A los Pies de los Gigantes – At the Feet of the Giants

I had heard there were volcanoes (los volcanes) in Chile and of course my geology friends back in the US were quick to let me know that it was a fact. As well, if you look on a map of Chile, you will see a number of volcanoes, some of which are still active in a geological sense. When I was here last year (en el año pasado) in Chile for a brief visit, a Volcano erupted and even in January of this year, 2008, one erupted as well. The last real one to cause extreme damage (un daño extremo) happened in May of 2008 near the village of Chaitén, Chile, which actually destroyed the small fishing village and from which the 4000 residents had to evacuate. Volcanoes are no small thing, they are in one sense the power (el poder) of the Earth below, and the result of their push on the ground (la tierra) is the creation of giants.

On the northern road out of Chiloé and back across channel on the ferry, you pick up Route 5 once again and as you head north, the freeway (la carretera) opens back up into 2 lanes around the city of Puerto Montt. Just north of this area is the town of Puerto Varas, which we had heard had a great reputation as ecotourism spot (un lugar de ecoturismo) with great outdoors activities including hiking and sailing (navegación). We also heard there were Volcanoes in the area, and we hoped to see some while we were driving. The clouds (las nubes) and rain (la lluvia) of the south soon gave way to blue skies and as we moved ever forward, suddenly off in the distance, appeared these giants.

Off in the distance, you could clearly see 2 volcanoes, the Volcano Calbuco and the Volcano Puntiagudo, each of which made us stop in awe. In fact, we had to pull over and snap some photos, not because these giants (estos gigantes) might move, but we were all so impressed by their size (su tamaño) and respected power that we had to capture the moment. And with blue skies (los cielos azules), we knew that we had to seize the moment or these giants might be covered in the clouds once again, to retreat to the distance and perhaps seem as figments of our imagination (un producto de nuestra imaginación).

Arriving in Puerto Varas, the giants were already there (allá) to great us and the beautiful blue skies of the day, the still deep blue waters of the shore only accented the impressiveness of the distant volcanoes. Couple that with the fact (el hecho) that Puerto Varas is a very cool and fun town, in fact, it reminded me of Durango, Colorado from about 20 years ago, seemingly undiscovered, but well knows by the throngs (muchedumbre) of backpackers who dotted the city and inhabited the many hostels.

Yes, we stood in the awe of the giants, sitting at their feet (a sus pies) and understanding the each day in Chile, a new surprise (una sorpresa nueva) lies just around the bend.