THE END OF THE ROAD

Before we depart for Coyhaique at noon, I brave the strong wind for a brisk walk up and down the main street of Puerto Aysen. Most of the stores are open at this time, but there is something missing. Merchandising is not visible here. There is no enticement for me to enter any of the stores, which may be a good thing, because we have limited space and need to stay within our weekly budget. Two weeks of vacation is one thing, but four months of traveling is another.

The road to Coyhaique is even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
Could it have something to do with the fact that it is not raining for a change?

Jaime had suggested we stop at the waterfall which is named after the Virgin Marie. A large shrine was built here. Inside a small building is a wall of pictures, some of saints others of loved one. There are baby shoes, bibs, poems and personal belongings f loved one who have passed away. There are notes with requests for the virgin, The plastic and live flowers make the room very colourful. Candles have been lit, giving the place a sacred feeling.

We are in awe with the view of the valley as we approach the city. Farm land, rivers, mountains, It's breathtaking.


It’s not easy finding accommodations in Coyhaique, but after driving around for a while and talking to various people, a visit to the tourist information centre and making a few phone calls, we find the perfect cabin on the edge of town. The only draw back is that there is no internet, but plenty of internet cafes, so we still have the opportunity to connect with the rest of the world.
The prices are a bit higher here and we may have to play a little magic with our budget.

Tonight we are invited to the house of my class mate Past District Governor Jaime Cevallos and his wife Pamela who will be the First female District Governor for the Rotary year 2011-2012.
They live in a beautiful home in the mountains on the edge of town. We also get to meet their four children, of which two study in Santiago.
Over Pisco Sours and White wine, we talk Rotary and about life in southern Chile,, which certainly is not easy.

There is a lot of drug and alcohol abuse here, which seems to be similar in other isolated areas such as in the north of Canada.
There is little sunshine and the average high temperature is only 16 degrees Celsius in summer. In winter it can drop to minus 20 and they may have as much snow as we are used to in Alberta. With the higher humidity I can imagine what this would be like,

I have already done some of my homework and learned that the first settlers came here in 1905 from Europe. I can’t blame them, wanting to settle here for the beauty of the mountains and the valley, but the isolation must be much more difficult.

The diet here is mainly fish, fowl, beef and pork. But other than squash and potatoes very few vegetables are being consumed by the locals.


Pamela tells me, that they plan to stay for another four years and hope to return to the Santiago area.

Once again it has been confirmed, that the best way to learn about a new place and its people is to spend time with the locals. We had a great tine with Jaime and Pamela and promise to stay in touch.