April 6th – 7th 2015

I have already been in  Chiloe along side my family. For those who don’t remember it was a wonderland of Penguins, beaches and warm hospitality, but now I’m coming back, aiming to see different parts of Chile’s biggest island.  It’s April so the penguins and whales nearby are gone, and I’m left to explore the island looking of different highlights.  The first an off the beaten path attraction called Tocoihue Waterfall.

To get to Chiloe from Bariloche Argentina where I took in a chocolate festival, went on an amazing mountain hike, and visited a somewhat underwhelming waterfall, it’s a somewhat long journey to get to Chiloe.

I take a bus from Bariloche to Puerto Montt leaving at 7:30 am.  It costs me 405 Argentinean Pesos (About 40 Canadian Dollars)  and takes between 7 and hours.  Crossing the border back into Chile is a little more time consuming than the other way around.  Upon entering Chile you must take all your bags out, hand luggage and checked, for a dog to sniff for fruit and other things, while you wait for your entry stamp.  I am asked to open up both bags, the dog having smelled my copiuos supply of warfarin.  Believe it or not it’s the first time I’ve had to address travelling with near on 3000 pills, all legally obtained of course. The guard accepts my explanation and after maybe 45 minutes at the border we’re loading the bus back up with bags and continuing along our way.

We pull into Puerto Montt and I decide that rather than try to go to Chiloe today I’ll go spend another night in Puerto Varas (a 20 minute local bus ride away)  and stay at the lovely Margouya Patagonia hostel.  After all the Toronto Blue Jays are on and I don’t want to miss too much.

I spend a relaxing day there and the next morning grab a bus direct from Puerto Montt to Castro, the capital of Chiloe.  It’s a 4-5 hour journey including the ferry which by now is starting to feel like home.

It’s raining by the time I pull out of Puerto Varas on my Cruz Del Sur Bus (6000CLP) and it’s still spitting down when we get to the ferry, but over on the island there is blue sky and a rainbow urging me out of the bus and up onto the top deck to search for frolicking sea lions and enjoy the ample population of sea birds visible on this crossing.  I feel very well welcomed coming back to Chiloe before the driving rain forces me back to the bus.

Towards the end of the ferry ride I decide I don’t want to go to Castro an instead ask to be dropped off wherever I can find a bus to Dalcahue, a small seaside town with a good hostel, a few restaurants, lots of friendly locals and not much else.

I get there easily, catching a local blue bus at the side of the two lane highway for 600 CLP and manage to find Lanita Hostel, checking in to a dorm for 10,000 CLP a night, though as it works out I spend the next 4 nights alone in the dorm, one of the consequences of choosing a small off the beaten track town to stay in during Chiloe’s shoulder season.  I spend whats left of the day eating empanadas down by the small harbour front and exploring the lovely if somewhat boring town.

The next morning I climb into a local bus following the instructions of my friendly hosts and ask the driver to let me off at Tocohaie Waterfall.  At maybe an hour from Dalcahue or 90 minutes from Castro this place is worth the time, especially when the bus ride only cost 1,200 CLP each way

I climb out at the advice of the bus driver, a little dizzy since the paved road ended almost half an hour before we reached my stop, but a smile is on my face.

I follow the signs and head down the side road, window through farmland, forest, and fertile blackberry patches.  Tasty and the perfect hiking food.

About halfway there I encounter a barred gate and wonder if the waterfall is somehow closed, that said on the right hand side of the gate there’s space to crawl under so I do that and continue down the trail, reaching the house where they usually charge a 1,000 CLP fee to enter.  But it’s only Friday and it’s late fall here so the house is locked tight with no one to take my money. Luckily the path down isn’t blocked off, so I head down the steep boardwalk with the sound of water crashing in the distance drawing me on.

I reach the bottom of the valley and walk briefly alongside a babbling brook, lined with flowered bushes, the epi-center of an ecosystem full of the camera elusive hummingbirds and lots of giant bumblebees.  Ahead is a chute of water tumbling down from atop a cliff and feeding the stream on my left.

I can’t linger, hurrying on until I’m at the base of the 50 meter plus falls, revelling in the drenched landscape around me, and snapping a few photos before sheathing my camera and crossing the brook to do some climbing and to hopefully get a better view of the falls themselves.

The water is icy cold and the cliffs blocking out the sun do nothing to help as I clamber up onto the other side of the stream and scramble up muddy hills to a perfect viewpoint across from the falls.  I take a seat and do a little writing in this serene location basking in the fact that I am utterly alone.

Eventually, I start getting too cold so I pack up my laptop and set to the much more difficult task of getting down.  Sadly the wet mud is too slick and I end up tumbling down one section of the hill, leaving myself muddied and sore, especially since it took a last second twist to avoid crushing my computer in the bag.

I get to my feet and wash off what mud I can from my arms and legs before crossing the brook again and depositing my bags, stripping off clothes and advancing towards the waterfall. I’m aching and frozen so I don’t actually make it under the centre of the main cascades over countless slippery ever shifting rocks, but I get close enough to take in the energy of it while soaking myself to the bone.  Then it’s a quick matter of collecting my belongings and heading back up to the main road to wait for the bus.

Maybe half an hour later I’m on my way back to Dalcahue to enjoy a nice dinner at a tiny family run Cantina on the main street and spend a night watching baseball, blogging, and catching up with some friends back home on this vast wonderland we call the internet, almost as vast as the wonderland I’m spending my life exploring.