Puerto Varas

Hello
I took the bus this morning from Pucon. A few things of note... The clearcutting in Chile is even more of an eyesore than what U.S. or Canadian companies are capable of. After clearcutting hillsides, they plant row after row of eucalyptus trees. It is horrendous. Not only does it look weird because the new growth is red compared to the intact forests, but I imagine the trees then invade the surrounding forest that hasn't been cut yet. Crazy.
The bus ride went through some very rural areas. The most common bird species I saw in the pastures was a super colorful ibis!! Bright red legs and all. I forgot to mention that I also saw a caracara chilling in Cani when I was there. It isn't uncommon for people with small farms to use plows pulled by cattle.
It turns out that Pucon is more like the Steamboat of Chile and now I am in the Aspen of Chile. If it is possible, everything here is more expensive. The tours to the surrounding parks are at least $60. Right off the bat I met a guy who runs a guide company. He gave me good advice on where to stay and told me that it is cheaper to rent a car in order to visit the parks.
After some lunch in a cafe with veggie sandwiches, which this fine gentleman also recommended, I ran into some people I had met in Pucon including my buddy from Seattle. They had befriended a German guy who is actually staying in my hostel and was trying to find someone to rent a car with him tomorrow. Perfect! We only have to pay $20 for the car and we have it all day.
The park was established to protect alerce trees which are almost as large and definitely as old as redwoods. It was established during the Pinochet era which is remarkable that anything pro/environment happened then. Ill report in once I have some more info.
I plan to stay here tomorrow night and then hightail it to a cheaper locale.
p.s. I changed the setting for comments to only allow registered users because i am really tired of all the spam. If you don't want to register, just email me directly. I check all of my accounts regularly.