lovelytravels

Our family of four flew to Argentina to meet our middle daughter, the fifth. She had been studying there as a high school exchange student for six months, and we were going to meet her family, see her life, and take her on a 10-day tour around the area. Since her home was in northern Patagonia, the lakes district right on the Chilean border, we decided to rent a car and do a loop that included Argentina as well as Chile.

All went smoothly to start. Donald, from Bariloche car rentals, met us at the airport and had a basic vehicle ready for us (half the price of the big name car rental agencies) with the correct papers so we could cross the border into Chile.

We met our daughter’s incredible family, celebrated the relationship with many meals and excursions together, and on the fourth day, we turned our heads, and our car, to Chile and said goodbye. A few days later we found ourselves in a cozy cabin at Maggie and Ian’s place in central Chile. Maggie and Ian, a transplanted British couple, exhibit all of the right energy, warmth and temperament you might expect from a couple who can retire in a foreign country, become fluent in the language, run a huge ranch with horses, and welcome guests with such ease, humility and humor that you can’t help but feel like family. Despite their great abilities, however, they couldn’t change the weather. It was pouring rain and we couldn’t decide what we could possibly do the next day in the rain, especially after a wonderful day of horseback riding on the ranch. Our nephew, another exchange student, had come down from Santiago, and so we were six so a long car drive was a crowded prospect. We had two choices: drive west to Valdivia and try to sight-see in the rain, or drive east up to a waterfall, potentially a longer drive. We decided to go with the latter – when it’s wet, go for nature; when it’s dry, sightsee a town.

The next morning we took off, six of us crammed into Donald-from-Bariloche’s car with the hard seats, but a good price, and took off for the hills. We had rain, rain and more rain as the road became more treacherous, uphill, and finally all gravel, mud and potholes. We could barely find a stop for gas or a snack or bathroom and all of sudden we were deprived of modern amenities, faced with the real world isolation of Patagonia on a rainy Tuesday. We questioned the road, our whereabouts, our decision. Some moaning set in. The kids, all teenagers, got giddy and snappy. They slept and were hungry and cranked up their ipods. We wondered if we were lost and had the children with the best Spanish ask the locals time and again. Finally, at least two hours into our drive, we found a road that pointed off to our waterfall. It looked miserable, a mudslide. Potentially long with no settled conclusion.

“I have to eat something first,” wailed our daughter. “ I can’t go on a long trip to a waterfall somewhere without any food since breakfast.” There was our cue. Look for food. So we didn’t go to the waterfall. We continued up the road, seeing a sign for a restaurant, and started to get our hopes up that civilization existed in these woods. Eventually, we turned where it said restaurant, and we stopped dead in our tracks.

There, before us, was a giant house of elves. Coated in snow, a pointy cave-house with windows that must have been made by hobbits shone out amid the trees. Were we dreaming? How did we get here? This was incredible. We ventured fearfully into the door, expecting a block. Maybe it was an abandoned place, or maybe it was a high security government office where you couldn’t even enter. Maybe we were in outer space. Who knew? Instead, there was a staff, waiting to greet us, waiting to serve us a three-course gourmet lunch, to show us the rooms we could stay in next time around, to help us in any way we asked. The place was empty of visitors, full of magic and unbelievable in that it exists.

The Montana Magica Lodge, in Huilo-Huilo Chile, near Panguipulli in the Validivia Region was designed by architect Rodrigo Verdugo. I am certain there is no place else like it. Add it to your list.

After our long lunch and journey into the other realm, our final stop was the beautiful waterfall, where, again, we were the only visitors. The man in the office rented us all ponchos for a small price and sent us out with a guide. We went, in pouring rain, down a long, gorgeous, slippery trail. We could not have asked for a more magical, woodsy, other-worldly day.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS