Puerto Natales, Chile - Last Stop in Chile

"When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in…"  - D. H. Lawrence

Puerto Natales, Chile Slide Show

I am not sure if the above quote was talking about the bone quivering cold of Chile's Patagonia, but the quote seems appropriate since our final days in Chile were spent shivering with cold and being frightful of the intense winds.  Fortunately for us, the scenery made it all worthwhile. After our boat ride on the Navimag, we stayed 3 nights in Puerto Natales, a city that is the stopping off point to visit Torres del Paines (Towers of Pain) National Park.
The park is best known for it's spectacular granite pillar mountains and extensive hiking trails and camping. We were not equipped to stay overnight in the park, so we rented a car and toured the park in one day. I know it was cheating, but considering the conditions and our lack of proper equipment it worked out quite well. It felt good to drive a car since it was the first time that we rented a car on this trip and the fact that I don't even own a car right now. Anyway, as I stated, the scenery in the park is incredible. We visited waterfalls, lakes, rivers, mountains, and a lake that had floating glacier chunks from the Glacier Grey. At one point, the winds were so intense that we had to all get down on the ground for fear of being blown over. We later found out that there were up to 70 mph wind gusts in the area.
We also visited Cueva (cave) del Milodon. The cave gets it's name from a Milodon, whose remains were found in the cave. The slow moving, herbivorous Milodon, which stood about 12 feet tall, ate the leaves of small trees, but they were hunted to extinction by humans. To the left is a life size replica "hugging" Noah. The cave was interesting and thankfully, the wind died down inside the cave.
Other than going to the National Park and the cave, a lot of time was spent hanging out in the marginal lodging that we had in Puerto Natales listening to the sleet and snow attack our already cracked window. This once again provided a nice chance for Noah to get some schoolwork done. Our residencial had CNN, which allowed us to watch the Vice Presidential debate on TV. Who are you voting for?

  *** Final Thoughts and Observations About Chile ***
As we sat inside listening to the nasty weather outside, we put together the following thoughts on Chile.

• Chile is a country of extreme geographical diversity. If you travel there, you will find deserts, vineyards, beaches, lakes, volcanoes, forests, fjords, granite peaks, a large city (Santiago) and glaciers.
• The extreme geographical diversity comes from the fact that Chile is extremely long and skinny. In fact, much to my dismay, we never found a map of Chile that showed the entire country on one page. It's shape is not conducive to normal paper. A long skinny scroll would work better.
• Chile is a safe country with a modern tourist industry and an economy that is considered one of the strongest in South America. The capital, Santiago, is a dynamic city where one third of the nation's population resides. Chile's main exports are copper, fruit, seafood, and wine.
• The prosperity and infrastructure of Chile makes you feel like you are in the United States or Europe, other than the fact that I swear that they speak Chilean and not Spanish. I got along okay with my Spanish in Peru since they talk slower and don't use as much slang as Chile.
• Unfortunately, the humble, service oriented nature of Peruvians is not found in Chile. People seem to be more uptight and reserved. The fact of the matter is that they do not need you from a tourist perspective as much as Peru does. Just a thought, but maybe the prosperity and wealth does not lead to happiness. We missed the smiles on the faces of Peruvians.
• The exchange rate of 541 Chilean Pesos to 1 dollar lead to a perpetual math lesson as we relied on Noah to give us the US dollar equivalent.
• Patagonia is a wonderfully deserted, cold, windy, beautiful place for the "End of the Americas". The next stop is Antarctica - maybe we will go to Antarctica someday, but we were not dressed for it. Patagonia was rugged enough for the limited resources contained in our backpacks.
• We have never had such good wine for $3 a bottle.
• The bright colors used on Chilean houses are a distinct contrast to the lack of color in their clothing. Most people live in brightly colored houses, but leave them each day wearing dark earth tones.
• Traveling around the world has turned Noah into a question machine. Leaving the comforts of home where he had nothing in particular to inquire about beyond "can I order a pay per view movie on our HDTV?" has lead to prolonged discussions about the world economy, inflation, why the glaciers are blue, why the wind blows more in certain areas, what is socialism and does it work, unemployment, supply and demand, the industrial revolution, what is the difference between a lamb and a sheep, trade deficits, unemployment, why does everyone else speak at least 3 languages but us, and do I have to pay for the Skittles out of my allowance. If any of you have answers to any of his questions, feel free to comment.
• Traveling is a good thing . . . more on this later.

To view a slide show of Puerto Natales, Chile, click on the following link ==> Puerto Natales, Chile Slide Show

Patagonia, Chile - Navimag "Cruise" Through Patagonia

"Travel in general, and vagabonding in particular, produces an awesome density of experience … a cramming together of incidents, impressions and life detail that is both stimulating and exhausting. So much new and different happens to you so frequently, just when you’re most sensitive to it. … You may be excited, bored, confused, desperate and amazed all in the same happy day."  - Ed Buryn

Navimag, Chile Slide Show

After spending a night in Puerto Montt, Chile, we took off on a 4 day, 3 night "cruise" on the Navimag to Puerto Natales, Chile. The word cruise is in quotes so that you don't get confused with cruise lines like The Royal Caribbean. The Navimag is a freighter that has been retrofitted to include some bunk rooms for passengers. On board, there are trucks along with their drivers, horses, cars, produce, and people.
Actually, the accommodations were fine, the food was okay and we met all kinds of interesting people on board. Included in the 106 passengers were people from Chile, Germany, Australia, Switzerland New Zealand, England, Holland, Spain, France, Israel, Ireland, and the United States. As with most of our travels, Jennifer, Noah and I were not the "normal" travelers. For the most part, the travelers are either retired vacationers or in their 20's traveling around the world. We have yet to come across another 40 something family home schooling their teenager around the world. Are we crazy?
The voyage was days of sailing in southern Chile's fjords, channels, and bays along the Pacific coast. If you take a look at a map of Chile, you will see that there are no roads, or people for that matter, in these parts. It is a sea (no pun intended) of water, mountains, and forests. Don't mention the Pacific Ocean part to Jennifer. The swells knocked our ship around pretty good, resulting in Jennifer depositing her dinner into the same ocean that caused her to do so. Take that, Pacific Ocean!
In the entire journey, we only came across civilization once in Puerto Eden, a small fishing port and the last outpost of the Qawashqar Indians. After freezing out on the deck for over an hour waiting for the dolphins that were supposedly going to be there, I retreated to our room. Dejected, I laid down on my bunk and started  reading a book, a rare opportunity to read on Jennifer's Kindle. Luckily, I looked out the window and saw dolphins swimming by. I scared Noah and Jennifer half to death as I jumped off my bunk yelling, "dolphins"!
The scenery along the way is beautiful, but the weather at this time of the year is quite cold. We would periodically go out on deck to take pictures and get some fresh air, but due to the weather, much of the time was spent indoors in our cabin or in the multi-purpose cafeteria/movie theatre/reading room/gathering place/bar.
The inclement weather and extra time on our hands allowed Noah to catch up on his studies. He had the opportunity to work on his Math, Science, Reading, Writing, and Spanish. He was quite pleased with this chance to get all caught up!
After traveling through this area of Chile, you can see why there are not a lot of people living down here. It is beautiful, but the weather and rough terrain should keep this area untouched and allow people to explore the wonders of Patagonia for years to come. That is a good thing! To see the Navimag slide show, click on the following link ==> Navimag, Chile Slide Show

Pucon, Chile - Adventure!

Pucon, Chile Slide Show

The picture to the left is of the Villarrica Volcano, the backdrop to the beautiful town of Pucon, Chile. Look at the smoke coming out the top of the volcano. It is still active! According to Lonely Planet Chile, "Carbon dating has determined that Villarrica had a massive eruption around 1810 BC. The first historically recorded eruption was in AD 1158 and since then, the volcano has had small to medium eruptions on well over 50 occasions. The largest modern eruptions were in 1640, 1948 and 1971." We didn't experience a volcanic eruption, but we did enjoy waking up to this view each morning.
In addition to the Volcano, Pucon is home to Lake Villarrica, multiple rivers, lakes and some incredible scenery. To think that only 4 days prior to going to Pucon, we had never heard of the town! That is one very good thing about not planning out every day of this trip. We can alter our schedules based on information that we learn from other travelers and locals.
The day before we came to Pucon, we experienced our first injury. If you are waiting for a dramatic story about how it happened, stop holding your breath. Jennifer jammed her pinky toe on a suitcase that was lying on the floor, resulting in a broken pinky toe. Since this prevented a hike up the volcano, we went horseback riding instead. This turned out to be a nice alternative to hiking. Our guide was outstanding and the countryside was stunning despite a cloudy drizzly day.
After horseback riding, we went to some natural hot springs to rest our sore horseback riding bottoms. I don't know if it helped our bottoms but it sure helped us sleep well that night. The roar of the mountain river rapids nearby as we soaked in hot springs was very relaxing. Everyone fell asleep on the van ride back to our hotel.
Speaking of rapids, Noah and I spent the next day white water rafting down the Trancura River. Since Chile is still in their Spring season, the mountain melt coming down the river meant for a very exciting ride. It is a good thing that we had wet suits on as we ended up in the river on three different occasions. The wildest rapid was named "fisher man's" as in they fish out man after they fly off the raft. Noah might not agree with me, but I thought it was an incredible rapid and yes, they fished us out.
The following day, the 3 of us rented bikes and set out on a bike ride to a waterfall that was supposedly 7 miles outside of town. Seven miles on a bike does not sound that hard does it? Well, it is if the last 4 miles are straight up the mountainside. This is an instance where a lack of information (we thought the route was flat) can hurt you. We alternated between riding and walking our bikes up the mountainside (remember that Jennifer has a broken toe).
We kept getting directions from locals on how to get to the falls. Towards the end of our journey, a very kind, old man with a great smile that was gathering Quail eggs offered to walk us up to the falls. Delirious from our climb, we mistakenly declined his invitation. We should have taken him up on his offer since we never actually found the waterfall. We eventually gave up and found a place to play catch instead. On the way down we passed the same man as he was walking into town with his Quail eggs. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we never saw the falls as we rode by so instead, I yelled "magnifico" to him. He smiled back and raised his hand in triumph. Yes, my "magnifico" line was a white lie, but one that I felt fine about as I looked back and saw his smiling face.
Pucon had the feel of a Western United States ski town with a few South American twists. If we didn't have a ship to catch for travel through Patagonia, we would have stayed much longer. Maybe we will come back - or maybe not, since there is so much else to see!
To see a slide show of Pucon, click on the following link ==> Pucon, Chile Slide Show

Santiago, Chile - Andes, Culture, Wine, Skiing, and McDonalds

Santiago, Chile Slide Show

Santiago is the beautiful capital city of Chile that is surrounded by the Andes mountains. On a clear day, which we were fortunate to have all 4 days, the views of the city and the Andes mountains are spectacular. The picture to the left is a huge statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of Cerro San Cristobal, the highest point in Santiago. On a day that we rented bikes, we biked up to the top for some incredible views of the city.
Sometimes everything goes your way in a city when traveling. By chance, we happened upon a great apartment in the middle of Santiago, close to everything that we wanted to do and was within our budget. It had a nice kitchen, a separate room for Noah, and Satellite TV! We even let Noah go to McDonalds to quench his appetite for "American French Fries". Jennifer and I did not participate in this event. We were able to get to anything we wanted to quickly being near the Santiago Metro (Subway) that runs constantly to every part of the city. During rush hour, you even get to try and set a Guinness Book of World Records to see how many people you can squeeze into one train.
The city of Santiago is wonderful to wander around and there are unlimited amounts of day trips you can take. One day trip that Noah and I took was to Valle Nevado, a ski resort only 40 miles outside of Santiago. The scenery on the ride up through the Andes to the ski area was worth the price of admission. The skiing was unique in that the entire ski area is above the tree line. The highest lift takes you up to over 12,000 feet. The sun was so bright against the sea of white snow that we had to have sunglasses on at all times. The spring weather made for some warm, slushy skiing. It was an awesome day! The other benefit of Noah and I going off skiing is that it allowed Jennifer to wander the city without having a 13 year old roll his eyes at every cultural stop along the way.
Another great side trip was to the Concha y Toro winery on the outskirts of Santiago.We took a wine tour and enjoyed a couple samples of some excellent wine. Concha y Toro is Chile's largest winery. The most common brand that you will see in the United States is Casillero del Diablo. We tried a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Casillero del Diablo translates as "The Devil's Cellar". They told the locals that the devil was in the cellar to stop them from going into the cellars to steal their wine. The high end wine of Concha y Toro is Don Melchor. We were able to taste a 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon that was as good as we have ever tasted. Since Noah is only 13, we were able to get his samples. At the end of the tour, we met Rob, a former Savage, MN resident who now lives in Ohio. Having a driver from his hotel while on business, Rob gave us a ride back to Santiago so we were able to avoid another bus and subway ride. Thanks Rob!
On the day we rented bikes, we came across Dan "Gringo" Brewington, the General Manager of Radio Santiago. an English speaking radio station. After exchanging stories, he asked if we would go on the air to be interviewed. He was intrigued with our around the world travels. He has quite a story to tell himself as someone who is from New York, has worked as a police officer in London and is now managing a radio station in Santiago. Unfortunately, we were heading off to the airport, so the interview didn't work out. We might do an interview via Skype in the future.
To see a slide show of Santiago, click on the following link ==> Santiago, Chile Slide Show.
By the way, the Twins are in 1st Place! Go Twins!

Valparaiso, Chile - What Did We Miss?

Valparaiso, Chile Slide Show

After traveling quickly through Peru, we were looking for a nice place to settle down for 6 nights. The guidebooks that we consulted on Valparaiso led us to believe that it was the perfect city to hang out in for a week. The Lonely Planet Chile Guide states that, "Valparaiso is undoubtedly the most unique city in Chile" and "has long been the continent's best kept secret". Not to be outdone, Footprints South American Handbook lists 6 places in their "Don't Miss" section on Chile and the city of Valparaiso was listed first.
As the title of this blog says, what did we miss?! Let's just say that we were relieved to be able to get out of our 6 night commitment at our "apartment" after spending 4 nights there. The apartment ended up being in a marginal area of town, was dark and dingy and we were afforded the opportunity to pay the most we have paid on a per night basis yet on our trip!
To be fair, the location of our apartment contributed greatly to our issues with Valparaiso. Although we were across the street from a famous Valparaiso landmark, La Iglesia Matriz, the oldest church in Valparaiso, the drunks in town used the steps leading up to the church as a pillow and the dogs used those same steps as their outhouse (the drunks did too, but let's not get into that). There are stray dogs and cats fighting all night long and sleeping in the sun (see the first picture in this blog) during the day. The dog is not dead. There are hundreds of them around town that sleep like that all day. Valparaiso just confirmed my love for these wonderful beings.
We did manage to find some interesting things to do while in Valparaiso - much better than hanging out at our "apartment". We took a harbor boat tour since Valparaiso is quite a large port town. We also spent a couple afternoons hanging out at two different beaches in the area. As long as you didn't have a need to go in the changing rooms, life was good at the beach. There are some nicer neighborhoods up in the hills that have very interesting architecture and some of the most amazing graffiti that you will ever see.
One night, we decided to do something different and go to the horse racing track in town. We were temporarily lost trying to find the track until some nice German/Peruvian man who speaks every language picked us up and drove us to the gate. Noah, never missing a chance to question our parenting skills, asked us why we tell HIM NOT to get a ride from a stranger, but it is okay for us to in a foreign country from a man that we don't know. Jennifer and I went with the "Do as we say, not as we do" line. Has anyone else ever used that line when you were at a complete loss of an explanation?
Anyway, we bet on 2 races. The first race, we chose a horse that had a name that we liked, Oceans Eleven. That didn't work so well as the horse finished 12th in a 12 horse race. Next, we went with the pre-race favorite, and that strategy worked great until the final .001 seconds of the race as our horse was beat in a photo finish. We would have won, but I only knew how to say bet to win in Spanish instead of bet to place or show.
Valparaiso goes to show you that you can't always win over the course of a 7 month trip. All is well and we learned a lesson about location, location, location. If you go to Valparaiso, do not stay in an apartment by La Iglesia Matriz. To see a slide show of Valparaiso, click on the following link ==> Valparaiso, Chile Slide Show.