Pos: here
Loc: Isla Calbuco
Acc: tent
Dist: 3,8 km
Start: 18:10 End: 19:00

I had a nice old-style German breakfast again with Helge, her friend Lotti and Helga’s Ex-husband Wolfgang. But soon Helga and I had to drive off to the “Jumbo” Supermarket for my food shopping for the next 2-3 weeks.

Ahhhhhhhh, this was the very first huge supermarket in Chile and Argentina with European, almost North American choice! There were other big supermarkets in other bigger cities, but “big” in size doesn’t always mean great choice!

I was indulging in all kinds of new food, new in terms of “not having eaten the last seven months”. There were plenty of German imported things which I didn’t all really need and miss, but nice to see. They had even some reasonable style sour dough German bread with plenty of grains and seeds, which I happily bought for my lunch cheese dip. Still nothing compared to fresh German bread, but better than this fluffy puffy white stuff I had so far as the only choice! Next I spotted Lakritz and Marzipan, Marshmallow cream and white chocolate cream, a reasonable choice of cheese, all sorts of fruits (even more than in Germany!) and salads you can imagine (not half rotten, but fresh crispy as it should be!), and a variation of snacks and sweets which I haven’t eaten again and again. I think my food bags contain (besides fruits, oats, rice and pasta) really nothing I have eaten the last month. This will be great for the spirit and energy!

Helga was already getting impatient about me shopping for more than a good hour, and was calling me out over the microphone:”Freier, come!” As my name is Freya Hoffmeister and not Freier Come, I didn’t really realized I was meant! But I was almost finished anyway. Helga couldn’t believe this big shopping was all for one person for 2-3 weeks and would fit in my kayak!

We made it as well after the supermarket to the post office, and I could send a parcel with surplus stuff ahead to my hosts in Valparaiso/ Vina del Mar. 4 kg gone! But unfortunately time was too short to by a Chilean sim card for my mobile phone. So no e-mail on the road, any important stuff please send to peter@unold.dk.

Somehow I was shying away from that matter anyway, as visiting a phone shop is a pain in the ass in ANY country on this world! Always overcrowded, a mess of possibilities, and still what you need as a tourist is not among those offers. Then, the card either doesn’t work in your German cell phone, though unlocked, or the e-mail function which I need most is to configure only for an IT-specialist (like my partner Peter…) I will survive without the next weeks, and maybe it’s even nice.

Packing all the food in zip lock bags took another two hours, at least the choice of zip lock bags now was first time unlimited in size and quality. Those bags are the most needed item in my kitchen on my trip!

Sally came again with her van, and we loaded again my kayak on the roof with few straps and attachment possibilities, and I was again riding on the open back, standing, holding and watching my baby not to fly away. Thanks, Sally!

I saw the Chilean hinterland passing by, and was thinking of Germany…how nice it is there…

Lotti, Helga, Sally and I made a great 4-ladies team on driving out again to Calbuco, assisted by an about 10-year old gentleman. Packing my kayak was obviously fascinating, and I am sure the ladies inside made a bet if all would fit…well, I left a package of Knaeckebrot which really didn’t wanted to find a space anywhere with Helga! But all my precious fruits like strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, plums, avocados, many grapes, apples, carrots and a bag of fresh salad was fitted nicely!

I just wanted to paddle away from the city of Calbuco, and I knew already a very nice beach with no road access would be coming soon after the port. So packing, paddling for 50 min, and unpacking again…well, not all. It was fortunately almost high tide and a small round rocks beach, the best to drag up a heavy boat.

I noticed on passing by the harbor that Chileans seem not always to look at a boat as a female with a female name, as I saw a bunch of “Don Ricardo”, “Don Luis” and “Don Arturo” named fishing boats. Well…

The break in Puerto Montt was quite stressful, as I had so many chores to do, and working on my pictures online backwards for such a long time. But a great thanks to Meike Michalik, who initiated the stay here with her family! Her mother Helga was taking really great care of me, like my own mother, and patiently drove and guided me around! Thanks as well to her brother Jörg and wife Soledad for borrowing me the modem stick and the matching computer almost all the time, doing my laundry, and getting fed with nice restaurant food! I was also pleased to meet Meike’s sister Kirsten with her three kids, and her father Wolfgang, a retired school head master of the German school (this is why the family came to Chile years ago). Allover a very nice stay! Thanks to everybody!