On Saturday we left Viña del Mar and started making our way to Katalapi park, where the course would take place. We flew from Santiago to Puerto Montt, a trip of about one and a half hours by plane. We headed straight south, blanking the Andes. As you travel south, the Andes get shorter, but you could not really tell. I felt asleep on the plane and when I woke up we had started descending to Puerto Montt’s airport. There were a few scattered white clouds below us… or so I thought. Among the real clouds, there were snowy volcanos, some standing alone, others in small chains. We passed several large lakes, until we flew over a large lake with a beautiful volcanic cone, Volcán Osorno., covered in snow to about half. The lake side towns of Puerto Varas and Frutillas hung to the shore. After landing, we picked up a rental van and drove through Puerto Montt. The Pacific Ocean reaches Puerto Montt through a series of bays and fjords. Closing the lid of the large bay is Chiloé Island, a large island that was the last enclave where Spaniards remained long after the Chilean Independence. Chiloé was only a sliver of green in the horizon but it was exciting to see it. We drove through town and quickly moved to Katalapi Park. A short distance from the main road we reached Katalapi. A few wooden houses serve as accommodation, kitchen, classrooms and so on. The surrounding is a beautiful and wet forest . It has rained almost non stop from Saturday night to Tuesday. In the short opportunities we have had to explore the area we have seen wild strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis), Fitzroyia cupressoides (alerce; the oldest alerce on record was >3,600 years old!).
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