Nicolas La Penna is an American from Vermont (or Connecticut ?) who has relocated to Chaiten. He runs a low-cost ecotourism agency called "Chaitur". During the off season he is also a music teacher. If Nicolas is not hauling a tour group in his van he can be found at his home (photo above) or his office in the bus station (photo below). Nicolas is the young, bearded guy on the left. He is very knowledgeable and easy to get along with. I would definitely recommend his services. But call, FAX or send an e-mail in advance.

Oficina: Chaitur/Terminal de Busses
Casa(home): Diego Portales 350
Combination phone and fax: 56-65-731429
Back-up fax: 56-65-731266
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Chaiten bus station is a modest affair. There is no interior public waiting room where you can warm up. Nicolas is the dispatcher for some of the bus lines. When he is not at home he can be found at the Chaitur office shown here. Ruben, the man on the right, traveled more than 100 miles from his home in Futaleufu to sing with Nicolas's Andean music group (photo below) in their Teleton performances.

My visit to Chaiten was in late November, a relatively low time for tourism, so Nicolas was only moderately busy. I hired him to take me fishing and sightseeing for one day. He knows his way around and is interesting to talk to. Several other days he invited me to ride along while he did his agency business. Through Nicolas I met a lot of local people including the couple shown here, who invited me to a couple of dinners in their home. He is a dentist and she is a concert violinist. They are cooking on a huge wood stove which also heats the house.

Dedicated fishermen tend to zip through Chaiten on their way to more famous, distant and expensive spots upstream on the Rio Yelcho. At the right times of the year some great fishing may be available locally, and Nicolas knows where to look. He kept apologizing for the smallness of the trout, which looked OK to me. I think he was comparing them to much bigger salmon and trout he has caught on other trips. This particular photo shows Nicolas with a "trucha cafe" or brown trout. The river is the Rio Negro, which crosses the Carretera only a few miles from Chaiten. The water is free of sediments but is stained dark, probably from percolating through the forest floor. In the area just upstream of the Carretera the banks are easy to walk and there are gravel bars. Short boots are a help.

Nicolas caught this silvery fish in the Rio Negro on a home-made streamer fly. I think it is probably a young salmon of some type. It doesn't have a rainbow's red stripe along its lateral line. It was hooked badly so we decided to take it home for dinner. We released all of our other fish.

Nicolas is an accomplished musician and has obtained a Chilean government grant to teach local kids and adults how to play the guitar and other instruments. He is plugged into the local folk music, folk dancing and handicraft scene, which is moderately impressive for such a small, remote town. Backtrack to the *Chaiten page for photos and details.