Andre has more cousins in Chile than he does in France. Most of them live in southern and middle Chile and we were lucky to meet many of them during our brief visit, earlier this year. This time we have planned to meet more of them over Christmas and New Years. Andrea and Danielle will also join us to make the family gathering even more special. Andre and I arrived early enough to spend some time on the island of Chiloé, then pick up our daughters in Puerto Montt.
We entered Chile through the Maulé Region. It was lush and green, a marked change from the Argentine Pampas. This area is known for its agriculture and wine production. Shortly after arriving here we found Villa Cultural Huilquilemu, a 19th c. fundo (farm), a complex of colonial buildings that are currently being painstakingly restored. It is a very interesting cultural landmark, mainly open for special groups at the moment, but we were able to visit the buildings and impressive grounds. The Catholic University in Maulé is helping with the restoration.
From there we continued to Cañete, home and workplace of Alfonso, one of Andre’s two first cousins. The directions to their home were a bit confusing and Alfonso met us at a pre-arranged gas station. His wife Ana was also there to greet us, along with their younger son Cristobal. We had tried to meet up with Cristobal in Buenos Aires earlier but the weather had gotten in the way. We had dinner at their home and stayed with them a couple of nights. They all had to work during the day, though Ana went out of her way to arrange sightseeing options for us during our stay. She took us into the charming little town of Cañete and showed us Fort Terpel, where the Mapuche Indians had defeated the Spanish and killed Chile’s founding father, Pedro de Valdivia. Although historians indicate otherwise, legend has it that Valdivia was hung from a tree at this fort and we posed for a photo in front of that fateful spot. On the way back home for a delicious barbecue lunch we visited the Mapuche Museum. The Mapuches are Chile’s largest indigenous group and have a colorful history. In the afternoon we went to the coastal town of Lebu with Marcelo, from Ana and Alfonso’s office. There we walked along the rugged rocky coast and saw some amazing rock formations. There is a blowhole here but the tide wasn’t high enough when we were there. Lebu also has a very interesting museum that was built to commemorate the closing of the coal mine there.
The next morning we left for Valdivia along the coastal route. We will see Alfonso and family again on New Years Eve. Now we were on our way south and stopped to see Marita, Andre’s other first cousin. She and her husband Luis live in Valdivia, and their children and grandchildren live close by. Marita was leaving that evening to go to the countryside in nearby Punucapa. She had planned to take care of her daughter Solange’s three dogs for the weekend and we decided to go along. Last time, we had gone on walking tours of Valdivia with Marita and now it was fun to explore the countryside and surrounding area. The warm sunny weather was perfect for walking along country roads as well as taking an excursion to the coastal town of Niebla, which we did on the weekend with Marita’s son Pancho and his family. We had lunch along the coast, then visited the remains of the Spanish fort in Niebla as well as the museum there.
We said “Hasta luego” to Marita since we’d be seeing her and her family for Christmas, then we continued south and stopped in the town of La Unión to visit the tomb of Andre’s Uncle Edouard. Alfonso and Marita’s childhood home is there as well. We had trouble viewing the house which is now enclosed by an iron gate and a lot of trees. It belongs to the Army now. It was pouring rain at the cemetery and it took some time to find the mausoleum but we eventually did.
The weather cleared as we continued south so we decided to visit a hiking spot that Ana had recommended near Puerto Varas. There is a village called Las Cascadas east of Lake Llanquihue. There is only one waterfall that we could see and it took us a long time to find the place as it is not clearly marked. The hike to the waterfall took us about two hours round trip and we questioned the fact that it was supposed to be only 2 miles total, as we were told at the trail head. Well, maybe that’s all it was, though it was a long slippery climb over a narrow muddy trail (it was only single file for both directions) over slippery rocks and rickety bridges but somehow we managed it! Then we continued around Lake Llanquihue and headed south to the town of Parqua, where we boarded a ferry to the island of Chiloé.
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