The Journey Begins

Wednesday, March 4

We were greeted by a taxi at 8am to take us to the airport for a 10am flight. All 4 of us piled into a small cab with all four giant hiking backpacks and we ran into a minor problem. We had too much weight for the car. We were bottoming out on the smallest cracks in the road and then we approached a speed bump and literally got stuck on the bump. The front wheels made it over, but then the frame of the car got wedged on the bump and we weren’t moving. After a whole lot of coaxing and scraping the driver made it over , but we had to change cars. He called in a van so that we could make it to the airport without ruining his car.

We finally made it to the airport, and our flight was on time, scheduled to land in Punta Arenas at 2pm. We made it to Punta Arenas and immediately got hassled by a tour guide operator who was trying to give us a “deal” on a bus to Puerto Natales. His deal was a complete scam and we told him to beat it. Our bus arrived and 3 hours later we arrived in the town of Puerto Natales…the launching pad to Torres del Paine. We found a cheap hostel called Magellania that had beds for everyone and included breakfast in the morning. It was nothing special, but did the trick.

We spent the rest of the evening exploring the town and picking up some final supplies for the hike. I was having a serious mental battle about my sleeping bag and the quality, or lack there of. It wasn’t sitting well with me that I might be freezing at night, so I searched around a bit for sleeping bags. This probably wasn’t the best place to look because everything was most likely marked up for people just like me looking for last minute supplies before they head off to Torres del Paine. Luckily, I found a quality sleeping bag for a decent price that was rated to -10 degrees Celsius. I was very happy with the purchase and felt at ease now, not having to worry about being comfortable at night.

We cooked an American dinner of hamburgers and tomato salad before rearranging our backpacks for the hike tomorrow. We split up the food and camping equipment, and everyone made their giant bags of GORP. After squaring everything away, we got to bed just after midnight. It was a bit later than we had planned because the bus to the park was picking us up at 7am, but it was another 3 hr bus ride so we will have time to catch up on sleep.

Bienvenidos Daniel

Tuesday, March 3

Daniel was scheduled to arrive tonight and I couldn’t have been more excited. I spent the day cleaning the apartment and preparing dinner. I have never felt so domestic and hope I never feel this domestic again. But, I wanted to give Daniel a proper welcome.

For dinner I made my second batch of Nonna sauce since I’ve been down here. I used a different brand of sauce this time and it came out a bit sweeter than normal, but still good. Lily grabbed some Chilean desserts, and I had planned on making pisco sours to accompany dinner.

We hopped in a cab to meet Daniel at the airport at 10:30pm. He arrived no problems, and bearing gifts. He had some last minute items for the hike like a compass, hiking pants and socks for me, and a present from my mother. She had knitted both me and Lily winter hats for the hike. They were amazing! It was great to have a touch of home to bring with us to Torres del Paine.

We chowed down on pasta & for dessert had pisco sours with ariza and alfajores (typical Chilean desserts with lots of manjar). Gotta love it. After dinner we loaded up all of the hiking backpacks in preparation for our early departure tomorrow morning to Punta Arenas. Wooohoooo!

Good to Go

Monday, March 2

I went for a run this morning, and when I returned I met Lily at the front of our apartment building with loads of camping equipment. Her co-worker Carolina dropped off a ton of stuff including two tents, a sleeping bag, and four sleeping pads. Talk about coming through in the clutch. These were the last remaining items we needed. Soon after, Nati stopped by with another, larger, tent and 2 more sleeping pads. I was a little nervous that we would be scrambling at the end to tie everything together, but now we were all set to go.

Lily went back to work and I spent the afternoon setting up all 3 tents on the beach to make sure they had all of the pieces and to see which ones would be best for our trip. We decided on the 4-person tent from Nati because it was the biggest and we could divide the pieces of the tent between everyone to distribute the weight. Also, it was very high quality, which was key, because we had been warned about the high winds and potential of rain in Torres del Paine. This couldn’t have turned out any better. Now my only apprehension is whether or not my sleeping bag will be warm enough.

Torres del Paine Shopping

Sunday, March 1

Sunday was nothing special. We spent the morning catching up on laundry in preparation for our trip to Torres del Paine. When we went to buy the coins for the laundry machine Andres, one of the doormen, told us that the price for coins went up today from 1000 pesos to 1500 pesos per coin. We were flabbergasted because we needed 8 coins & with the new price it would have cost us an extra 4000 pesos. Lily pleaded and they decided to give us a break this time. It’s good to be friends with the doormen.

After laundry and lunch we grabbed a micro bus to Puerto Montt to pick up some final camping supplies and food. Unfortunately many of the stores we wanted to check out were closed on Sunday, so we weren’t as productive as we had hoped. We still have some missing pieces like sleeping pads and a tent. We think Lily’s co-workers will be able to lend us these items, but we’re not sure how much of it they have and what the quality is like. So, fingers crossed, we’ll have everything we need by tomorrow. We’re all starting to get really excited for this trip. I’m especially excited for Daniel to join us in 2 days.

Parque Nacional Alerce Andino

Saturday, February 28

The weather forecast for today wasn’t looking great. It called for clouds all day and heavy rain in the afternoon. We had potential plans to drive to Alerce national park with Cristian for a day hike, but we weren’t excited about the potential of hiking in the rain. We got a call from Cristian around 9:30am and he was again waiting outside our apartment to see if we had come to a conclusion. I’m not sure if Cristian likes the surprise attack or if we push him to that fate by delaying our decision until the last possible second. Anyway, we again decided to tag along and jumped in the car headed for Alerce.

We picked up his friend Daniel on the way, and made it to the park in about one hour. The hike was said to be a 6-hour affair, so we go started right away to see if we could beat the rain back. Most of the hike consisted of following a path alongside a river as we climbed up the hills at the base of Volcán Calbuco. The forest was amazing. We were hiking through dense rainforest and thick brush. The moisture in the air was so thick you could see your breath despite the 70 degree temperature. It felt like we were inhaling in front of a humidifier. You could almost drink the air. About halfway up we came to a cascading waterfall where Cristian suggested we do a meditating exercise. The exercise was meant to release the “toxins” from our bodies into the air. I didn’t get much out of the meditation, but I enjoyed the silence and listening to the sounds of the park.

Soon after the waterfall we saw the namesake of the park…the great Alerce tree. The Alerce tree is the South American version of the giant redwoods in California. These are some of the oldest tree in the world, and they are absolutely massive. Having been around for thousands of years, you could fit up to 10 people around the circumference of the trunk hand in hand. The trees towered over the rest of the forest, and the color beneath the bark was a deep red. What a beautiful natural specimen.

The hike continued up the base of the volcano until we reached the end of the trail at Laguna Triangulo. This lake was situated in an amphitheatre of steep cliffs that dropped into the calm waters. The lake was the source of the river we had been following. It was one of the most mystical places I had ever experienced. It was so silent as streams of fog and clouds crept along the peaks and walls of the cliffs. Everyone was in awe and afraid to speak so not to disturb the tranquility of this natural wonder. We sat down for a quick bite to eat, and decided that we might as well go for a swim as a reward for the long hike up. The water was cold and stale and the bottom was covered in decayed leaves and branches due of the lack of current and motion that normally rids pools of this byproduct. The floor of the lake squished between our toes and I was immediately grossed out. I did the obligatory dunk, and got out of there as soon as I could. Not my cup of tea.

Rain started to sprinkle as we packed up to for the hike back to the car. We guessed that the hike back would be faster because it was all downhill. We failed to take into account the damp layer of moisture covering everything, which made for unsure footing for the entire return leg. About halfway down, it began to pour. My rain jacket kept my upper half dry, but my shorts and legs were soaked. By the time we got to the car I was freezing, and wanted nothing more than a hot shower to wash away the gooey feeling on my feet from the lake.

On the way home we stopped at the fish market in Angelmo, Puerto Montt, where Lily picked up a filet of merluza. Pearl offered to make jambalaya for dinner and as we began to prepare the fish for the jambalaya, I noticed that the filets still had all of the bones and skin. So, I tested my skills in cleaning the fish, and for the most park I was able to salvage most of the meat. The jambalaya turned out to be absolutely delicious, and was a great way to end our training hike for Torres del Paine.

A Week in Review

Monday, February 23-Friday, February 27

This week was a bit slow as we began to prepare for our trip to Torres del Paine. Just about everyday began with cloud cover and ended with bright sunshine, which made the mornings the ideal time to get some work done. Major initiatives this week included learning Spanish (no surprise), and working on the business plan for Patagon Journal. There were some afternoon breaks throughout the week when Pearl, Lily, and I tried to take advantage of the good weather while it lasted.

On Tuesday, Pearl and I went fishing over by town to try our luck in a new spot. It didn’t work, not even a nibble. Wednesday consisted of some food shopping and an evening rendezvous with Maca and Renato on the costanera. Renato had lived in Israel for 5 years and was fluent in Hebrew. I happened to be wearing my Hebrew Red Sox shirt that Lily got for me when she visited Israel and Renato read it out loud. Thank God it actually says “Boston Red Sox” and not “Yankees Rule”. I had a quick meeting with Jimmy on Thursday to go through some of the logistics of the business plan and collecting information, but nothing concrete or too productive came of it. Lily and I went for a quick fish before a dinner party at her co-workers Carolina’s house. We had dinner with some of the most important salmon bosses in Chile, and it was very interesting to hear their thoughts about the US, Americans, and the salmon crisis occurring in southern Chile. Also, it was a good time to practice my Spanish.

Friday was a beautiful day, and after a quick lunch at home with Lily I went fishing on one of the points on the other side of Puerto Varas. Again, I caught nothing, but had a burst of excitement when my lure got stuck on a piling. I had to dive into the water in my boxers to un-hook it from the submerged piece of wood. Lily thought it was hilarious, but at least I got to say I’ve been swimming in Lago Llanquihue. That night we met with Lily’s friends Sarah and Andy who had been doing some extensive travel through southern Patagonia and stopped in Puerto Varas on their way back to Santiago. They had been to Torres del Paine 2 weeks earlier and gave us some good tips for the hike. After dinner we tried the new wine bar in town called Dominga and the wine selection was great and not too pricey. Definitely a place worthy of a return visit.

Giant Oysters!

Sunday, February 22

We awoke to the smell of freshly baked kuchen again, this time of the apple variety made from ripe apples picked from the tree in the backyard. It was scrumtrelescent. After breakfast, Claudia drove us to the bus station where we hopped on a bus to Dalcahue on the eastern side of Chiloé. Dalcahue is well known for its weekly feria that takes place every Sunday throughout the summer. Much of the goods at this feria were similar to the ones we found yesterday in Castro, but it was nice to see the variety. Also, the entertainment at these feria’s is very amusing and worth the trip if nothing else.

We grabbed some final gifts before hopping on the free ferry to the small island of Quinchao directly across the channel from Dalcahue. We flagged down another micro and rode it until we reached Curaco de Velez about midway across the island. We stopped there for some lunch, and because it was our designated rendezvous spot with Cristian to return to Puerto Varas. We strolled down to the costanera where we found a small seafood shack offering oysters. We had heard great things about the Chiloé oysters…specifically how cheap they are. When we entered there were oysters spread across a large wooden table separated by size and ranging in price from 500-700 pesos each. Now, when I say these were the biggest oysters I have ever seen, I mean they must have been juicing on the same “arthritic” cream as Barry Bonds. These things were bigger than my hands! Lily and I couldn’t have been more excited to dig in. Pearl on the other hand was a bit more hesitant as she had never had oysters before and didn’t want her first experience to be with the incredible hulk oysters.

Lily and I got 2 each of the 500-peso variety and accompanied the oysters with empanadas de marisco (shellfish/muscles), while Pearl feasted on queso empanadas. The oysters were delicious, but couldn’t be slurped down in one bite like normal oysters. It was impossible to fit the whole thing in your mouth. So, this was the first time in my life when I was forced to use a fork and knife with an oyster in order to conquer these beasts. Stuffed from lunch and ready for a nap we met Cristian and his girlfriend and piled into the car to make our way home. We got a bit off track on some dirt roads trying to find a short cut, but we eventually made it back to Ancud where the ferry left for the mainland. While waiting in the line for the ferry we indulged in some manzana empanadas, which are like apple turnovers and specific to Chiloé. We can’t get these in Puerto Varas.

We made it back in time for Lily and me to meet one of her oldest friends from Maine, Jake Blaine. Jake was in Puerto Varas because he just started an incredible job with Parque Pumalin working for the Tompkins’. We had a great dinner at Meditarraneo, and I could tell Lily was thrilled to have a face to face talk with a friend from home. It made things feel very normal even though we were thousands of miles from home. Despite all of the action and projects we have going on here, it’s hard not to feel homesick. We dropped Jake at his hotel and returned to our apartment in Edificio Costanera for some well deserved rest. What a weekend!