Greetings from Chile!!
Penned Oct. 14, 2014
Well, we’ve completed Phase One of our Patagonian Adventure. We met up with our travelling companions, Susan (our travel agent and friend) and Forrest (a full-time mom), both from Atlanta. Our first stop was the Atacama Desert, a flight north from Santiago, and, of note, one of the driest on earth. They get .004 inches of rain a year – if they’re lucky; some parts have not seen rain in 400 years!(Pedro: “mother, when will we get rain?” Mother: “What is rain?”) and one of the highest deserts as well. Our hotel is nestled in a canyon near the town of San Pedro de Atacama, around 8,000 feet above sea level. Our first outing was to visit a salt flat where flamingos hang out – considered a sacred bird in these parts. They eat the brine shrimp, which are so small that the flamingos have to eat for 17 hours a day! Mining companies pump up the brine and get many things, including Titanium, so Chile is a major source of those batteries that keep your cellphone working… Who knew?
Linda and I went on a morning excursion on Day Two, hiking along the Cold River, up another 2,000 feet. It was fun, but we were exhausted, not due to our physical conditioning of course, but the elevation and dry air…
In the late afternoon we went to the Lunar Valley and hiked along a rocky canyon, finishing with some Chilean wine and snacks to watch the sunset.
Day three started at 6 am for our biggest excursion, driving up to the geysers known as El Tatio (sp: Old man crying). 1.5 hours on the bumpiest of roads up to 14,000 feet (which is the height of Mt. Ranier, and Pikes Peak also.) It was truly amazing.
Back to the hotel for lunch, and, of course, I just had to have a massage at the Spa…
Linda spent the afternoon chilling in the room, doing, well, I don’t know what she does…Actually, the two days had quite an effect…
That night we went into San Pedro de Atacama, the nearby town, had drinks at one resort, and dinner at another… Then passed out.
The Atacama Desert truly was an amazing place, a landscape and environment we had never seen before. But it was also amazing how the dryness and elevation took its toll. We’re glad we came here, but looking forward to getting into more “hospitable” environs (of course, wait until we complain how freezing we were on the glacier in Patagonia!)
Linda says “Hello!”
October 16, 2014
Rosario Valley, North Chile
So now we’ve completed our initial tour of northern Chile. From the desert we flew back to Santiago, then by car heading west to a beautiful little city on the ocean, called Valparaiso. The whole city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its uniqueness. It is so quirky, it puts Portland to shame… First of all, it consists of 43 hills that surround the bay, and there are both curvy roads and “elevators” (trams) that take you up and down. Then, all the houses are painted different bright colors. And then the walls, houses are full of “street art.”
Beautiful and very, very unique. So after settling into our lovely room overlooking the bay, we had dinner and collapsed, enjoying not feeling like we were going to dry up (a la desert). Next day we enjoyed a full day tour of the different areas of Valparaiso via car and walking, and visited the home of the Nobel Laureate Poet Pablo Nerudo, which is now a museum.
Late in the afternoon, we then were driven to the Rosario Valley, which is a grape producing region, home to the Matetic Vineyard. We stayed in the quaint hotel there and had a wonderful dinner. Next morning we had a three hour horseback ride up and around the hills and through the valley, as the morning mist was over the mountains. Simply beautiful. Of course, I wanted to take the ole pony full throttle, but was restrained by the guides…oh well.
We had a wonderful lunch, then some rest, and – pushing ourselves – went for a wine tasting. Such hard work! Of course, we had to rest up some more to be ready for dinner…and Matetic wines of course!
Oct. 21, 2014 3 am
Patagonia, Argentina
So I’ve finally got a minute – and some reliable internet - so here goes…
When I last left you we were about to fly south from Santiago Chile to Punta Arenas, in Patagonia. After arriving, we are picked up by van and driven to Punta Natales. We are staying in the Singular Hotel there, and we are blown away by the hotel. It’s an abandoned sheep processing plant that has been converted into a spectacular place.
We have a wonderful meal, then off to dreamland…Next morning, I had fun walking around taking photos, and then we had a tour of this magnificent place.
This was the view from our room…
Then in the afternoon we took a boat our to see our first glacier – Balmaceda. A wonderful boat ride as we are surrounded by snow-covered Andes mountains. I had my mind blown by the scale of the glacier. I thought the height was perhaps a few feet, then we saw some boaters near the glacier, and they were specks.
On the way back we were served a local drink served over glacier ice…yummm!
The next day we finally get our Jeeps and head out northwest into Argentina, and after four hours or so, we arrive at AltaVista Hostelria, which is a working estancia (farm). The main house has six guest rooms which were quite quaint. But no rest, we have our first horseback ride, which was great fun. At the end of our trek we were given a tour of the large barn where the sheep are sheared every spring.
After a star-filled night, we head out the next morning for another traildrive, this time up into the hills to see the Andes and the Perito Moreno Glacier.
After the ride out, I opt to let me horse go with the group, ostensibly so I can walk home and get better photographs – but really to give my sore tuckus a rest… But it is fun photographing all the spring lambs, and trying to catch the giant condors flying overhead….
Back for lunch, then we head into the nearby town of El Calafante, where we purchase some delightful chocolate….then to a Glacierium Museum to learn more about the glaciers….then downstairs to the Ice Bar – basically a meat locker turned bar – everything is ice – chairs, tables, glasses, etc. Linda likes her vodka cold, so she was in great spirits! Great fun!
We drag our weary bones back to the estancia for a wonderful Argentine BBQ of chicken, lamb, and sausage. Then off to dreamland once again.
A couple of us are up at 5 am for a drive to the National Parque to see the sunrise (hopefully) over the Perito Moreno Glacier. We are the only ones there and it was so beautiful and breathtaking to stand near the foot of the glacier and hear/watch the “calfing” as large chunks break off and crash into the water below. The sound is so loud, and the waves caused by the process cause a small tsunami across the lake.
After a couple of hours there we drive to meet up with the rest of our troop and ferry via boat to the glacier itself, where we donn “clamp-ons” and head out onto the glacier. Now I am really blown away.
Beautiful sculptures of ice, deep blue pools of water…we stoop down to drink pure glacier water. It is lightly raining but we hardly notice it. Near the end of our 1.5 hour trek we are offered whiskey over glacier ice, which we are simply forced to imbibe…
I head out at that point to another nearby hotel, Eolo, while Linda and others go to where I had been in the early morning. We are treated to the best room in the house with spectacular views of the valley and mountains and Lake Argentina. We have another wonderful dinner and crash…
Later this morning (Linda’s birthday), we head back into Chile…
Friday, October 24, 2014
Puerta Natales, Chile
We have spent the last two days touring the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Breathtaking! We are staying at a wonderful hotel called Tierra Patagonia, and it is basically carved into a hill facing a very large lake and the wonderful Andes. This is the view from our room at sunrise…
Linda and I take a hike to the lake beach, where there are these huge volcanic boulders, and lots of unusual rocks – and the occasional bones which Linda identifies (of course).
Over the two days we traverse the park via our Jeeps and some short hikes on foot. The glacier lakes are either a very bright blue (think Bermuda) or a milky aqua (due to sediment from the glaciers. Amazing. We are extremely lucky in that the sky has been clear for just about every day..
The park is teeming with herds of guanacos, which – to me – have the body of a llama and the face of a kangaroo..They are a protected species throughout Chile, and they are quite used to us gringos in the Park…
But there a simply magnificent views any way you turn..
Day two is very windy, so we are warned to be careful with the car doors, as they might blow off! After our touring we head back to the hotel we stayed at on the beginning of our trip – The Singular Patagonia – in Puerto Natales. It almost feels like home…
Last night was our last night together with our FAM group (mostly travel agents) and our wonderful guides who have become friends. They host a wonderful lamb BBQ in the converted blacksmith shop, and we drink wine and eat and trade stories… It is sad to say goodbye…
And Linda has gotten the bug – now she wants to do more “adventure” travel – to the Northern Lights in Norway, and Alaska, and the Galapogos Islands… you might be getting notes from us in Antarctica, who knows! My wife is quite the adventurer… She and our guide Alvero are already planning a return trip to Patagonia for fossil hunting. Of course, you can hunt all you want, but if you try to take it out of the country, you end up in jail. (Please come visit us!)
This afternoon we head out for a midnight arrival in Santiago, where we have two days of visiting that city, maybe doing a little shopping, and having some R&R before we head home on Sunday night for a Monday morning arrival in the States. Til then…