Chilean Bodies of Water

Good ol’ water. Let’s start with the practical: cool, clean, from the tap. It was a refreshing change from the tap water in Venezuela that many refuse to use even for brushing teeth. Being able to fill our bottles anywhere added a small bonus to the overall sense of ease and tranquility that floated with us through the country.

Lakes. Chile is separated into 15 regions, one of which is called the Lakes Region. We went there. We saw lakes. Really gorgous lakes.

Rivers. Just north of the Lakes Region is the Rivers Region. One just flows into the other. Not all the rivers in the pictures are from the Rivers Region however.

Waterfalls. Naturally you’ll find waterfalls among mountain terrain where rivers flow into lakes. Salto de Laja is one of the most famous and heavily visited. Some say it’s a mini-Iguazu when the water is running high. Lonely Planet says that’s a stretch. You can decide with the pictures below.

Thermal Baths. With all the volcanoes in Chile there’s got to be some hot water, right? You could probably hop down the eastern side of Chile stopping every few hours at a different hot spring. Though we were close to many, there was only one that we tried and we saved it for the afternoon of Christmas day. So, so pleasant.

Fountains. Every Chilean town of respectable size has been built in the Spanish style with a Plaza de Armas in the center. The vast majority of those plazas contain a fountain of some sort.

Chileans seem to equate camping with swimming pools. Almost all the private campgrounds we checked out had a swimming pool, whether or not it was serviceable. This seems odd to me having grown up camping in the Northwest. My family never went to KOAs or other private campgrounds. Do those have pools?

Chiloé is an island so there was plenty of water to see. We had to take a ferry to get there. (Unfortunately we didn’t see any, but there was a line on the ferry fee schedule reserved for yak-drawn carts.) Once we were there we took a boat ride to see the penguins. Fish is the prevailing industry on the island, so the waterfront color in most towns was splashed with bright fishing-boats. Besides the seafront water, I found a creek bed lagoon on my hike in the Senderos de Chepú (where we were staying on the island) and in true form, stripped down to take a frigid dip. Sorry, no pictures of that one.