So, picking
off where we left Aaron alone in a foreign town, the BullDog Gang (that’s what
the four of us are called on the streets) drove the rest of the way from Punto
Varas to Puerto Montt. In a surprisingly
short time, 30 minutes or so, we arrived in Puerto Montt. We scoured Pacheco Altamirano street for the
house that had the numbers 2939. We
asked a fisherman where we could find the numbers, and then asked the lady at
2935. After fingers being pointed, we
found our way to the home of Michael and Nancy Hostetter.
Once meeting with them, they
drove us to a port. We had heard rumors
and rumors of islands, but we weren’t certain exactly what the upcoming deal
was. We unpacked our beautiful Subaru,
and got on a little boat taxi and headed to our new home for the next few days,
La Isla Tenglo. Led by Michael and
Nancy, we met the owners of a little estate on Tenglo, Ricardo and Eliana. There, they graciously let us camp outside,
use the kitchen of a little building that was used for church functions, as
well as use their washing machine and grill.
Amazing, amazing hosts. Even
though they don’t know very much English, and our Spanish is pretty lacking at
times, they had the patience that helped communication immensely.
We slept well that night, and
for the first time yet, we got to sleep in.
For the next few days, we just stayed pretty tranquilo. We got computer speakers for our radioless
car, got mechanical opinions on the car, as well as a few other odds and ends
jobs. Aaron came back on Saturday, and
that night we were graciously invited to a meal on the island. Mike and Nancy (who have been in Puerto Montt
for 20 years), Cortland and Kim (who have been there about a year), and other
people we hadn’t met yet (who turned out to be a Paul Kurtz look-a-like, as
well as a great friend of his, a “neighbor” of Logans in Pennsylvania, a
professional fisherman, and an audio engineer).
All around, crazy “coincidences” keep happening all the time. Everything that keeps happening, even really
small things, keeps reminding us that we’re pretty sure we made the right
decision to come, and that it is by no means against God’s will that we’re
gallivanting.
By Monday, we left Puerto Montt
and traveled to Lago Todos Los Santos, a relatively rushing body of water than
housed itself to an amazing view of Volcano Osorno. This was probably the most scenic camping
spot we’ve had yet. That evening, we had
an amazing supper of potatoes, cabbage salad, rice, and yellow tea. Life is good.
The farther down we go south, the less people are strict and money
oriented about camping, which is great.
At this camp site, we could gather our own wood, burn it, camp wherever
we wanted (for a small price), and fish.
This site even had pigs that fought each other, and roosters to let you
know the dawn has come. The only problem
is that this rooster kept reminding us for hours, until we finally got up. Then it stopped. Thanks, nature.
We came back to Puerto Montt by
5 p.m. to load our car onto the ferry to Chaiten. While we were about to load our car, we found
Nancy, Kim, and Cortland waiting for us with some goodbye watermelon and
cookies (plus a card). It is needless to
mention we all love cookies with a garnishing of watermelon.
To our hosts in Puerto Montt:
Mike, Nancy, Kim, Cortland, Ricardo, and to Eliana, seriously, thank you so
much for all your wonderful hospitality.
It means a ton when you’re on the road, especially when people are as
nice and as giving as you all are/were.
This week was a wonderful refresher before we head back to the old dusty
trail for 2 weeks. Quite literally
though, since the Carretera Austral is basically all gravel.
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