Chile Forum

Southern Chile looks a lot like MN, only without the mosquitos and the snow is never more than waist deep even in the mountains. Mostly it rains a lot of the time in the winter, but the summers are like MN but less humid.

Mosquitos-that's a question! Hi, sorry to barge in. My boyfriend just spent the last month travelling through Chile looking at/for property with the intention of relocating us. Needless to say, he fell in love with the country and the people he met, despite his lack of Spanish. (He did make a good start on his Pisco resistance,however) Anyway, as he traversed Chile physically, I did my own virtual tour, and happily found your brilliant website! So...mosquitos; I am a mosquito magnet. A veritable beacon of blood for those flying monsters! Will I be moving to a country where mosquitos the size of jack-rabbits darken the skies? And biting flies-what's up with them? How is the, um, insect life?

Haaaaa chile is certainly not bugless but it is a fact that tere are no venomous critters of any kind in Chile...there might be a bug or two that might not make you feel good but nothing like black widows, rattlesnakes...in the south there is a "tabano" horsefly that comes out in the summer and has like a bee sting type bite(there are bees and yellow jackets) and there is a long worm type creature as well in the south that comes out in the summer and I can't think of the name.... cacuna..or something like that and it bites as well but you don't get sick....oh heres a good one...they have almost erradicated it now but in the north there is a beetle called the "vinchuka"...and basicly it lives in the thatched roof of houses, at night it senses heat and drops down on you(the size of a quarter) as you sleep....it bites you and then in the small bite area it poops and then regurgitates mud as well...with its back legs it mixes it all up and makes a type of pie...your blood of course mixes in and as the bite really can't be felt, you wake up in the morning with a scabbed over area....the enzymes in the vinchuka's salivia is very special as it lodges in only one place once its in your system...the artery on your heart....it takes about 20 years or so but eventually the heart explaodes and you are dead before you hit the ground...there is no warning of when it will happen....so theres that....the government started in the 60's getting people not to use thatched roof and change over to zinc or metal roofs and so there aren't many cases anymore...maybe 2 or 4 a year.....

ciao el puelche

Yikes! Guess maybe we'll focus our search on the SOUTHERN part of the country! Hey, here's a less...creepy...question: when there's a bunch of land bordering a property marked "Reserva Forestal", does that mean it's being protected, or possibly just being protected for future logging interests? And is there somewhere one can find out who's holding the water rights on a place? Public records of some sort?

Good job from puelche on Bug's Life on Chile.
I would like to throw the occasional flea into the equation.

Yes,there is no major venomous critters in Chile.
On the matter of the "cacuna" is really named Cuncuna (,and it is basically a spiny caterpillar redish to black in color that attack pines specially in the south of chile ( i used to go down South and buy pine in logs ).
If you see one try no to touch it, stings like hell.
Pictures here:
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=0017002 and here http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1428136.
On the vinchuca,pictured here, http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/zulu789/vinchuca_g.jpg . these is a nasty bug that carries and transmit the "Chagas Disease" and is mostly found in the North ,this bug likes to live in the straw roof and in the cracks of adobe houses.
More from my friends of Wiki, here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease
Just for the anecdotic point it is rumored that the disease that kill Charles Darwin was "Chagas disease" that he contracted during his trip from Argentina to Chile.

I had posted a hufge<<<thats actually huge but I'm to tired to change it...write up on all of htis, got a phone call, continued to write and then posted it all...only to find that it didn't post on the site...must be a time limit versus use thing going on...so if admin could let us know how much time we have before we must continue to use and in the meantime I will filter through my thoughts and try to use the mishap to answer in a more concise way the questions and inquetudes de la senorita..

ciao, el puelche

Lo siento,el puelche,I hate it when that happens! I look forward to your revised effort.

Don't forget the most widespread poisonous insect threat in Chile is the araña rincon better known as the brown recluse spider in the States.

You also need to be aware of the Hanta virus (spread by rats).

It's the creatures that actively seek to bite you that get under my skin.

WATER RIGHTS:

There is a govt division dedicated to this and although I don't remember right now I will find out the name.

water rights are as follows....all water in CHile belongs to the state and they only "lend " you its use...for a fee. THe registration of water takes about two years to complete and is very well documented. That is say that if you or someone else is registering water or has done it, it is well known and easy to find out.

The registration depends on the ultimate use of the water and as a result of the users uphill and downhill the government issues a percentage of use to the individual based on the above factors and the available water volume and flow from the source.

An ingeniero agronimo can head up the process for you and it costs about $300.000= pesos. There are many phases to get the work done and they consist of checking the location of the water and its flow direction...also is it a stream at mid section or a headwater etc...the authorites will verify the other percentage load of registerd users to see if there is any use left...they will test the water to acertain if the intended use qualifies the water....ie too much arsenic in the water for a jam making business but acceptable for a pig slaughterhouse....

When registering water you must have a project or intended use. It cna v=be commercial, like a dairy or cheese factory or it can ve domestic for strictly a home. In this way you will be safeguarded against a dairy that moves in uphill of your paticular home and uses all the water or contaminates the water that to use your "registerd" water will be dangerous to your registered use...the govt will not allow this to happen or at least your percentage of water has 1st priority. Most people in the campo do not subscribe or register thier water as it is very expensive and its not worth it as in the south there is so much water. Some business' or commercial interests are required to register the water as a matter of course to guarantee the public heath>>>dairy, cheese, jam and I think you get the idea.

Part of the registration is such that not only must the water be tested for impurities but also public awareness is a large component. You are required to do public announcements via radio and in print of your intentions to register water....there is a time amount to contend with and although this isn't the situation >>>it is something like 6 announcements on radio and print over 6 months declaring your intentions...in this way concieably any nieghbor you might have that is at the point of launching his/her own venture/use can be aware and thus advise the water authorities so that an amenable situation can be arranged.

There is a fee to be pid on a yearly basis to maintain the the registration. It is extremely small ...like 2=usd a year, however once it is seen that the original use of the water or project is no longer viable then the fee becomes such that the cost usually obligates the user to rescind the registration...for example ...you have a dairy using water for 30 years and it is $2=usd or $1000= pesos a year and the dairy closes...the fee will then be $600.000= a year( I don't know the amount but you get the idea)...on the same property where the family is still living there is a house with a different water registration from a different source and as the family continues to live in the home the situation en toto remains the same.

Water rights are very difficult to recind...for example...the municipality of Pucon has subscribed to 100% of the water in the rio trancura for its use....any person legaly trying to subscribe to that water would have a difficult time...they would much easier go to the municipality and work out a rental of the water they need than subscribing to the water themselves. This does not mean that water is not taken from the rio trancura by the residents/owners all along its edge but they are not registered and if it is found that they are taking so much water that Pucon cannot meet its needs than the powers that be will shut them down...ie individuals with 30 hectars that irrigate thier land with the rio trancura waters will most likely not have issues but the there is no doubt that the water is owned by the municpality of Pucon.

Land that is purchased with water rights can be transfered to the new owners...usually there is no additional cost for those rights although the value or asset of the water rights is reflected in a land price per hectar that is higher than the hectar price in the vicinity that remain without water subscription...also you will find a seller much less willing to bargain or negotiate a per hectar price when the land has this added benefit.

In my opinion, if I found a parcel that I liked, I would not let water registration issues stand in the way of a purchase UNLESS it was a parcel next to an obvious water user or I wanted to install a concern that would use alot of water and I needed to have the finer points of water use in the bag before the purchase...you must remember that the CHilean government owns all the water in CHile and that as a Chilean or resident, you are only allowed to borrow or use the water....this having been said and that all are aware...the reality that the government will cause problems for any any end user is extremely un-likely(water rights abuses that go into the courts are linternational lumber companies etc)...so be cool and move forward...

ciao, el puelche.

Next on the agenda will be reseva forestal

Thank you, El Puelche, for your answer; that clarified things quite a bit. For example I had heard that Chile flat-out owned all the water rights, yet saw references to purchasing them on this site-you clarified the distinction. The property that we are considering encompasses a lake, a waterfall, and chunks of a river and a stream: all sorts of water. Other than a possible electrical-hydrogen set-up, the main concern would be to perserve the existing water-ways against future infringement; say to insure that the stream that feeds into the lake would continue to do so, or that the river would still continue to be fish-able. The existence of all of this water on the property is a good part of what makes it attractive, so it would be annoying to find out that someone else had control over it.
Ciao, Chilco

Chile is actually quite advanced in regard to conservation of resources....the govt is terrified in becoming another brazil and perhaps even over-zealous in thier efforts (conaf<<forestry) the likely hood that they would allow a ake to be drained or a river to be raped is extremely un-likely unless the rapist is extremely well placed so that all other considerations are mute(a senator or weathly business type family with longtime prescence in the area)

Remember you can only borrow the water in CHile and the govt will only allow you register a percentage according to your petion and use. I have only seen two situations where water was registered with out owning the land...I'm sure there are other situations that are similar...

1) The japanese have routinely "leased " squared out lat and long lines with-in the 200 mile economic zone in the Pacific ...THat is say that they have fishing rights for a limited time(2 weeks) within a set area (40 square miles maybe 80 miles off the coast.

2)A relative of E. Hemmingway owns the fishing rights to a stream up above Futrono in the mountains...he makes his living from bringing in people to fish and he also works as a guide...I'm sure that in Futalefu there are other such arrangements...in this case Martin doesn't use the water other than the fish he fishes out of the stream to earn his living .....my feeling that in order to do this similar set-up...it would take alot of time (10 years) and alot of money....

ciao el puelche...

good luck and remember to be very careful in your purchase...get a good lawyer to verify the background on the land and don't be afraid to let some time pass before signing the papers...they will say "...you are going to loose the opportunity if you delay..." and you might its true...ther are all kinds of opportunity in Chile with land and to set your self up to have to have one particular parcel...is very dangerous and you invite that special blindness that comes with any purchase...you will not see a little detail until its too late and it will be a big bummer...I'm not trying to dissuade you in your purchase but please be careful...a little time will bring the little details to the surface...and its usually those details that kill you...

Back to the beer issue - a subject near and dear to my heart and liver - I spied two fence rows in Futa laden with hops vines. I checked out all the best hops sites on the web and found that this area is at exactly the same latitude (albeit south) as the major hops growing regions in the US. So, there you go.

Vicky, lets brew beer next summer. Futa could use a nice little micro brewery.

I never get sufficient hops in my Chilean beer. A strong India Pale Ale (we can call it Chilean Pale Ale).

As I understand it, it is very easy to grow hops. All we would need is some root stock, a fence, and the climate here (oh, and a night time sortee to dig up the neighbors vines). The vines grow quickly and should be cut back each year. New vines can shoot up to over twenty feet, hence some forethought on the fencing system. Then there is an issue of "drinking up all the profits"! I just know that at 1400 pesos for a big plastic jug of Cristal will end up bankrupting me - plus, where to hide all the empties! I also read some interesting ideas on roasting your barley prior to starting a batch, supposedly it gives you a nuttier, darker end product (I'm thinking of Guinness). I do believe that the equipment for starting out can be purchased fairly cheaply, and I'm sure a supplier somewhere sells bottle caps and cappers. I'm in. One problem - just have to have a place to land here. Working on that.

One other note...there is a fabulous old, two-story house about a block from Laguna Espejo, yellow-shingled with dormers and a big yard - Empty. Beer Hall/Coffee Shop?

Anyway, thanks for this fun, and informative site.