Chile - Beach, Volcanoes, Penguins, Wind

Hello again from Chile!

Our travels took us from Mendoza, Argentina over the Andes thru Santiago and then into Valpraiso, Chile. We found a wonderful hostal near the bus station and stayed for 3 nights. Valpo is a beautiful, historic city on the Pacific coast with a decided artisan/bohemian flare. We walked to the docks and went on a harbor tour, rode in the gravity defying and ancient ascensores (cable cars that take you up the steep hillside to the various neighborhoods), drank schop or chilean brew, and took a side trip to the sandy beaches of Vina del Mar where vacationers of means spend time in the extravagant upscale hotels and casinos. We, of course, brought our lunch and generally consider buying a drink other than water a very nice treat!

Onto an overnite bus ride and the Lake District of central Chile where there are a series of snow capped volcanoes, warm hot spring fed lakes, lush vegetation, waterfalls and a myriad of adventure activities available. We settled into a cabaña (similar to a kitchenette) in a less touristy locale, Villarica; also the name of one of the active volcanoes. We saw it´s steaming vapors every day. No adrenaline spiking adventures for us on this leg. We just enjoyed the beauty of the landscape and took a taxi tour into the mountains over the course of one day.

Next stop, another 6 hr bus ride south to Chiloe Island and the wonderful fishing village of Ancud. We found another cabaña very near the shore and got to know a fascinating region of Chile. The next day, we went on a tour of islands where there are a few penguin colonies. It was a treat to see penguins, cormorants and sea otters in their natural habitat.

The island of Chiloe is known for it´s history of believing in mythological creatures who controlled the seas, weather and lives of the island inhabitants. Figurines of these creatures can be found everywhere. The Spaniards brought catholicism but could not completely eradicate the indigenous belief system. Today, mostly the older generation pay attention to these figures and the younger folks have largely moved away from such beliefs. Ancud captured our hearts as the folks living here were so genuinely nice to us. Its not a common tourist destination and most people simply go thru town to get to other parts of the island. We had three different people spontaneously give us a small gift to remember Ancud after very brief interactions. We were continously overwhelmed with the generosity of these wonderful people.

Nonetheless, we had to leave to catch a 2 hr flight even further south to Punta Arenas and then a 3 hr bus ride to Puerto Natales and begin our trek into Torres del Paine Nat´l Park. This is the park where the famous picture of the 3 towers has come to symbolize all of Patagonia. The park is also a short distance from the southern most tip of South America. It is a rather extreme environment with wildly changing weather patterns although the most constant is the ever blowing wind. Gales exceeding 60-70mph are not uncommon and come out of nowhere. These can knock a 170lb person flat on their back without a moments notice. We were attracted to the glaciers and tundra landscape and so set out on a 6 day trek thru the m´tains and glaciers of Patagonia. We, in retrospect, can title this part of our journey as ¨ A Series of Unfortunate Events¨. We started out under cloudy, rain spitting skies with a 2hr bus ride into the park from Puerto Natales. Dropped off at our trail head, we entered Torres del Paine in high spirits. This lasted about an hour as we then met some of the most intense weather the region has to offer - a strong head wind, stinging cold rain and dropping temperatures with at least 2 miles to get to our campsite. Even the highest quality rain gear can not keep you dry under such conditions. We arrived to the camp site soaked, freezing and went immediately into hypothermia prevention mode. Fortunately, this campsite had a three sided shelter and we got the kids in dry clothes in short order and had to put Ahmae in her sleeping bag on the table to warm up. Kai and Haven did fine after getting into dry, warm clothes. Then we set about getting the tent up only to watch it bowing under tremendous pressure from the wind. (Click on video of tent)We tried to move the tent to a more protected area when a gale like wind rose up and one of the poles promptly snapped. The tent was then ripped out of Kai´s hands so forcefully that it completely unwound and straightened the metal ring he was holding. Fortunately, Michael was able to fix the pole and we moved the tent successfully this time. Then, we began to prepare for hot drinks and a meal when the stove we rented decided not to work. Another fix it job by Michael got it working and we had a nice meal while other trekkers blew into the shelter sopping wet everyone of them. We had the distinct feeling we were in over our heads and considered chucking the whole trek. We all decided to get a good night´s sleep and see what the morning was going to bring.

On day 2 we awoke to sunny skies and spitting drizzly rain and, of course, lots of wind. After a short discussion, we all decided we wanted to go on but would modify the trip to 4 nights instead of 6 and turn our trekking the ¨W¨ (see http://www.torresdelpaine.com/) into trekking our made up ¨L¨. This would cut off seeing the tremendous Glacier Grey up close as well as the sunrise walk to view the famous ¨Towers¨of Patagonia. So onward we went with our crippled tent and a stove that completely gave up the ghost by the end of that day leaving us at the mercy and generosity of fellow backpackers with working stoves. We walked 7-9 miles daily in every kind of weather imaginable tho usually leaning at a 30 degree angle into the wind. I watched Ahmae blown off her feet once and most of us lost our balance numerous times daily due to strong winds. The wind would pick up water on the lake and spray it forward in great white swaths/sprays. We saw the water equivalent of dust devils on the lake with whirling pools of water starting in various places and rising tornado like into the sky. Huge avalanches echoed and boomed in the distance at regular intervals with waterfall like sheets of snow coming off the glaciers/granite filling the creeks and rivers below. Apparently, the park was experiencing some unusually severe weather of the summer. We had the good fortune to meet some pretty awesome folks from England, Chrissy and Mark, who have been on a 2 yr round the world honeymoon. They introduced us to another fine fellow, Noel a free flowing professional traveler from Malaysia. They let us use their stove and we shared wine and stories one lovely evening when it was not raining and there was only a slight breeze. The campsite was quite crowded with other backpackers and we had to erect our already crippled tent into a way too small space (see photo!). The Wokosin´s will be able to fully appreciate our ability to be flexible under such circumstances and at least we didn´t have a boulder in our tent!

The majestic scenery and sense of being at the end of the world was worth every bit of discomfort and we all agree that it was time well spent though, admittedly, we would not be inclined to repeat it anytime soon!

Now we prepare for our journey back towards Mendoza, Argentina where we will catch our flight to Miami, Fl on Jan 25th and begin working our way back to the sub zero temps of the Midwest. This will likely be the last blog update so contact us by pm for further contact and info.