After we ended up spending an extra day in Puerto Montt meeting Jim and Karyn…
We spent the night back at our truck parking area north of the city and left as close to the crack of dawn as we could. It’s hard getting up early in this climate as I find my bed infinitely preferable to the cool morning air.
I find the PanAmerican Highway (Ruta5) in Chile mesmerizing even though on this section the pavement was occasionally lumpy and uneven.
The road most closely resembles a freeway in the European Union with similar signs and markings and orderly traffic that allows Team Lost tourist momentarily they are in South America.
Even though occasionally you can be startled by some decidedly non freeway traffic:
We paid about $11 for the three hour drive. Divide Chilean pesos by a thousand and add five percent for US dollars. On the official rate 3500 pesos is $3:66. I’d calculate in my head as $3:50 plus 17 cents. Or I’d just figure it’s a “bit more” than $3:50. I’m rather slap dash when it comes to money. I don’t fit the mold of the heroic Aryan male head of family projected by our new leaders at home. My little lady controls the purse strings to keep us from going bankrupt.
Layne was lamenting the absence of roadside food such as we found in Mexico and just then past the toll booth we found breakfast. It was not at all Mexican being slightly bland, and had I not been lazy and had Layne not been in a hurry we might have paused and doctored the sandwich up. It did the job; I got scrambled egg and Layne got machada, shredded beef. Hot sauce we’ll add another time.
Onwards and upwards. The reason for the rush was to get to a vet’s office in Villarrica to get Rusty an appointment for a medical checkup. His 60 day border crossing permit we got in Punta Arenas expired on 10th February so he’ll need another to cross into Argentina next week. Businesses tend to close for lunch so we had to get our skates on.
We were listening to our favorite audio book author Michael Connolly but Layne kept dropping off and napping such was the excitement of smooth pavement and not much scenery.
The final half hour was an easy cross country drive on a pastoral two lane road.
There is no wild passing or road rage in Chile but I pull over when I can, mostly at nicely paved pull outs at bus stops.
And yes we are getting used to snow capped volcano backdrops. Those are the Andes and the border is in there somewhere; Chile is a long narrow country.
Villarica is a tourist town in a lake but it wasn’t as jam packed as some places we’ve visited this summer. This is high season, summer vacation time and Argentines and Chileans are seeing the sights.
I parked on the sidewalk -as you do - and walked round the corner to the vet’s office. It was noon and we got an appointment at one pm. They were efficient and thorough and gave Rusty a complete check up for $16. He is in excellent health with clear heart and lungs though he still doesn’t enjoy a thermometer up his bum. He is steady at 52 pounds as he has been all the way.
And then we got his health certificate and I walked off to find the agriculture office called SAG (Servicio Agricola y Ganadero - agriculture and livestock services) the federal agency responsible for keeping disease out of Chile.
Of course I didn’t pay attention to the map. Had I done so I’d have noticed the SAG office closes at two in Villarrica. As it was I wandered around in the 80 degree heat enjoying window shopping and checking out the stores and not noticing I was walking the wrong way. Well done Team Lost.
We tried to use a free camp spot recommended by iOverlander but it was packed with beach goers.
Miraculously we found an open spot on the street nearby and decided to spend the night as the recommended waterfront parking lot wasn’t clearing out any time soon. By this morning the street was empty.
This morning at dawn the street had cleared a bit but now we have to go and camp in front of the office to get Rusty’s border paperwork started. We have a ferry reservation to Argentina to catch on Tuesday afternoon. And a lakeside campground reservation to enjoy until then.
