Chile Wrap-Up

Facts and Figures
Length of Stay:  Forty-two days
Miles Traveled:  3,555 by bus + 3,926 by plane = 7,481 total (10,346 since landing in Quito)
Cities and Towns Visited: Arica, Iquique, San Pedro de Atacama, Viña del Mar, Pucón, Valdivia, Castro, Puerto Montt, Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, Santiago, Valparaiso, Hanga Roa
Intercity Buses Taken:  17
Flights Taken:  3
Disgusting Blisters Magge Developed:  4, at least
Natural Disasters Experienced:  1

Rankings in the full post.

Easter Island: Worth the Wait

When Magge and I realized that we could visit Easter Island (known as Rapa Nui in the native language) on our around-the-world-ticket at no extra cost, we knew we had to make the stop. 2,300 miles from Chile and 2,500 miles from Tahiti, it is one of the most, if not the most, remote inhabited places on earth, and we didn't know when we'd have another opportunity to see it. It was therefore heartbreaking when our flight was canceled after the earthquake and we thought we'd have to skip it. However, we were able to move the flights around, and even though it meant only being there for three days instead of six, we made it to the island. After all the waiting and uncertainty, it did not disappoint.

When Nature Throws You an Earthquake . . .

Due to our inconsistent internet access over the last couple weeks (and the exorbitant prices when it was available!), we are quite behind on our posts.  It also looks as though New Zealand will be offering a great deal of writing material, and Jeff (surprise, surprise) is fretting about us getting too far behind on our posts.  Since one of the major objectives of this blog is to create a magnus opus that we may look back on in years to come, we do not wish to leave out anything.  Consequently, my next few posts will not be nearly as detailed as usual and will rely heavily on pictures.

As would be expected with my mother, no earthquake was going to get in the way of us having an activity-filled vacation.  Yes, our Easter Island plans did not work out as hoped; however, we still managed to have a wonderful time together for our extended stay in Santiago.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

An earthquake isn't going to stop Magge's birthday signs.  We were supposed to be on Easter Island today, and the plan was to take this picture with one of the many moai (or as Magge says, "Easter Island head") on the island.  Since we couldn't be there, we hunted down this replica in Santiago.

We couldn't find out how to say happy birthday in Easter Island's native language, so this sign says it in Maori, which is supposed to be a closely related Polynesian language.

Earthquake Damage in Santiago

I obviously haven't seen the American news coverage of the earthquake in Chile, but in speaking to friends and family from home, it seems as though the message conveyed is that much of Chile, including the capital Santiago, has been devastated.  While that certainly has been the case in the city of Concepción and the surrounding areas, Santiago has largely been spared.  Buildings and infrastructure took some hits, but overall we have been extremely fortunate that it was not worse.  Over the last four days, we have spent time walking and driving around various neighborhoods in central Santiago, and we have only seen two instances of heavy destruction.

Earthquake in Chile, but We Are Safe

An earthquake hit Chile close to the city of Concepcion this morning. It shook the buildings in Santiago, but most seem to have escaped damage. A few older buildings didn't make it through the quake unscathed, power is out in some areas and many businesses are closed, but overall the city is in good shape. Magge's mother, stepfather, Magge and I are all safe.

Patagonia: No Paine, No Gain

Our bus ride to Torres del Paine National Park seemed like a bad omen. It picked us up late, drove in the pouring rain and pulled off the side of the road due to what Magge and I initially thought was a flat tire. The bus driver and his assistant got off the bus, took a look around, and came back on board to announce that it was too dangerous to continue and that we would have to wait for another vehicle to come take us the remaining seventy kilometers to the park entrance. We decided to go outside in the rain to get some fresh air, and discovered that the problem with the bus wasn't a flat tire, but that the front axle had somehow disconnected. Back in our seats, I resigned myself to missing our scheduled ferry and wondering if the weather would actually let us see any mountains during our four days in the park.

Room With a View

Our accommodations at the Paine Grande Lodge were the most expensive of our trip so far, even more so than the much more upscale and comfortable Hotel Santa Lucia in Cuenca.  What did we get for the money?  A room shared with four strangers (three bunk beds squeezed into a small room), a communal bathroom, no bed sheets (had to rent sleeping bags) and rude and inefficient staff.  But we did get this view, which made it worth it:

More on our trip to Torres del Paine coming up.

Reasons I Loved Pucón

Shortly after arriving in Pucón two weeks ago, I wrote an e-mail to our parents telling them it was very likely I would never leave.  Here are a few reasons why:

1) Tons of friendly, stray dogs that love to follow you around.  It's as though they're thinking, "Hey, where you going?  Mind if I tag along?"  On our first day, one dog followed us around for over an hour, stopping and lying down whenever we stopped and then getting up and happily trotting along when we continued to walk.  Sadly, we couldn't let her into our hostel with us, so we had to say goodbye.

2) An abundance of hydrangeas in a plethora of colors.  It's almost as though it is a law here that everyone must have at least one hydrangea bush growing on their property.

3) Enough raspberries and blueberries to satisfy even me.  I love my raspberries and blueberries, so much I will admit to having even paid five dollars on occasion for just a pint of deliciousness (don't tell Jeff!).  Here, if you walk down the street in the middle of the afternoon you will find many vendors selling quarts of raspberries and blueberries for just $2 each!  Heaven!

Yup, just give me a bunch of friendly, stray dogs, hydrangeas, and cheap blueberries and raspberries and I am one happy girl!

Puerto Natales

We are currently in Puerto Natales, biding our time before spending three days in Parque Torres del Paine.  The town isn't much to look at, but it's located on a beautiful sound with a very cool name: Seno Última Esperanza (Last Hope Sound).  Magge included two pictures in her travel post yesterday, and we were able to take a few more good ones today, in spite of bad weather.

 

Black-necked swans

I know there have been a lot of entries lately on the website, but we're trying to get our writing in because once we leave Puerto Natales, we likely won't be posting again until we get to Santiago next Wednesday, and it will be difficult to post again after that until we get to New Zealand on March 14.  That should give you time to catch up (especially you, Liam - waiting on your comments!).

Sometimes It's Better To Be Lucky Than Good

Yesterday we embarked on our trip to Patagonia.  Our voyage started with a three and a half hour bus ride from Castro to Puerto Montt, where we stayed the night.  This morning we caught a bus to the airport and took a two hour flight to Punta Arenas (the furthest south either of us have been in our lives*).  Our guide book maintained that we would be able to catch a bus at the airport for the three-to-four hour journey to Puerto Natales, where we are planning to spend the next two nights before heading to Torres del Paine National Park.  It did not, however, inform us that we needed to make reservations in advance.  The woman at the airport Information Desk advised me that we would have to make the half hour trip (in the opposite direction) into the city to purchase tickets and catch a bus going back north.  Lucky for us, there isn't a central bus terminal in Punta Arenas, so we would have to choose a company and hope it had a bus departing soon that we could board.  Crestfallen, I asked the woman about the cheapest way to get into the city.  She said we could take a van for 3,000 pesos (just under $6) each.

McDonald's in Chile

The day after my menu roulette debacle in Castro, I wanted to eat something I knew I would enjoy for lunch.  I told Magge that if we saw a McDonald's in Puerto Montt, that was going to be our one McDonald's stop in Chile.  Walking towards to Plaza de Armas, we saw the golden arches pierce the sky and smiled knowing lunch was going to be good we would get to continue our cultural study.

Quiet Days in Valdivia and Chiloé

It was tough to leave Pucón after seven days, especially since the weather was great towards the end and the forecast looked even better.  Somehow we pulled ourselves away to visit Valdivia and the island of Chiloé.  Both places were fairly uneventful, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering both Magge and I (but more Magge) were battered and bruised from our activities in Pucón.  We did a lot of wandering, ate seafood and then made our way to Puerto Montt.

Did I Mention That I'm Afraid of Heights?

Much to our mothers' dismay, after two days of steady rainfall, Jeff decided that enough was enough: rain or no rain, we needed to get out and do something.  The rain had left Jeff with plenty of time to start fantasizing about all the different extreme activities Pucón had to offer.  The fact that we would be "rebelling" against our mothers only heightened the temptation (let's just face it, we're our mamas' good little kiddies most of the time).

But what would we choose?  Canopying?  Canyoning?  Hydrospeeding?  After much deliberation, we finally decided on canyoning: a fun mix of hiking through rivers and rappelling down waterfalls.  As exciting as the prospect of getting out and doing some outdoor activites sounded, I have to admit I had my reservations about this particular choice.  You see, heights and I have an interesting relationship.  There are many activities I like that involve heights, but every time I find myself lifted to a certain level off the ground my legs start turning to jello and my heart starts beating rapidly.  Add to that the fact that one of our bunkmates had told us about a girl who had a complete emotional breakdown at the top of one of the waterfalls when he had gone canyoning a few days before, and I was left feeling a little trepidatious about the whole endeavor. But Jeff really wanted to go canyoning, so I knew I would have to find a way down those waterfalls.

Another Picture from Villarica

Magge took this great picture from the base of our climb at sunrise.  Because it was on a different camera, I forgot to put it in my post, but it's so good that it gets its own entry.

Lava Me Now or Lava Me Not

After nearly a week of waiting out the rain and the wind, we got the perfect day for climbing a volcano. Our group of six got picked up at 6:30am by the guide, Mauricio, just as the rising sun began to silouhette Villarica (also known as Rucapillán). We drove to the base of the ski resort (yes, a ski resort on a live volcano), where we put on most of our gear and got on a chairlift to skip an hour's worth of hiking up loose volcanic sand. Yes, it sounds lazy, but I don't regret it one bit. Once off the lift, we put on our crampons, equipped ourselves with icepicks and started our climb up the ice and snow.

The Volcano Finally Emerges

Today is the first day we've been able to see Villarica Volcano from town.  The peak is still shrouded in clouds, which is why our climb was canceled, but something is better than nothing.  We're crossing our fingers that it stays clear on Wednesday.

When Nature Gives You Lemons, You Go See Waterfalls

We were supposed to climb Villarica Volcano today, but low-lying clouds canceled the trip (we'll try again Wednesday).  Furthermore, Magge's stomach is really bothering her, so we weren't able to replace the climb with any other excursions.  It's been a frustrating few days in Pucón, where there are plenty of outdoor activities but we haven't been able to get outside very much.  Yesterday was an exception, as we biked thirty miles roundtrip to check out the Ojos de Caburgua waterfalls.  Although it was full of summer weekend crowds, it was still a beautiful site.  I'm still feeling defeated by the volcano cancelation, so there will be no long narrative today, just more pictures in the full post.

Pucón Is Dangerous, But Is It Dangerous Enough?

1,400 miles on a bus over the last week have brought us to Pucón, in the Araucanía region of southern Chile.  This little tourist town on a lake is vastly different than anywhere else we've been in South America.  It's clean, orderly and quiet.  Stray dogs still roam the streets, but even they manage to look well-groomed.  Many of the buidlings are built out of wood, instead of the much more common South American materials of adobe and cement.  Despite the heavy tourism, it still maintains a quaintness that reminds me of some of the tourist towns in Quebec's Laurentians region, as I posted on Twitter yesterday.

A Little Bit of Home

One thing I have learned during my time with Jeff is that home is much more about where your family is than where your house is.  Lucky for us, we were able to have a little bit of home when we visited my stepsister, Rachel, and her boyfriend, Gonz, in Viña del Mar this past week.

While Jeff and I have gotten along almost shockingly well over the past three months just the two of us (no blood has been shed... yet), we were both very excited to get to see some familiar faces.  Rachel and Gonz certainly made us feel at home, as we enjoyed an amazingly comfortable bed (very much needed after a 23 hour bus ride) and some fantastic food.

Rachel and Gonz made us an awesome grill-out dinner

Had to include a shot of Jeff's awesome new haircut.

We don't need to worry about any would-be muggers with him looking like this!