Siete Lagos 6 - Lago Ranco
Photos by Don and Lois Porter
2/18/2006
We arrived at the tourist office in Futrono shortly after 6pm on Wednesday. A
wonderful young woman there gave us 4 options to choose among. The first one
we tried – Posada Cun Cun – had a nice room with a private bath for Chile Pesos
18,000 (US$36) and we decided to take it. Inez and Luis have been running the
place
for
13 years, and they aim to please!! They offered us drinks and melon. We left
to go find coffee and kuchen, which we did in short order at a nice restaurant
close by with a great view of the lake. Then we went into town and checked out
the “artesania” – good looking mermelada and not much else. We bought Pisco Sour
to share with our hosts at the supermarket and came back to Posada Cun Cun where
Luis and Inez (who were working diligently in their enormous garden) answered
all our questions. For example, Luis told us, when we asked, that the brochure
lies when it claims that the road all the way around Lago Ranco is paved. They
offered us the use of their hammocks and the terraza, both of which we did use.
They surrounded us with music and offered us food, which we refused. They were
a delight!! Thursday morning at breakfast we had a nice chat with the other guests:
a woman doctor from Santiago and her daughter. It was a great breakfast with
home made juice, jam, cheese. Luis went with us to the Jardin Botanico of the
Centro Campestre Lago Ranco (owned by the Caja de Compesacion de los Andes).
He signed us in and took us to the start of the path and we parted ways. This
lovely site is very well maintained, with lush plantings. We saw lots of Bandurias
and Lapwings. After the garden tour, we drove on the paved road around Lago Ranco
to Llife and then on to the Salto del Nilahue, which turned out to be 12 Km of
ripio (gravel and pretty tough!), not 5km (as the promotional brochure stated).
We
paid 600 Chile Pesos (US$1.20) each to walk down to the bottom of the falls on
private
property—well
worth it! We also viewed the falls from the top of both sides of the river. After
a delightful picnic lunch at a rest stop overlooking Lago Ranco, we headed back
home to Valdivia.
