Mounted Carabineros in Santiago

First Quarter economic news

http://www.focus-economics.com/countries/chile

Doug Tompkins was the owner of the largest tract of privately owned land in Chile. As of his death in December, Parque Pumalin, just south of Puerto Montt, will be handed over to the state opening up the lower third of the country for a new road to connect the far flung reaches of Chile. He has been a controversial figure in Chile. Find out why in this article.

http://www.elmostrador.cl/mercados/2015/12/09/por-que-era-tan-polemico-douglas-tompkins-el-millonario-ecologista-que-murio-en-un-accidente-de-kayak-en-chile/

WalMart in Chile

http://www.elmostrador.cl/mercados/2016/03/29/carrera-por-los-activos-de-walmart-en-chile-entra-en-recta-final-y-no-la-ganara-necesariamente-la-mejor-oferta/

The view of the Milky Way from the southern hemisphere is awesome and here is an article on the most comprehensive picture to date taken from an observatory in the Atacama Desert

http://www.thisischile.cl/the-most-detailed-picture-of-the-milky-way-was-take-from-the-atacama-desert/?lang=en

For hikers, new maps of Chile's senderos now available

http://www.thisischile.cl/alternatives-for-exploring-chiles-nature-trails/?lang=en


Salmon farms suffering losses - the hazards of factory farms

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/10/chiles-salmon-farms-lose-800m-as-algal-bloom-kills-millions-of-fish

The Unbelievable lottery but I wonder where they are getting the money from? I'll let you know if I win!

http://www.biobiochile.cl/2015/12/18/the-unbelievable-lottery-where-absolutely-all-the-chileans-are-going-to-participate.shtml

Marijuana is legal now in Chile but this farm is growing only for medical purposes

http://www.biobiochile.cl/2016/03/23/chile-is-reaping-the-largest-plantation-of-marijuana-in-latin-america.shtml

One of the most beautiful lakes in Chile is located just east of Lago LLanquihue and is surrounded by 3 volcanoes- Osorno, Puntiagudo, and Tronador.

A view of Puntiagudo to the north

A view to the east of Isla de las cabras (Goat Island)

A view to the east and south

Here is the town of Petrohue if you can call it a town. It consists of the Lodge in the upper right corner, the boat/bus terminal with a small snackbar, a post office, a museum, and a few houses. Yeah, I guess that qualifies as a town here! The beach has beautiful black sand and there is swimming in the cool waters. You can go on a boat ride in one of the boats pictured here for 2-3,000 pesos per person (about 3-4$)

I was a bit disappointed in the boat ride. It was 1/2 hr long but didn't go anywhere near the island and you could never get a good view of Volcan Tronador on the southeastern end of the lake. But you did get to go out to this cute little floating cabin ....

With great views of Volcan osorno.

Nice panoramic view with 2 volcanoes - Osorno on the left and the tip of Puntiagudo on the right

And here is the Lodge. Quite beautiful and modern. We stopped in for tea and cookies one rainy afternoon and were treated to this spectacular view below. And here is the link to their website http://www.petrohue.com/ I haven't stayed there but I've seen the rooms and cabins and I would recommend staying and Trip Advisor has some pretty good ratings for it. The Lodge also offer excursions like fishing, hiking, rafting, kayaking, horse back riding, climbing, zip lines, and canyoning (?). Check out the website!

There is also camping if you can't afford the expensive price tag of $200 per night for the Lodge. The campground is at the entrance of the Sendero Desolacion for the intrepid hiker. See my other post on this. No, I did not go! but my boys did and they loved it!

This is the only ferry on the lake and it goes to the only other town on the lake, Peulla. For 27,000 pesos ($40)for the day you can go over to the other side and spend the day at the Lodge there. Check out this link to see what you can do for the day in Peulla. http://www.turistour.cl/tour/es/excursiones/lagos-y-volcanes/peulla-dia-detail

And here is a view of the lake from up on the Paso Desolacion on the side of Volcan Osorno.  Just spectacular!