Amazing Ancud

We’ve managed to find some sun here in Ancud, a “town” on the north west coast of the island of Chiloe. We’re staying in a great hostel – Hostal Mundo Nuevo – brand new, complete with woodstove and helpful hosts.

It’s been the first time without rain, or at least low clouds, since… Wednesday morning, when we took the tour from Puerto Varas to the base of Volcan Osorno and across Lago Todos Los Santos. A beautiful trip. And we got the black and white (aka cloudy and rainy) version on the return leg.

We’re booked (hopefully – it was a bit of a saga at the Navimag agency in Pucon) on Monday’s Navimag ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales; 4 days, provided the weather isn’t too bad. People keep telling us horror stories about crossing the Bay of Sorrows, which should be on Tuesday night for us. All being well, we’ll have almost a fortnight in Patagonia, enough time to get up to El Calafate and Chalten, and to do a hike around Torres del Paine.

Been eating well – you’ll be surprised to hear!! – most places we’ve been to have a veggie option, even El Trebol, a cafe on the seafront in the small fishing port of Chonchi where we were yesterday.

The only down side, apart from the rain, is that we’re a bit early for “the season”, which means that a lot of places aren’t geared up to run trips, so we’ve been a bit limited at to what we can get to see. Still, the day hike we did in Parque Herquehue was great, and hopefully in Patagonia we’ll find a bit more activity.

And to finish on a personal note, I’ve been grinding my teeth, accompanied by bizarre dreams. It must be the strange beds and late meals…. and beer.