the hill overlooking the village rewarded passengers with views of the channel and nearby islands – as well being a way to get some needed exercise. Penguins were also to be seen on a small island in the harbour.
The ship reached the San Rafael Lagoon the following day, Monday. The lagoon was packed with floating chunks of ice, and bergs periodically calved off the glacier with a resounding crack, sliding into the water, and sending up a large swell.

The 30,000-year-old glacier is an extension of the massive Northern Ice Field. The ice is a vivid translucent blue, resulting, it is said from the age of the ice and the oxygen trapped within it.

A smaller launch took Skorpios passengers out onto the lagoon for a closer look, and the two hour excursion was capped by a ceremonial toasts with a glass of scotch chilled by millenia-old ice chipped from a passing berg.

After its stop at the glacier, the ship heads back north, the next day visiting Quitralco Fjord, where passengers get a chance to soak in the thermal baths, or take a hike through the forest where native species of vegetation are identified . A boat trip on the fjord provides a close up view of a salmon farm.

Other stops on the return voyage include San Juan Island, a quiet farming community, and the ports of Queilen and Castro on the large island of Chiloe, renowned for its distinctive history and folklore. The island is known for its 114 wooden churches, including the Cathedral in Castro's central plaza. It is also famous among Chileans for its cuisine. Near the handicrafts market and other places along the harbour are the palafitos, brightly painted wooden structures built out over the sea on stilts, that house inexpensive seafood restaurants.

On the last evening of the Skorpios cruise was the gala supper and dance, featuring an elaborate buffet of crab, king crab, oysers, mussels, salmon, pork, and much more, with the piece de resistance being a roast turkey with a head of carved meringue.
After the Skorpios docked in Puerto Montt on Friday morning, I was able to see some of the area around the city before going on to the Alerce Mountain Lodge.

North of Puerto Montt is Lake Llanquique, the second largest lake in Chile, and the southernmost of a chain of lakes which is why this area is called The Lakes. Looming over the lake's clear blue waters are three snow-capped volcanoes, the perfect cone of Osorno, jagged Puntiagudo and Calbuco.

On the western shore of the lake are the resort communities of Puerto Varas and Frutillar, whose German heritage is reflected in the architecture and the presence of German-style cafes and teahouses. Outside of Frutillar, is Casa de la Oma, a bed-and-breakfast in a large farmhouse built in the 30s, on a working dairy farm, filled with memorabilia of the original German settlers. Meals are also available for casual visitors.

East of Lake Llanquique in Vincente Perez Rosales National Park are scenic falls where the Petrohue river forces its way through narrow channels through a relatively recent lava flow.
In my sojourn in Chile I found it a country of great natural beauty, good food and drink and other more subtle charms, and I look forward to another opportunity to see more of it.

Sampling Chile's cocina criolla
With its log construction, thatched roof and cattle horns mounted on the walls Los Hornitos de Curacavi is the typical ranch house of Chile's past. To add to the air of rural nostalgia at this restaurant set amid the dry hills west of the capital, Santiago, the waiters are dressed in the broad-brimmed straw hat and short jacket of the huaso, the Chilean cowboy who plays a big part in the national mythology.
It was at Los Hornitos that I ate my first meal during a recent visit to Chile, and it would be hard to come by a better introduction to this South American nation's traditional fare -- la cocina criolla.

One of the best known of Chilean culinary offerings is the empanada. Of Spanish origin, these turnovers or pasties filled with a variety of ingredients are immensely popular and found everywhere from elegant metropolitan restaurants to roadside stands.

Lunch at Los Hornitos began with a tasty empanada de pino, which contains chopped or ground meat, olives, raisins and slices of hard-cooked egg, and gets its name from the Araucana Indian word for chopped seasoned meat, pinu. These empanadas are baked, while those filled with cheese or shellfish are fried.

This was followed by pastel de choclo, a very substantial corn pudding containing pieces of chicken and pork that is sprinkled with sugar and baked.

And to finish the meal there was mote con huesillos, both a drink that used to quench the thirst of cowboys and harvesters and a dessert, with grains of wheat added to the juice of a soaked dried peach. Quite delicious.

With the meal I drank a fine Santa Monica Semillon 1990 from the Rancagua Valley, one of Chile's top wine-producing regions.

During my sojourn I was able to try a variety of other criolla dishes such as cazuela de vacuna, a beef and vegetable stew named after the earthenware vessel it was originally cooked in. Though not as single-minded about eating meat as their neighbours the Argentines, the Chileans are very fond of their version of the barbecue, the parillada, prepared at home or in a restaurant. At a parillada that was part of a cruise shore excursion in Chilean Patagonia we enjoyed grilled beef steaks and chicken washed down by plenty of cabernet sauvignon. Unfortunately, I never encountered the supreme work of the parillada -- whole roast lamb on a spit.

Of course, this kind of rustic cooking is not the sum total of Chilean cuisine. There are many restaurants in Santiago and other major cities that offer sophisticated dishes with international influences.

Seafood is a great favourite with the Chileans, whether served in these top establishments, or in tiny eateries in coastal towns. The country's coastline stretches for more than 4,000 kilometres (though it's only about 100 kilometres wide) and the cold Humboldt current provides excellent conditions for a wide variety of fish and shellfish which are taken in great numbers.

The fish I ate included sea bass, hake, sole, snapper and quite a bit of salmon, which is now farmed extensively in Chile. Fish is prepared simply, perhaps with a flavoured butter sauce, and ceviche -- chunks of fish "cooked" by marinating in lime juice is popular.

I also enjoyed a profusion of shellfish including clams, oysters, large and small mussels (the large ones being about five inches long), common crab, Chilean king crab and others whose names I never learned. Sea urchin and picoroco, a large barnacle whose flesh apparently tastes like lobster, will have to wait until the next visit, however Paila de mariscos, a soup full of assorted shellfish, is a treat.

Clams, mussels and fish also go into curanto, a famous dish associated with the southern city of Puerto Montt and the nearby island of Chiloe. In the original, the seafood, along with chicken, pork, sausages, ears of corn, potatoes and dumplings and chapalele and milcao dumplings are steamed over hot rocks in a covered pit. I sampled the more readily available curanto de olla, also known as pulmay, which is cooked in a large pot, and is a match for the heartiest appetite.

To go with the food, there is, of course, the wine. Chile produces good wines, notably cabernet sauvignons, merlots and sauvignon blancs, which are enthusiastically enjoyed by the Chileans, who customarily drink wine with meals. On the tables one finds many of the same wines that are imported into Canada -- products from Concha y Toro, Undurraga, Santa Rita, Santa Carolina and others.

Other notable beverages include the pisco sour, an appealing combination of colourless pisco brandy, sugar and lemon juice, which counts as Chile's national cocktail, and chicha de manzana, a homemade cider. Manzanilla is a liqueur made from camomile that is sometimes combined with pisco to make a potent drink.
Salud y buen provecho!